Leaders Lounge Podcast | Episode 1 | November 3, 2020
Preparing for the Worst is Best
Karl Sprules, Head of Global Technology and Operations at AllianceBernstein, shares his experiences navigating through the crisis—the impact on his role at the firm and as a leader.
Summary
Technology and operations leaders have been on the front lines for firms dealing with the COVID 19 crisis. Now more ever it is important for these leaders to solve how to navigate an emerging ‘new normal’ across technology, operations, people, and process.
Host Craig Welch from BlackMoss Partners spoke with Karl Sprules, Head of Global Technology and Operations at AllianceBernstein, about his experiences navigating through the crisis and the impact it’s had on his role at AllianceBernstein and with him as a leader.
Topics we discussed:
What has impressed and surprised Karl the most about how his firm responded both internally and external to the crisis
How his relationships with marketing, sales, product (investment teams), HR, and client servicing changed during the pandemic
How the pandemic improved collaboration and communications between and across teams within AllianceBernstein
How AllianceBernstein’s digital transformation over the last several years better prepared the firm to deal with the crisis
How the crisis has changed Karl as a leader
How to Listen
About Our Guest
Karl Sprules is Head of Global Technology and Operations at AllianceBernstein. With over three thousand employees worldwide, AllianceBernstein is a global asset management firm providing investment management and research services to institutional, high-net-worth and retail investors.
About The Leaders Lounge
Our host, Craig Welch has always been drawn to great leaders, especially those who help others see and believe in a vision, and lead innovation in a company. During Craig’s +20-year career in financial services he has had the opportunities to work directly with leaders of some of the industry’s top global brands such as American Express, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase and Bloomberg. Craig’s educational background in psychology and marketing combined with his career experiences as a “brand evangelist” bring a unique perspective as host of The Leaders’ Lounge podcast.
The Leaders’ Lounge is a new podcast series from BlackMoss Partners. We share the voice of Industry leaders—thoughts about overcoming challenges and realizing success in times of change and uncertainty. The programme explores how today’s most transformational business leaders see the future, and how they are driving change to achieve that vision.