Tag: IGNITE

I had the pleasure recently of attending my first Insight IGNITE event, which was held at the ION Adventure Hotel in enchanting Iceland. It was also my first trip to Iceland. These two new experiences combined to deliver an excellent learning and networking experience, resulting in me realizing more than several new insights (pun intended) around DevOps, cloud and cybersecurity, as well as mindfulness and contentment.

The agenda for this particular IGNITE event featured some great examples and discussion around DevOps, cloud migration and infrastructure and cybersecurity, among several others. All three of these were right in my wheelhouse, so I really enjoyed the presentations and discussions. I couldn’t type fast enough to keep up with all of the insights I was soaking in. Of course, I was also trying to contribute to the conversations, which are held in a very open, communal manner under Chatham House Rules.

You may not be familiar with the Insight IGNITE Innovation Roundtable Series. They are the brainchild of Insight Partners’ Emmet B. Keeffe III. Emmet is beyond passionate about digital transformation (among several other passions including Formula One racing, world peace and now mindfulness/contentment). Utilizing his vast network (and it is vast), Emmet founded Insight IGNITE, an innovation program that delivers Innovation Briefings, the Innovation Roundtable Series and Growth Advisory Board opportunities to global IT leaders. I know that sounds like marketing speak, but let me explain.

Basically, Emmet holds about one of these events a month at some of the most fascinating venues on earth. Each one has ~50 people. There is a mix of C-level executives from some of the 200+ Insight Partners portfolio companies, along with executives past and present from large global enterprises, sprinkled in with a mixture of technology experts and subject matter experts (I guess that is what got my ticket punched). The agenda is an exhilarating mixture of roundtable discussions and presentations on subjects touching on Digital Transformation, along with exciting activities that allow attendees to experience the local venue.

The events are open to Global 2000 executives and other business and technology experts who think they could both benefit from this type of experience as well as have something to offer.  You can reach out to Emmet’s team if you are interested in attending one of these events.  Most attendees have to cover their own airfare/hotel. While not cheap, it is well worth the money, and the IGNITE team, who are extraordinary, do an amazing job of keeping it fresh, fun and challenging.

The real special sauce of the IGNITE Roundtable Series, though, is the passion, caring and love that they receive from Emmet’s team. It is infectious and spreads to the attendees as well. I have attended hundreds of conferences over the years and don’t remember one where I made as many connections, had as many great side conversations and really felt part of a group. I am sure many of the people I met at this event I will be in touch with and doing business with in the months and years ahead.

I met Emmet about three or four years ago in London (where he lives with his family now) and was invited to a previous event or two but was unable to make it. Since then, it seems Insight Partners is investing in so many of the companies that we work with here at MediaOps in DevOps, containers and cybersecurity—including Tricentis, JFrog, Aqua Security, Firemon and others. If you can’t beat ’em join ’em, as they say, so I decided to take Emmet up on his kind invite and check it out.

The IGNITE event in Iceland had several great presentations about disrupting your own company product by spinning up the disruptor internally. We heard from “a queen of transformation” who has led transformations at several large multinational and government agencies. Another presentation focused on how an energy company keeps transforming as it stays ahead in today’s ever-shifting market and sets the bar for what the energy company of tomorrow looks like. In addition, there were some great panel discussions on the current state of DevOps and Agile, another on the state of cloud migrations, hybrid cloud and next-generation infrastructure. Also on the agenda was a great discussion regarding what is happening in cybersecurity and how critical it has become as part of any transformation. All of these were great, but what made them better was the great discussions they sparked among the attendees.

That was not the full roundtable agenda, though. We also had a private briefing with the first lady of Iceland, discussions on some new fintech companies and technologies, AI/ML and more.

But perhaps some of my favorite presentation and discussions were on a new passion of Emmet’s called the Contentment Foundation. This is a breakthrough effort to bring a new take on making education better for the world of today and tomorrow. Led by Dr. Daniel Cordaro, it recognizes that children are truly our future. How can we make them more content and mindful, better equipped to handle the world of tomorrow and the challenges they will face? The Contentment Foundation has developed a curriculum that is available to just about any school in the world. If you know a school that you think could benefit from this, I encourage you to reach out to them.

All work and no play would make for a boring event, though. My trip to Iceland at the Insight IGNITE Roundtable was far from boring. We visited the famous Perlan Planetarium (which, unfortunately, was as close as I got to seeing the Northern Lights on this trip); ate in a Viking-themed restaurant; and rode ATF vehicles through the rugged, lava rock-strewn, stream-filled Icelandic countryside. We explored a lava tube cave and more. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate, so we had to cancel snowmobiling, whale watching and dinner on an island off the Iceland coast. I stopped off before heading to the airport to explore a bit in the capital of Reykjavík, which is a great little city with great cafés, shopping and sights.

Even the social activities provided some great bonding and networking opportunities. It is rare for me that I not only make business acquaintances, but also form friendships at events like this. To me, this was yet another unique feature of the IGNITE Roundtable: People were there genuinely to share their experiences and discuss the burning topics at hand.

All in all, one of the best events I have attended in a long time. I highly recommend attending at least one of these IGNITE Roundtables, if this sounds like something you may be interested in. As for me, I am already looking at what is the next one I will be able to attend. Once I have had a chance to digest and percolate on some of the insights I experienced, I will share a follow-up article to share them with you.

Thanks, Emmet and IGNITE team, for a great experience.

— Alan Shimel