Episode 8: Eugene Roman

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Eugene Roman is the former CTO of Canadian Tire Corporation and the Executive in Residence for AI and Applied Analytics – Schulich School of Business. He is the winner of CIO of the Year in Canada for his work on multiple digitally-based projects leading Canadian Tire into a digitally mediated marketplace. David Kepron and Eugene talk about surviving in a pandemic that has changed everything about doing business in a retail industry that has shifted on its axis.

INFO ON EUGENE ROMAN

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eugene-roman-45274410/

BIO:

• Served on the board of the Ukrainian Credit Union limited for 20 years.
• Canadian CIO of the year in 2015.
• Helped Ukrainian credit union significantly grow base and adopt a new technology
• Scholarship named after him “Ukrainian Credit Union Limited Eugene Roman Scholarship”
• EVP Digital Excellence at Canadian Tire Canada
• Currently the principle of “Design.ai, Ltd. focused on applying design intelligence to business opportunities
• From 2012 to 2018 Eugene was the EVP of digital excellence and tech advisor for the Canadian Tire Corporation
• Currently serves on the board of the The Stars Group Inc.
• Currently serves on the board of EPM Systems Inc.
• Owns Rosewood Estate Winery – a family winery with wife Renata and children Krystina (marketing) and William (production), a boutique production vineyard producing 5000 cases of wine and 1500 cases of meade a year.
• Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Franc are the products of the vineyard.
• 2015 Canadian CIO of the year for creating a strategic plan to transform Canadian Tire into an innovator in digital marketing and overseeing the development of three digital centers
• including “Cloud 9 Digital Innovation Center” in Winnipeg and the “Digital Garage” in Kitchener Waterloo Ontario.
• Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Monk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.
• Responsible for integrating critical technology and business processes to better deliver innovative programs.
• Has led efforts to increase productivity and improve performance in order to deliver current “next GEN” services more efficiently in large organizations.
• Started career and telecom working for the Nortel Networks corporation and then went onto work with Bell Canada Enterprises Inc.
• Eugene is a frequent speaker on the “hyper connected digital world.”
• He is also on the board of governors at York University.
• Today Eugene is the Executive in Residence for AI at the Schulich Business School.

SHOW INTRO:
When I grow up in Montreal there was Expo 67, I still remember Moshe Safdia and his McGill architecture thesis project that became the incredible housing development called Habitat and the Yugoslavian pavilion which was a pyramid upended and standing on his point.

Ken Dryden, Guy La Fleur and Rocket Richard we’re all part of the Canadiens hockey team as they won the Stanley Cup after Stanley cup every year. We even got the day off school when the first Canada Russia hockey series was played.

There was the Olympics in 76 and I watched as Nadia Comaneci get the first ever perfect 10 in gymnastics.

And every weekend throughout the winter my four brothers and I along with my parents we drive north to Mont Tremblant and ski. And it seemed like every Friday night there was a stop at Canadian tire.

No if you don’t know Canadian tire it was a kind of a mix between REI, Dick’s Sporting Goods and AutoZone. I remember it had a very specific smell something like a mix between tires and travel. Canadian tire, next to Pascal’s the hardware store, was one of our favorite places.

My guest on today’s podcast grew up during the same time and went on to become the Canadian CIO of the year in 2015.

The Ukrainian credit union has a scholarship named after him and he sits on a number of boards of tech-based companies.

He’s also the owner of a vineyard and, by consequence of making meade, a beekeeper producing thousands of gallons of honey every year and is Executive in residence for AI at the Schulich business school.

And that CIO of the year award that Eugene Roman won in 2015 well, it was for creating a strategic plan to transform Canadian Tire into an innovator in digital marketing and overseeing the development of three digital centers including “Cloud 9 Digital Innovation Center” in Winnipeg and the “Digital Garage” in Kitchener Waterloo Ontario.
INFO ON DAVID KEPRON

• Website: https://www.davidkepron.com
• Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.com
• Personal Instagram: @DavidKepron
• NXTLVL Instagram: @NXTLVL_experience_design
• Twitter: @DavidKepron
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/