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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1490198
Created by the Canada Wide Media advertising department in partnership with Compugen Inc. AHEAD OF HIS TIME T erry Mirza, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Compugen Inc in Canada, and President of Compugen Systems Inc in the US, came into IT on a mission for an entirely different career. Entering the field at one of its most exciting times in history, Mirza quickly discovered that IT wasn't the steppingstone he'd expected. It was the way forward. When Mirza was in university, the last thing on his mind was technology. But the early 90s was an interesting time to be in the technology arena. PC price drops were bringing machines into every household. Affordability for IT systems scaled from larger enterprises to the general business owner. When an opportunity to intern at IBM came up, Mirza jumped at the chance. "I found myself learning, growing and realizing that I was part of something really special enabled by the Internet," Mirza says. "It was a new way to communicate and conduct business—an innovative pathway for a global market." After IBM, Mirza was seeking his dream job as a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. At the same time, Compugen was steadily climbing the ranks as a national provider of IT solutions. While interviewing there in 1999, Mirza felt Compugen's amazing culture, which empowered its staff and focused on company culture and values. This was more than the common quota target. LEADERSHIP Fast-forward to 2022, and Mirza is an experienced leader who values optimism—if you can envision it, believe in it, and put effort there, you can achieve it. He advises against strictly focusing on near-term targets that constrain bigger goals. He also believes in Stephen Covey's Speed of Trust matrix, which says high- performance teams are built on a combination of character, integrity, intent, competency, capability, results and trust. "If trust is not established, we don't truly collaborate—we simply communicate," Mirza says. "The sooner we can build trust in our professional relationships, the sooner we can innovate, enable rapid decision-making, and be on the same side of the table, serving the same outcome together." TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESS TODAY Leadership today must determine whether technology is in their business to enable productivity and provide staff a way to communicate or transform creativity throughout the company and foster new ways of reaching markets? "This difference may feel subtle, but it allows you to get clarity on how you define the role of IT in the business," Mirza says. Technology spans the business and is integral to every department. The modern workspace is a combination of real estate, people, culture and technology. Security is an issue across all departments. Data is key to agile decision-making and forward- looking direction. "Do not think of technology projects," he concludes. Think about business outcomes and IT's role in achieving them." Learn more at compugen.com Simplifying the business of technology . . . together @compugeninc @compugen @compugeninc At a time when PCs were replacing typewriters and NetScape was revolutionizing the internet, Compugen was climbing the ranks—and Terry Mirza wanted in.