Chris Smith earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Michigan State University and an MBA in Entrepreneurship from the University of Minnesota and is the Director of Personal Healthcare Technology Innovation.
[0:30] Director of Innovation, wearable devices, drone delivery, AI, Augmented reality to name few.
[2:13] Chris hires new college grads, so we get into what attributes he looks for – need to have the technical foundation of course, need to be able to work well together, everything is done jointly, across the enterprise. Ambitious but to the point where you put yourself ahead of the team. You need to be open to new ideas, and be a very good listener.
[4:10] Advice on the type of STEM degree to pursue: Technology is so broad and growing all the time, figure out what plays well in your persona.
[6:10] In STEM, you have to study a lot, how do you develop the skills like communication. The STEM curriculum builds this in when you are forced to work in teams. If you are nervous speaking in front of a group, then dive into that and find some activities to build those skills up. In the end you have to be well rounded to work well with others. YOU are responsible for building these skills.
[8:30] Chris talks a bit about the rotation program available at United Healthcare Rotation Program
New grads come in with a fresh mind and new ideas, how to apply new technology
[11:18] What has Chris fired up? Artificial Intelligence it is so broad, and very exciting – how can you free up time for the doctor to actually be able to spend more time with the patient. Try to go deep into an area of focus vs going broad.
[15:00] Ah-ha moment is when he realized that no one was going to spoon feed his success in his careers. You have to be prepared for when opportunities present themselves.
[17:00] We talk about architecting your career – you have to control your career path.
[20:26] Reach out to Chris Smith and some parting advice: Work harder than you think you should, you can either start now working hard or work harder later in life. You also need to market yourself, how you carry yourself, that is your commercial and your reputation will follow.
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