Speaker 1:
If you look at overall the benefits that we've gotten from technology, everything that is around us that we take for granted every day, those things would not have been possible if we didn't keep pushing the boundaries on where we could take technology.
Sam Saperstein :
Welcome to the Women on the Move podcast from JP MorganChase. I'm Sam Saperstein. Women on the Move is a global initiative designed to empower female employees, clients and consumers to build their careers, grow their businesses, and improve their financial health. Each episode will feature successful and inspiring women who are breaking the mold. They're sharing their career journeys and leadership lessons, talking about their professional and personal goals and making a difference in the lives of others.
Sam Saperstein :
This season, I'm taking you to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where I caught up with many of the women who inspire me every day. Today's guest is pioneering the future of 5G. Rima Qureshi is the chief strategy officer at Verizon. As part of her role, she develops and helps implement the company's overall corporate strategy. She also heads up partnerships and new business development for the company. Rima talked through how she thought about new career opportunities and about the time she took a job that surprised others. She also touched upon the future of 5G. It was a pleasure to speak with Rima and I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Sam Saperstein :
Rima, thank you so much for being with us here. It's really a pleasure to have you on the podcast.
Rima Qureshi:
Glad to be here.
Sam Saperstein :
We love to hear about first of all, your background and your current role at Verizon.
Rima Qureshi:
My current role at Verizon, chief strategy officer and head of partnerships and new business development. I've worked in technology all my life. I started as an IT consultant and then I did 24 years at Ericsson, which is an infrastructure manufacturer and telecommunications. And a little bit over two years at Verizon.
Sam Saperstein :
And so your current role now, what do you do day to day?
Rima Qureshi:
Every day is different. It's the overall strategy of the company, overall business plans and growth for the company. Managing all partnerships for the company as well as looking at all new growth within the company.
Sam Saperstein :
And so I imagine you're involved with every aspect of the business with leaders all over?
Rima Qureshi:
Yes.
Sam Saperstein :
In a global role?
Rima Qureshi:
And partners.
Sam Saperstein :
And partners. How do you approach those partnerships? How do you evaluate the ones you want to pursue?
Rima Qureshi:
The approach that we're taking with partnerships is we as the leader and the recognized leader in terms of telecommunications and our network, we want to partner with those that are the best in their industry. And the focus is really looking at combining the best brands with the best network and that's how we decide. And then again, based on the requirements and where we are trying to develop and make the technology move forward.
Sam Saperstein :
And of all your time at Ericsson and the many roles there, can you talk about the different things you were working on and how you were thinking about your career during the time you were there?
Rima Qureshi:
Well, one thing that's been consistent all the way through my career is I have not really targeted a particular role. I've always looked at where is there an opportunity for me to learn and grow. And what do I believe is an opportunity that will test me and provide me I guess you could say a certain level of discomfort and the opportunity to learn and really challenge myself to develop and grow and get different perspectives from the different roles that I've taken.
Sam Saperstein :
I love that. I think it really encourages other people to do the same thing and very often we just think of the next job that we could get or the promotion, but it sounds like you are looking for skills and ways to actually evolve yourself.
Rima Qureshi:
Yes. And also to make sure that I challenge myself and prove to myself in a way that we can learn and we can grow and also make sure that we do have a tendency sometimes to say, "Well, here are all the reasons why I can't do it." And if you wait until you say I have all of the abilities for the job, then probably you shouldn't be in that job because you know everything right? It is a fine balance between giving yourself enough challenge but also feeling like you have the capabilities to grow into the role so you kind of have to look at both sides of it.
Sam Saperstein :
Was there a time where you took on a role that people thought, "Well, that's interesting. Why would you be doing that" but you had a specific reason?
Rima Qureshi:
Yes, there have been. And I'll give you one example and it was when I had been in a P&L responsibility at Ericsson and then I had opportunity to take a bigger P&L responsibility or I had the opportunity to do head of strategy for Ericsson at the time. And I purposely actually took the opportunity to do the head of strategy because it was going to give me a different perspective. It was going to stretch me in a different way than taking on a bigger P&L role. And by some it was perceived as well, "You would be on a faster path to whatever they believe is their definition of success." And I'm making up my own definition.
