Kristy Folkwein unintentionally took a category in school meant for pc science majors. She went to high school with the intention of following in her mom’s footsteps as an government secretary. However that class modified her path. “I liked it. I had an affinity for it, and that is how I acquired into know-how,” she tells InformationWeek initially of our dialog.  

Immediately, Folkwein is the senior vice chairman and CIO at ADM, an enormous participant in human and animal vitamin. She speaks to InformationWeek about how she developed her profession at three totally different firms and the way she is working to remodel ADM, an organization constructed by acquisitions.  

A Profession in Three Chapters  

Folkwein’s first job out of school was at Ashland, a specialty chemical substances firm. “[I] grew up via the ranks of IT challenge supervisor, main tasks, being an analyst. I did just a little improvement within the early years. So, that’s the place it began,” she shares.  

She considers her time at Ashland the primary chapter of her profession. As she labored her method up at that firm, her IT management expertise grew.  

“I had the chance to work on an ERP transformation of SAP throughout 5 totally different enterprise models,” Folkwein remembers. “I used to be the mini CIO for the distribution firm after which the distribution firm in Valvoline.” (Ashland would later spin off Valvoline.) 

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She spent 17 years at Ashland earlier than shifting on to Dow Corning. The chief of the corporate approached her about stepping in as CIO, and she or he accepted. That large change marked the start of the second chapter in her profession.  

“After 17 years after which going to a brand new firm, I knew nobody,” says Folkwein. “And so it was the change administration affect, assembly individuals the place they’re, understanding that enterprise, their expertise is what made them who they had been. I discovered quite a bit about the way you get issues completed. Empathy, the way you execute.”  

She considers the eight years she spent at Dow as her years of honing her customer-facing expertise. “How will we assist our prospects? How will we carry worth via know-how in new methods via various kinds of net portals? The way in which we work with our prospects to streamline our processes … These had been my large learnings in these years.” 

A recruiter with ADM approached Folkwein, and the timing was proper. She was prepared for the third chapter of her profession.  

“I felt like all of my experiences had ready me to hopefully come to ADM and actually make a distinction in serving to [it] to remodel,” says Folkwein.  

Constructing the Staff at ADM 

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ADM is a longtime firm — in enterprise for 120 years — and it’s one which has grown via acquisitions. “So far as my group goes with ADM, we’ve had a little bit of a journey on the expertise aspect,” Folkwein shares.  

Acquisitions carry loads of expertise collectively, however that expertise is unfold out throughout totally different features, groups, and constructions. Folkwein has labored to create a extra central IT group that focuses on constant supply of the know-how and expertise needed to construct ADM’s digital future. ADM additionally works with a managed companies associate to assist its legacy programs.  

“We’ve got a multi-region strategy. We’ve got individuals unfold around the globe to assist our group, and we’re at the moment within the technique of standing up an India hub to proceed to permit us to get the size we have to [provide] the IT companies our group wants,” says Folkwein.  

Over the previous 9 years that Folkwein has been with ADM, the group stands out as certainly one of her best accomplishments. 

“We’ve constructed an unbelievable IT group that could be very dedicated to ADM,” she says. “Whereas delivering each day operations, [we are] additionally leaning into how we ship worth … via applied sciences like generative AI.”  

Expertise Supply and Transformation  

Folkwein has a number of the issues that almost all CIOs can relate to: legacy know-how and fashionable, evolving cyber threats.  

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“The way in which issues had been developed in many years of previous, there wasn’t as a lot standardization, documentation, good IT practices. So, it retains me up at evening. Simply preserving all of this working till we are able to get to extra fashionable know-how,” she says.  

After which, there are the industry-specific challenges. High quality management within the vitamin area is crucial, and Folkwein’s IT group wants to make sure it has the capabilities to assist the manufacturing, monitoring, and supply of high quality merchandise within the meals area.  

Proper now, Folkwein and her group are invested in reworking ADM’s ERP system. She is all the time fascinated with the right way to assist efficient enterprise operations, handle the price to serve, and supply worth.  

“On the finish of the day, the massive slogan is: We ship what we commit,” she says.  

For Folkwein, and all CIOs, AI is now part of that equation. How can she use that know-how to ship worth for ADM?  

“We’re utilizing AI to assist us to create flavors, to be extra productive, to offer info to assist our individuals within the plant,” she says. “There’re so many alternative prospects.” 

As she considers the entire challenges and the targets her group is tackling at present, knowledge surfaces as crucial factor.  

“Why do you set in place a typical ERP?” she asks. “Why is ADM, proper now, attempting to standardize and consolidate from acquisitions? It’s the info. Why is the info extra vital than ever? As a result of knowledge is the gas of AI, and we’ll be all competing with capabilities via AI.”