Data tech executives share business stories at CEO Evolution

The CEO of an international cloud software company headquartered in Norwalk and a data analytics leader at IBM Corp. will share their experiences, strategies and best practices at the fourth annual CEO Evolution seminar on June 14 at the University of Connecticut School of Business in Stamford.

John Preli

The free event, from 6 p.m. 8 p.m., is sponsored by Citrin Cooperman, the accounting, tax and business ”” consulting firm with offices in Norwalk and White Plains, in conjunction with the University of Connecticut School of Business and the Fairfield County Business Journal.

The audience will hear from John J. Preli, director of regulatory management and data governance at IBM Analytics, and Oni Chukwu, president and CEO of etouches, a cloud event management software company founded in 2008.  

Preli leads an IBM team centered on privacy, data security, import and export compliance, business-risk mitigation and ethics and integrity. The 35-year employee of IBM has held many executive leadership positions while also teaching graduate classes in financial risk management at the University of Connecticut. Event organizers said Preli will illustrate how business analytics is transforming businesses and industries, with examples from IBM”™s acquisition of The Weather Co.  

Oni Chukwu

At etouches, Chukwu is responsible for the company”™s vision, global strategy and day-to-day operations. A frequent speaker on technology and entrepreneurship, he serves on the Connecticut Technology Council board and the Board of Governors of the University of New Haven. Event sponsors said Chukwu will describe his experience accelerating the global growth and market position of etouches, which has opened offices in the United Kingdom, Singapore and Australia.

The CEO Evolution seminar was founded by Mark L. Fagan, managing partner of Citrin Cooperman”™s Fairfield County office, who again will moderate this year”™s talk.

Mark Fagan

“My goal when I created the CEO Evolution was to explore the dynamics of the corporate executive landscape and offer management insight and solutions. Our first three events have featured CEOs from Fortune 50 companies to hospitals to a technology company founded and run by a 27- year-old with an enterprise value of over $100 million,” said Fagan. “This year, we are thrilled to bring two top big data and tech executives to explore how technology and culture are transforming business.”

John Elliott, dean of the UConn School of Business, said the annual event is an exciting opportunity to shape both contemporary business leaders”™ and students”™ thoughts on management best practices. “As a business school, we teach management and leadership, and engaging in appropriate conversations such as this helps ensure that our research and knowledge is informed by the ongoing experience of successful business leaders,” he said. 

 Dee DelBello, publisher of the Fairfield County Business Journal, called CEO Evolution “a great forum where participants reveal real-life experiences with their companies that are extremely inspiring to aspiring CEOs.” 

To register, go to www.etouches.com/ceoevolution. For more information, contact Laura Di Diego at ldidiego@citrincooperman.com or 914-949-2990.