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Paul Gaffney is a change agent with a unique perspective on successful enterprise technology and operations transformation. He led profound and durable improvements in technology, operations, and overall business results for several iconic American brands, including The Home Depot, DICK’s Sporting Goods, Kohl’s, Staples, Office Depot, and Charles Schwab. Paul has been a Chief Technology Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Supply Chain Officer, and Chief Executive Officer. Regardless of the title, Paul focuses on a human-centered approach to identifying and solving problems. His approach motivates team members to contribute to success in ways they previously thought impossible.
He advises several early-stage companies and is an active executive advisor for Deloitte. Paul also delivers a popular and impactful keynote presentation on transforming from Project to Product. This talk was a vital feature of the 2022 DevOps Enterprise Summit, the inaugural 2022 Prodacity conference and eBay’s most recent internal TechCon, and several follow-on online events. He leads custom seminars and was chosen by the students as the lead-off speaker in the 2023 seminar series for MIT’s “Leaders for Global Organizations” dual master’s degree program.
Paul has also been an early-stage executive at two start-ups: the initial CEO of Website Pros, now web.com, and the COO of Desktone, acquired by VMWare. Paul was inducted into the Chief Information Officer Hall of Fame by CIO magazine. He lives on Scraggy Neck in Cataumet, Massachusetts, with his wife Kate and their two black labs, Nike and Cosmo. Paul earned his A.B. in Computer Science from Harvard College and completed graduate psychology coursework at Harvard University. He is a 2009 Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and a member of, and Moderator for, the Aspen Global Leadership Network and the Institute’s seminars program.
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