Scott Lindblom

“If we can fall in love with serving people, creating value, solving problems, building valuable connections and doing work that matters, it makes it far more likely we're going to do important work." —Seth Godin What does great look like? I can get you there in challenging times. As a CIO, I provide peace of mind to CEOs by delivering a finely tuned world-class IT machine aligned with company mission and goals for superior value creation amidst the most challenging of times. With a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and a master’s in finance, I began my career as a Consultant first with Price Waterhouse and then with Coopers and Lybrand. Both of these experiences exposed me to developing technology solutions for Fortune 500 companies and I was immediately drawn to the idea of Technology as a Value Creator—and I found a whole new passion and career direction. During my career, I modernized IT at Michaels, Ross Stores and Best Buy delivering industry leading technology, catapulting IT from being a drag on the business to the forefront of value creation. Together with the IT team, we provided superior customer experiences, generated revenue and minimized cost for these Fortune 500 omnichannel retail giants. As Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Michaels, we helped the business achieve 75% of revenue during the pandemic growing e-commerce 300%—jumping Michaels 9 spots to top 20 visited retail sites. Additionally, I reduced IT expense as a percent of revenue by 50 BPS and solved a corporate business challenge saving $80M annually. A great day for me is where I can fully engage with the IT team and executive partners. I enjoy working with the IT team, helping to impart skills as business champions like critical thinking, business case development, problem solving and proactive customer service for professional development and team success. I also enjoy engaging with executive partners to ensure alignment and provide advisement on future opportunities. Leadership ➙ Innovation ➙ Value Creation ➙ Speed to Market ➙ Growth. This is what great can look like. I welcome invitations to connect and share best practices for all things retail industry and technology related.