Students had the opportunity to hear FedEx international head of IT Nik Puri present a business lecture he recently authored in a loose and intimate question-and-answer format catered by Panera.
Friday morning was another free opportunity to rub shoulders and pick up first-hand wisdom from one of the uber-successful business leaders that frequent the FedEx Institute.
Nick Puri, international senior vice president of IT at FedEx, took questions and presented a business lecture on adaptation and fluidity entitled “People, Culture, and IT’.”
“At the end of the day, the most important thing about technology is the people,” Puri said.
The speech was about digital transformation and technology, but the underlying values were applicable in any context or industry. Puri summarized the state or global business in layman’s terms effectively:
“The question in business used to be about the big fish eating the small fish. Now, in the era of digital transformation, the fast fish eats the slow fish,” Puri said.
The format of Puri’s lecture was a loosely-open dialogue, question-and-answer format that engaged the audience.
“How long have you worked at Fed-ex,” Puri asked a spectator.
“Thirty nine years,” the audience member replied. That’s a lot of wisdom in the room.
The FedEx Institute posts events regularly to its calendar online and many are open to the public.
Karen Perez, a research graduate assistant at the FedEx Institute of Technology, said she takes pride in her job and always learns something that help can help her improve.
“It’s always great to get to hear our distinguished guest speakers,” Perez said.
The FedEx Institute of Technology (FIT) is an Advanced technology research institution.
The institution focuses on cutting edge technology research, corporate training, digitize transformations, and tech community outreach.
FedEx Institute of Technology Project Manager Rami Lotay greeted guests and spoke about the importance of technology driving positive social change in the city.
Lotay said community outreach in action were looked like not only professors teaching research methodologies on and off campus, but also valuable, diverse partnerships with organizations like “Tech 901” and “Memphis Women in Technology” among others.
“Memphis is on the cusp of greatness, and there’s a lot of positive momentum behind the city,” Lotay said.
According to Lotay, Technology will likely play a major role.
“We’re at the heart of that conservation. For the first time in Memphis there’s major momentum and it’s really cool, ” Lotay said.
Nik Puri, FedEx International head of IT, spoke to UofM students on Friday morning about digital transformation and technology.
