Jonathan Alboum, federal chief technology officer at ServiceNow, recently spoke with ExecutiveBiz about the characteristics of the mission that attracted him to the company as well as the challenges that continue to affect federal agencies as the emerging technologies and innovations in our business during the latest Executive Spotlight interview.
You can read the full Executive Spotlight interview with Jonathan Alboum below:
ExecutiveBiz: Congratulations on ServiceNow’s recent success in the federal market. Why did you want to join the company and what were the characteristics of its mission that attracted you to the role of CTO? What do you hope to accomplish with the company?
Jonathan Album: “I’ve been with ServiceNow for three years and I love my job. My experience with the company has been rewarding, both personally and professionally.
I have been fortunate to work with so many great people and we have experienced incredible growth during my tenure. Today, we work with over 350 federal agencies and have amazing momentum as we continue to expand our business.
ServiceNow is about putting our customers first and making a real difference in the communities we serve around the world. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this and contribute in my own way.
Every day, I have the opportunity to impact projects that have an impact across the entire government. I work with our customers and partners, helping them see how ServiceNow can help with their toughest challenges, such as digital transformation, customer experience, and cybersecurity.
For example, the concept of hyper-automation has the potential to completely change the way people interact with their government. That’s an area where ServiceNow has long dominated.
One of the things I get to do in this job is share stories from our customers about how ServiceNow is making it easier for agencies to embrace emerging technologies, like hyper-automation, as I interact. in organizations that have significant influence across the government space.
Before joining ServiceNow, I worked in the federal government for many years as a chief information officer in several agencies, including as CIO of the Department of Agriculture.
An important aspect of my role at ServiceNow is to share my experiences as an executive in the federal government to help our teams deliver for their clients. I help translate the things we do so well at ServiceNow, like connecting people, systems and breaking down silos, into solutions for the problems all agencies face as they deliver on their missions.”
ExecutiveBiz: With federal agencies working to implement the latest technology trends such as AI, 5G, cloud and more, what are your thoughts on the success and challenges government agencies face to stay ahead of change to establish the US as THE world leader ?
Jonathan Album: “If you look at the last decade, you can see the tremendous progress that government agencies have made in their modernization efforts. There are many great success stories about moving systems to the cloud and embracing software as a capability. service, especially since the beginning of the pandemic.
We all had to switch to remote work when COVID hit, and federal agencies quickly changed their operating models. That’s just a result of their intense focus on modernization. There are so many great achievements and stories from this era.
The next big challenge is making sure that all these different capabilities that we’ve recently acquired actually support the agency’s missions. These technologies are often disconnected. When not fully utilized, there are many missed opportunities.
A big benefit of ServiceNow is the ability to connect things. An agency’s technologies, systems, and data can come together on the NOW platform to unify services, provide employees and customers with great experiences and create tangible value.
In the wake of the pandemic, the public has come to expect this from all service providers, including the government. This is the basis for the next phase of public sector modernization. The future is about changing the way we do our work, moving our manual processes to digital ones and driving advanced automation in support of a citizen-centric, anticipatory government.
However, cybersecurity remains a major challenge. We will never fully overcome the multitude of threats today and new ones are emerging all the time. ServiceNow works with CIOs and CISOs across government to help them manage data and workflows. By applying this focus to integrated risk management and security operations, agencies are better able to prioritize and manage widespread cyber risks.
In the end, it is important to remember that all IT modernization and digital transformation initiatives of the government come back to the fact that behind every mission result is a process that drives experiences.
ServiceNow works across government to digitize siled processes – connecting and automating them so government workflows. In doing so, we dramatically increase value and improve experiences for federal employees and the people they serve.”
ExecutiveBiz: With the influence of emerging technologies impacting every aspect of business, how has ServiceNow been able to drive digital transformation efforts to stay ahead of the changing federal landscape?
Jonathan Album: “I think the adoption of low code capabilities can really accelerate the government’s digital transformation efforts. As a CIO, my teams spend a lot of time, effort, and budget building custom systems because that’s what we know how to do. In retrospect, many of the requirements can be met on today’s low code platforms.
Low code offers the opportunity for non-IT professionals to create applications and develop workflows that meet their programming requirements. This is a really significant development. Not only is this a great way to meet unique needs, but low code apps can also be developed very quickly, and the work doesn’t have to flow through the central IT office. There are no bottlenecks or CIO hoops to jump through.
All of this is possible with ServiceNow’s low-code tools. Using our Creator Workflows, low-code applications can be easily developed by anyone with some basic training.
I would also note that ServiceNow is unique because our platform is one piece of technology. It is an architecture and a database. It’s not a lot of different technologies that have been put together over time into a loosely connected architecture. It’s a single thing.
So, low code apps built on ServiceNow can connect to any of your existing ServiceNow data, making it a great digital transformation strategy.
ExecutiveBiz: What are the core values that are important to your company’s culture? What has driven your success in such a competitive market?
Jonathan Album: “Our company has a great set of core values based on the idea that we win as a team and create belonging so that everyone at ServiceNow feels at home. Our goal is to wow our customers , while always remaining hungry and humble.
Although we have had great success in the recent past, we recognize that the best is yet to come. ServiceNow is really just getting started in the federal market.
One of the sayings we have is, ‘The world works with ServiceNow.’ There is so much we can do to help transform the public sector. As an organization, we are excited about the role we are playing in changing the way people interact with and think about federal agencies. ServiceNow builds trust in government, one experience at a time.
We have many dedicated customers who use the NOW platform to improve their organizations. However, we can do more in their advancement. Our ability to continue to grow is unparalleled, confirming my belief that ServiceNow will be the defining enterprise software company of the 21st century and that we will truly change the world.
Everyone at ServiceNow feels like they are part of a once-in-a-generation opportunity. This creates an engaged workforce, full of people who are engaged and committed to serving their customers.
Our people are viewed as experts throughout the industry. I am humbled to be a part of ServiceNow and to work with the federal government to address the greatest challenges of our time.”