EVERY GREAT TECHNOLOGIST HAS A STORY TO TELL

After arriving in the U.S., Tope’s fascination with technology began with a Macintosh Plus and the cult classic game Oregon Trail. The experience of navigating challenges in the game resonated with his own background, growing up in Africa and helping on his grandmother’s farm. Now, as a technology leader for a Fortune 500 company, Tope focuses on pragmatic solutions and customer-centric design, believing that successful technology should empower people and deliver value across teams. What he once loved about coding in solitude has evolved into a passion for collaborating with his team to solve real-world challenges.

Dating back to his childhood in the ’70s, Christian was captivated by computers, a passion sparked by his dad’s IT career. As a kid, he experimented with programming, even writing scripts to prank others by making their CD trays randomly open. Now an IT security expert, Christian has streamlined access request processes, slashing wait times from weeks to minutes, and focused on reducing friction in user authentication. Though his kids think hacking is cool, Christian’s priority is protecting systems and ensuring smooth, secure operations.

As a kid, Noni was all about sports and technology, so when the Atari came around he was mesmerized by the stick basketball figures and pinging a ‘ball’ across the screen. Cut to the launch of the iPhone, and Noni was brought back to that same awestruck feeling. As an IT leader, it’s no different - you have to be ahead of the curve because that’s where you can drive innovation. Noni dives into the critical issues facing IT leaders today, and where his passion for technology originally took off.

Danielle didn’t use technology growing up, in fact, she didn’t have internet access until she was an adult. Starting her career doing hair, she made the jump to technology as a single mom wanting solid benefits and a consistent income to support her daughter. From decades-old chunky laptops and dial-up to raising her daughter of the first generation growing up with a cell phone, Danielle dives into how IT has had to shift and become more advanced as technology (and access) has evolved.

Technology has always been an innovative way for Erica to connect with others starting from an early age. Back in the day of the first Nintendo, she remembers spending hours with her family playing games. When instant messenger came out, it allowed her to connect with classmates and friends with a whole new way to socialize. Part of her role in technology is to bring people together, such as the tech and business teams, to collaborate. Throughout her career, successes around effective communication between teams has always been a source of pride.