Sam Saperstein :
I love that. Thank you. That's a great model I think to set. You've been a pioneer in telecom and in financial services in general. What were your mentors like along the way or people who helped you?
Rima Qureshi:
They were always people that I respected. They were always people that would challenge me intellectually but also challenge me personally in a way in terms of what I can or cannot do. I mean I always make an effort. I have two daughters and every time as they were growing up and even today in their early twenties I always make a point of saying you can do anything that you put your mind to. And I think what I've tried to do is also be surrounded by people who are doing the same for me and who were there to listen to me with all of my insecurities and all of my concerns of why I can't do it. But then to help me work through how to get it done.
Sam Saperstein :
That is great, that you are willing to put that out there and disclose that to them. They were giving you that advice back. How would you describe your leadership style?
Rima Qureshi:
I would say very results-oriented. Very protective, supportive of those that are in my team. Very focused on making sure that we deliver. I question. I challenge. I think as I've had an opportunity to further move in my career, I've tried to develop and not only focus on the results orientation, which is an innate or sort of natural focus, is also to think about how do I bring people with me. How do I create a vision that others can buy into? And that was the reason why I decided back then to take the strategy role because that was a way for me to develop that strategic thinking, that vision, that story that others can buy into. That was an opportunity for me to develop and deliver in a different way.
Sam Saperstein :
Yeah, so strategy, by its very nature, you're thinking of new things you need to get people involved, you need to build consensus. Is that what you're talking about?
Rima Qureshi:
And to be able to articulate where we're going. And not necessarily always have people that are reporting to you that you can just say get it done but influencing people to share in the vision and understand why we need to do something.
Sam Saperstein :
Has your way of engaging with teams changed over time?
Rima Qureshi:
Yes, it has. I think now it is more about making sure that everybody understands what the end goal is and working with the teams to help them get there. And solving the problems as you go along because I think that is another tendency that I have, which is problem solving. And it's an opportunity to say, "Okay, we've set ourselves a goal or someone has defined a problem and then it is to figure out what are the steps to help solve that problem."
Sam Saperstein :
You've talked a lot about how we can benefit from technology, and I think this is great in terms of how you really put this out there in terms of those positive aspects of technology. And you said specifically dystopia is a choice, meaning it's not necessarily where we're going.
Rima Qureshi:
Right.
Sam Saperstein :
Can you tell us more about that and how you think technology can be to our benefit?
Rima Qureshi:
It's not by coincidence that I've spent all my career working in technology. I've been fascinated by everything that technology can enable. And yes, there is always a possibility that technology will be used for not the best means and not the most beneficial. But if you look at overall the benefits that we've gotten from technology, everything that is around us that we take for granted every day, those things would not have been possible if we didn't keep pushing the boundaries on where we could take technology. I think the speed and pace with which everything is moving forward is a lot faster so we have to think through all of the implications a lot faster and work closer with the ethical issues that maybe get generated. But that doesn't mean we should slow things down. Progress is always important. The benefits of the progress are definitely going to outweigh the risks and we need to be aware of the risks and work through them.
Sam Saperstein :
I love that, always keeping that there's the good in front of everything and just being prepared. 5G is something that I'm sure you're spending a lot of time on and it hopefully is rapidly arriving for us. You see that as really bringing great potential to bring communities together?
Rima Qureshi:
I do.
Sam Saperstein :
Can you talk about that and why you see that as so beneficial?
Rima Qureshi:
Well, because it will, first of all, be a technology that will be more energy efficient. It will enable solutions such as smart cities, autonomous driving, tele-health in a way that you cannot do with the technology. We'll be able to provide additional capabilities that you don't have today. Those are things that of course everyone will benefit from. And we will be able to create solutions that will be better for the environment. If you don't have to be circling around looking for parking in the city, but know exactly where there are spaces because the parking space will tell you that it's available.
Sam Saperstein :
I can't wait for that.
Rima Qureshi:
Or cars that are autonomous that are driving around in the city centers so you can just get on when you need to and get off where you need to and not have to worry about parking your car. Everyone will benefit from these solutions. We will be able to make the handsets eventually cheaper and what is a mobile device becomes cheaper because you'll be able to put more of the capability, the computing capability, into the network and be able to have cheaper handsets as an example in the future as a way to ensure that everyone benefits from what we are deploying in the technology.
