Digital CEOs: no longer "digitally homeless," savvy execs are putting tools to work for them

Chief Executive, The, April, 2004 by Justin Martin

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It's possible to do a split screen, with the videoconferencing parties occupying one half and a movie or advertisement projected on the other half with the score playing. That way, everyone is on the same page, quite literally. The system cost $20,000 and Taylor estimates that it saves the company $50,000 a year in travel costs. "It's much richer than a phone call could ever be," says Taylor. "You can see faces and emotions and reactions."

Rick Horrow, on the other hand, doesn't own a BlackBerry or videophone, but his choice of gadget proves that sometimes, simplicity is most efficient. As CEO of Horrow Sports Ventures, a Miami-based affiliate of Omnicom, it's Horrow's job to cobble together complex stadium financing deals and, since founding the business two decades ago, he's been involved in 100 deals worth more than $13 billion. His tool of choice is a Sanyo cell phone preprogrammed with the phone numbers of such luminaries as the golfer Greg Norman, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Bill France Jr., CEO of Nascar. "I live in a world of political nuance and persuasion," says Horrow, who makes an estimated 100 cell phone calls a day. "To me, the inflections, attitudes, language, tone--even the pauses and silences--are much more important than reading the same thing on a BlackBerry."

Horrow doesn't care much for email, period. He has an address, but the messages are automatically forwarded to his assistant, who reads them to him over the phone. Then Horrow generally calls the sender back, establishing verbal contact, the medium where he feels he has an edge. Even Horrow's choice of car was driven by cell phone fanaticism. His brand new maroon BMW 745 sedan is well insulated from engine noise and angry commuters laying on their horns. This allows him to conduct business while driving. "The sound quality is impeccable," says Horrow. "I can have normal conversations while I'm driving and the person on the other end can't tell that I'm not in my office."

So what types of things are coming next down the info-tech pipeline? Rough versions of pen-based computing are already available, making it possible to store hand-written documents on a computer. Speech synthesizing technology is advancing quickly. Gearheads are busy working out the bugs in software that converts text into speech and soon it will be possible, say, to have your computer read you your emails. What about getting the scoop on the latest in eye-popping devices? Many CEOs are too busy to stay current on personal technology advances. With so many business journals to read, few want to spend time scouring PC World and the like. Which is why the Institute for the Future's Paul Saffo suggests CEOs designate a reverse mentor. This can be a resident techie whose job it becomes to keep the CEO updated on the latest and best gizmos. Says Saffo: "No CEO should ever again have to stew in technological ignorance."