Eric Rosenbach

Could iPhone-based apps challenge the world’s leading financial institutions in the same way that Amazon revolutionized commerce and Uber up-ended the transportation sector? Innovation in the software-based financial technology (FinTech) sector has attracted significant attention because of its clear potential to disrupt existing global financial services models. Many analysts believe that Fintech will be the “next big thing” for tech firms and investors in Silicon Valley. Why? A new model for decentralized transactions, often based on blockchain technology, could replace cumbersome traditional processes that empower banks, insurers and old-school investors.  Rapid growth in software solutions that facilitate person-to-person payments, crowdfunded equity investments and smart, self-executing contracts demonstrates that innovations in financial technology truly could revolutionize this sector. The FinTech Revolution will only occur, however, if this nascent technology overcomes challenges in cybersecurity, digital identity and legal regulation.

How do you manage an organization with over three million employees, a $570 billion budget, ongoing operations in dozens of countries and crises on a near-daily basis? In this presentation, Rosenbach will provide important lessons about the strong model of military leadership practiced in the Pentagon, where, as the Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense, he provided day-to-day management of the largest organization in the world. Rosenbach will share his strategy for developing high-performing teams that deliver superior results. He will also provide specific lessons learned from leading the response to strategic-level crisis in the Pentagon during the last several years of the Obama Administration. These crises include issues such as the Ebola outbreak, major cyberattacks, accidental airstrikes on civilian hospitals, tensions with Iran in the Persian Gulf and responding to North Korea’s aggressive military actions. Audiences will find the stories – and the sophisticated management and public communications practices involved – interesting and educational.

Russian actions intended to influence the United States presidential election were the most prominent example of a new brand of cyberattacks that combine hacking with disinformation operations. The case once again highlighted the importance of cybersecurity – not just for national security leaders, but also executives in the private sector charged with managing corporate risk. Once a relatively niche topic handled exclusively by the CIO, cybersecurity is now a major concern for CEOs and other corporate leaders. Mitigating the risk of cyberattacks starts with an understanding of strategic drivers of attacks, but requires focused attention on a holistic corporate risk management approach.