How did we go from the first widely affordable microcontrollers to AI in almost every industry within 30 years? The answer is engineering leaders like Gina Loften who help the largest companies on earth efficiently adopt cutting-edge technologies—and see what's coming next.
Identifying what technology is going to change the world next is a superpower everyone wishes they had. If you could see where advancements were being made and where funds were being invested—and if you had the vision to act on what you saw—what could you accomplish?
This is basically a job description for the CTO of Microsoft US, who is our guest this week on Moore's Lobby. Gina Loften is an electrical engineer, leader, author, and executive whose purpose is to identify the next big technologies, lead one of the most advanced teams of engineers on the planet to create solutions for them, and then help the largest corporations adopt them into their processes seamlessly.
Loften has been on the front lines of AI for years, from the public introduction of IBM's Watson to the new battlefield of bringing AI to the edge, which stands to affect everything from healthcare to retail. She has a unique perspective on what it means for engineers to specialize in a particular field and why they should care about what the next technological revolution brings.
In this episode, Loften discusses the rapidly evolving technology industry and how engineers should see themselves within it. As Loften puts it, "The world does not work without engineers."
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Meet Gina Loften
Gina Loften is the Chief Technology Officer for Microsoft Corporation US. Even before graduating with her electrical engineering degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, she worked at IBM as an intern and joined them as a full team member for nearly 30 years. In that time, Loften worked on a wide range of projects, from sonar applications to Watson to national intelligence.
In 2020, Loften joined Microsoft US as their CTO, a culmination of her experiences in identifying innovative technologies and helping real-world organizations implement them at scale. Drawing from her experiences across design work, R&D, sales, and consulting, Loften has a truly well-rounded background that gives her high-level perspective on the technology industry.
Loften is passionate about STEM education, diversity in the workplace, and the positive impact artificial intelligence can make across schools, companies, and communities.
