Curiosity & Disruption in the Entertainment Industry with United Talent Agency CIO Michael Keithley

On the first episode of Enterprise Software Innovators, hosts Evan Reiser (Abnormal Security) and Saam Motamedi (Greylock Partners) talk with Michael Keithley, CIO of United Talent Agency. UTA is one of the world’s top talent companies, working across music, sports, film, and other high impact areas of entertainment. Previously, Michael was CIO and CTO of Creative Arts Agency, another large talent organization, where he worked for 24 years. In this conversation, Michael shares stories on how CIOs in entertainment can best leverage data, the benefits of partnering with startups, his take on the most exciting next frontiers in technology, and moments in his career where disruptive technology implementations were met with pushback from the old guard.

Quick hits from Michael:

On how UTA benefits from exposure to startups: “...[We] learn from startups themselves on how they work and what their philosophy is…and infuse that in our culture.”

On colleagues recognizing startup-inspired workflow methodologies: “And I remember vividly, we had these crisis things early on in the pandemic where every morning we'd get on the Zoom and talk about stuff. And I said, ‘Do you guys realize that we have been practicing agile the last two months?’ “

On the old guard being resistant to new technology: “When I came to the realization that the Internet was going to be a thing, I ended up getting a short .com domain. And I bought it for $5,000 and the CFO was furious because ‘what possible use would there ever be for the Internet.’ There's just a lot of stories like that, where people aren't ready to get on board with the new technologies”

Recent book recommendation: The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson

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Enterprise Software Innovators is a show where top tech executives share how they innovate at scale. Each episode covers unique insights and stories that will help you succeed as a technology leader. Find more great lessons from tech leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/ 

Enterprise Software Innovators is produced by Luke Reiser, Josh Meer and Emily Shaw.