Sam Saperstein :
I hope that world comes very soon.
Rima Qureshi:
We're working on it.
Sam Saperstein :
Talk about too how you think education would benefit from this technology or other technology in general.
Rima Qureshi:
Education will benefit in that you don't need to only be in the best neighborhoods with the best teachers. You are going to be able to benefit from all of the best teachers no matter where you are because the technology will enable you first of all to get access to all of the lectures, for example, by what you can put online. We are working with Verizon Innovative Learning on helping schools in less-developed areas by giving them access to technology so they have it early on and that they are able to bridge the digital divide and ensure that they have access to everything that is available online and access to the technology that they can use as well. We're enabling 5G schools as well.
Sam Saperstein :
That's terrific. And do you think that will encourage more personalization of things like education to be delivered?
Rima Qureshi:
Absolutely, because you are going to be able to go at the pace that you need and you are going to be able to focus on what's important for you. It becomes a much more customized experience and a way to maintain the attention of the student in a way that you can't do when class sizes continue to go up. And you don't need to be sitting in a city to be able to access it. You can be in rural communities and still have access to the best education.
Sam Saperstein :
That's terrific. Let's shift gears to the future of work. We're talking about that a lot here at Davos this week and what the implications are. And you've also noted that we're going to have more connections than there are a number of people on the planet. First of all, explain what you mean about connections and how does that help us in terms of the future of work?
Rima Qureshi:
Well, everything becomes connected that benefits from a connection. There are all sorts of stats out there about how many devices will be connected by a certain period of time. But let's focus more on what the technology enables. The technology enables one million connected devices in a kilometer as an example. Our phones, from a consumer perspective, whatever we may wear as wearables will get connected. And those are just examples of what would be connected on us as human beings. But then if you consider your home, all of the things that are connected, or if cars are connected or drones are connected, all of those things will leverage the technology that we're deploying. How do we benefit from that is the connections and the connected devices will be able to communicate with the network and be able to create new jobs that maybe didn't exist.
Rima Qureshi:
We had a very interesting discussion this morning. There's a need for drone pilots as an example. And you think about all of the different drone applications. This is a developing field and this is a new job that is just starting today and there's a lot of interest. That's just an example of yes, work will change. Certain jobs will disappear, but other jobs will be created.
Sam Saperstein :
Right. That's fascinating. I don't think people really think about that. They might not be as immersed in it. Do you think this will help women in particular? What do you think the future looks like for women in that world?
Rima Qureshi:
I think everyone will have same access to education, whether you're living in the country or in the city, whether you're in a developed area or less developed area. That is a great equalizer to begin with. It all starts with the ability to have the education to then be able to take advantage of it and if it can be customized to what you need. And the jobs that are needed, I think if we make sure that there is enough focus on educating everyone towards where the jobs will be, yes there will be opportunities and opportunities that we don't see today.
Sam Saperstein :
And hopefully people of color too and people who are not otherwise engaged. Speaking of connecting people and more commerce, you're on the board of MasterCard and that is certainly a big goal of theirs, what do you think they're working on that you find is really going to be beneficial toward this notion of connection?
Rima Qureshi:
How many different ways can you pay and how do you ensure that that payment experience is as seamless as possible to be able to get on with what you are interested in doing. I think those are some of the examples of the types of things that they're working on.
Sam Saperstein :
Yeah, and around the world too, which I think will be extraordinary for this. Thank you so much for being here with us. I hope you have a great week here and we really appreciate hearing your insights.
Rima Qureshi:
Thank you very much.
Sam Saperstein :
Thanks to Rima for sharing her views on career development and on the future of connectivity. Her optimistic outlook on technological advancement is very encouraging. Thank you for joining us today. The mission of Women on the Move is to help women in their professional and personal lives. Our goal is to introduce you to people with great ideas, inspiring stories and a passion to make a difference. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review and subscribe so you won't miss any others. Thank you to our partners at the Female Quotient and Magnet Media for helping us tell these stories. For JP MorganChase's Women on the Move, I'm Sam Saperstein.
