Callaway's Koorapati is CGT's 2016 CIO of the Year
Consumer Goods Technology (CGT) presented its CIO of the Year Award to Sai Koorapati, Vice President, Global IT, Callaway, during a special awards ceremony on October 19th at the 2016 Consumer Goods Business & Technology Leadership Conference in Orlando, Fla.
This one of-a-kind award honors the Chief Information Officer who has made the largest demonstrable business impact within his or her consumer goods organization through the implementation and successful use of technology.
Koorapati is an accomplished IT executive, and has provided strategic direction and guidance while implementing two key business initiatives for Callaway Golf’s digital journey. Under his direction, the company has created a roadmap to move from basic reporting to predictive, real-time analytics for the Sales, Operations and Finance groups globally.
He is also leading the consolidation of the design to manufacturing system portfolio of applications to one global enterprise PLM application. Earlier this year, Koorapati accepted the “Leaders of the Modern Data Center” award after deploying EMC XtremIO on Callaway’s SAP environment to enable the business to accelerate innovation and achieve global growth. Not only does the golf equipment manufacturer understand the individual needs of each customer, but it also has built the capability to deliver a custom golf club with significantly reduced lead-time for an individual fitting experience.
Under his leadership, the team has implemented an SAP HANA platform for its ERP & Planning systems in a short period of time, went non-standard ways of thinking and built a data center in headquarters, generating huge savings to the organization.
Last but not least, “Koorapati is spending a lot of his time on people and transforming the culture of his team be an agile, high-performance group,” says Albert Guffanti, brand director, CGT. “He is the epitome of a business-savvy, forward-thinking CIO.”
CGT collected qualified nominations from the consumer goods community throughout 2016, which were narrowed down to an outstanding group of three finalists (the two additional listed below). CGT's 40 advisory board members were then challenged to select one winner based on the breadth and depth of the projects executed or being executed; the relevance of the projects to today's industry challenges; and the proven impact that the candidate's initiatives/projects have made on his or her organization.
In addition to Koorapati, finalists for the 2016 CIO of the Year award are:
Carlos Amesquita, Chief Information Officer, The Hershey Co.
The Hershey Company recently embarked on a digital transformation for increased consumer insights to keep pace with a new generation of shoppers. To prepare for this transformation, Amesquita developed a plan to modernize Hershey’s current systems to deliver real-time insights in an adaptable, simplified, cost-effective business platform.
Martin Schneider, Vice President & Chief Information Officer, VF Corporation
Since joining VF in 2006, Martin Schneider has led the transformation of VF’s workplace technology, implemented ERP software in North America and Asia, and enhanced the company’s data analytics capabilities. He also led VF’s enterprise-wide transition to a single e-commerce platform for multiple VF brands.
This one of-a-kind award honors the Chief Information Officer who has made the largest demonstrable business impact within his or her consumer goods organization through the implementation and successful use of technology.
Koorapati is an accomplished IT executive, and has provided strategic direction and guidance while implementing two key business initiatives for Callaway Golf’s digital journey. Under his direction, the company has created a roadmap to move from basic reporting to predictive, real-time analytics for the Sales, Operations and Finance groups globally.
He is also leading the consolidation of the design to manufacturing system portfolio of applications to one global enterprise PLM application. Earlier this year, Koorapati accepted the “Leaders of the Modern Data Center” award after deploying EMC XtremIO on Callaway’s SAP environment to enable the business to accelerate innovation and achieve global growth. Not only does the golf equipment manufacturer understand the individual needs of each customer, but it also has built the capability to deliver a custom golf club with significantly reduced lead-time for an individual fitting experience.
Under his leadership, the team has implemented an SAP HANA platform for its ERP & Planning systems in a short period of time, went non-standard ways of thinking and built a data center in headquarters, generating huge savings to the organization.
Last but not least, “Koorapati is spending a lot of his time on people and transforming the culture of his team be an agile, high-performance group,” says Albert Guffanti, brand director, CGT. “He is the epitome of a business-savvy, forward-thinking CIO.”
CGT collected qualified nominations from the consumer goods community throughout 2016, which were narrowed down to an outstanding group of three finalists (the two additional listed below). CGT's 40 advisory board members were then challenged to select one winner based on the breadth and depth of the projects executed or being executed; the relevance of the projects to today's industry challenges; and the proven impact that the candidate's initiatives/projects have made on his or her organization.
In addition to Koorapati, finalists for the 2016 CIO of the Year award are:
Carlos Amesquita, Chief Information Officer, The Hershey Co.
The Hershey Company recently embarked on a digital transformation for increased consumer insights to keep pace with a new generation of shoppers. To prepare for this transformation, Amesquita developed a plan to modernize Hershey’s current systems to deliver real-time insights in an adaptable, simplified, cost-effective business platform.
Martin Schneider, Vice President & Chief Information Officer, VF Corporation
Since joining VF in 2006, Martin Schneider has led the transformation of VF’s workplace technology, implemented ERP software in North America and Asia, and enhanced the company’s data analytics capabilities. He also led VF’s enterprise-wide transition to a single e-commerce platform for multiple VF brands.