I was recently invited to Madison Square Garden for my first-ever experience watching WWE Raw Live. Surrounded by thousands of screaming fans,I couldn’t help but wonder, “How do you innovate one of the most innovative sports on the planet?” My curiosity led me to this interview with today’s guests.
Peter Gonzalez, Senior Vice President, Media Technology, WWE, and Serena Ness, Vice President, Innovation Program Management, WWE, join me on Innovation Storytellers to discuss the strategic programs, financial, backend, and technological transformations that help deliver the wow factor to audiences around the world.
We also talk about the importance of an innovation mindset, and explore how emerging technologies unlock different ways of engaging with fans inside venues.
Guest Details:
Name: Serena Ness
Title: Vice President, Innovation Program Management
Company: WWE
LinkedIn | WWE
As the Vice President of Innovation Program Management at WWE, Serena Ness leads large enterprise-wide strategic programs, such as the tech buildout for WWE’s new headquarters, and WWE’s financial transformation program. Serena is a strong believer in transparency, and focuses on driving cross-cutting change that shapes and drives digital and technology implementations. In her role at WWE, she works alongside technology professionals and across many other functions to drive innovation and oversee program execution. Serena is an executive with 25+ years of experience leading change within the financial services industry for companies such as Bridgewater Associates and BNY Mellon, and within the media and entertainment industry for companies such as HBO and Hearst Corp.
Guest Details:
Name: Peter Gonzalez
Title: Senior Vice President, Media Technology
Company: WWE
LinkedIn | WWE | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
Peter Gonzalez is the Senior Vice President, Media Technology, at WWE and leads the Media Technology team responsible for software engineering, mobile application development, video transcode, delivery, and distribution, as well as the building and hosting of key content origination systems that power WWE’s consumer products. Peter has spent the majority of his career in digital technology for broadcast media and entertainment. Prior to working with WWE, he worked at Turner Broadcasting as the Head of Technology for CNNMoney, and at NBC Universal as a key member of the leadership team that relaunched CNBC.com. Peter began his career at IBM.
