by Mark Haranas, CRN

World Wide Technology's fearless leader, Jim Kavanaugh, has experienced many periods of economic uncertainty and IT disruptions in his 32 years as CEO of solution provider powerhouse WWT.

His $15 billion St. Louis-based company is gearing up its more than 8,000 employees for a big push in 2023 to help customers digitally transform their business despite any macroeconomic uncertainties ahead.

"When you step back, you look at inflation and challenges relative to the stock market. One of the ways that we're going to combat inflation and rising interest rates is by leveraging technology more effectively," said Kavanaugh in an interview with CRN.

If there's one thing Kavanaugh knows for sure, it's that company leaders of all shapes of sizes will need to continue to evolve their hybrid workforce strategy.

"Any employee that has the ability to do their job in a more virtual mode, those employees want that flexibility and latitude," said Kavanaugh, who has embraced remote working for employees where it makes sense. "Whether CEOs want to bring everybody back and mandate that, I just don't know if that's going to work."

Kavanaugh is bullish about WWT's capabilities and the opportunity to drive workforce transformation strategies for customers in 2023.

 

"When you look at inflation and just the macroeconomic things that are going on, it's causing a lot of organizations and leaders to pause in regard to, 'What are we doing around budgets and funding?' said Kavanaugh. "We're excited to tackle this next year and help our customers solve these big challenges."

In his interview with CRN, Kavanaugh provides his leadership insight, what he sees as the customer IT trends next year and what solution providers should double down on in 2023.

 

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