Begin Before You're Ready: Military Precision Meets Business Transformation

Описание: In this episode of The Bridgecast, host Scott Kinka welcomes Joel Neeb, Chief Transformation and Business Operations Officer at 8x8, for a deep dive into organizational change and the reality of the AI-driven market. Joel brings a unique perspective forged in the cockpit of an F-15 and refined through high-stakes leadership roles at VMware and Afterburner. He challenges the notion that AI is a "parlor trick" and instead presents it as the ultimate catalyst for businesses to reinvent themselves—or risk becoming obsolete to upstarts they don't even know exist yet.
Joel shares the harrowing yet inspiring story of his Stage IV cancer diagnosis at age 33 and how surviving a 15% survival rate gave him the courage to walk away from a guaranteed military retirement to conquer the business world. This conversation bridges the gap between military tactical excellence and modern business operations, offering IT leaders a practical framework for navigating the "revolutionary change" required in the next three years.

What you will learn:

How to implement the "Visualize, Optimize, Automate" framework before touching AI
Why the military's brief-execute-debrief cycle is the blueprint for business agility
The "chair flying" technique to accelerate team performance without burning budget
How to position communications data as your competitive moat in the AI era
Why revolutionary budgeting beats evolutionary optimization every single time
How IT leaders can become architects of transformation, not just infrastructure keepers

Joel Neeb is the Chief Transformation and Business Operations Officer at 8x8, a global leader in cloud communications and contact center solutions. Before 8x8, Joel spent 15 years as a US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and F-15 Mission Commander, flying 3,000 missions and training the top 0.5% of pilots in the world. After surviving Stage IV cancer in 2010 (given just an 18-month prognosis), Joel left the military five years before retirement to pursue his passion for transformation in the business world. He completed his MBA and joined Afterburner, a consultancy focused on corporate execution, before joining VMware's Office of the CEO where he worked directly with Pat Gelsinger to lead the company's shift from product sales to outcome-based SaaS models. Joel is the author of Survivor's Obligation and posts daily on LinkedIn, where he answers every message and engages in dialogue with leaders navigating transformation.
To find out how Bridgepointe Technologies helps businesses make IT decisions faster with world-class engineering support and ongoing guidance, head to https://bridgepointetechnologies.com/

Chapters:
[00:00] – Intro
[01:40] – Meet "Thor": From Fighter Jets to Tech Leadership
[05:35] – The 7th Mission: Leading Before You Feel Ready
[08:15] – Chair Flying: Programming Your Brain for Success
[11:16] – A Second Chance: Surviving Stage IV Cancer
[13:05] – The VMware Transformation: Selling Outcomes over Products
[16:03] – 8x8’s Evolution: From Plumbing to Intelligence
[20:50] – The Framework: Visualize, Optimize, Automate
[24:35] – Disrupting Yourself: Avoiding the Blockbuster Trap
[32:15] – Lightning Round: AI Predictions and Contrarian Takes