June 2020 - The Feld Group Institute

Learn Today! Online Class - Leading Digital Transformation

Leading the Acceleration of Digital Transformation Part 1: WHY the Time is NOW

Over the course of the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing with CIOs and IT leaders in our community some perspective, principles, and practices. My book, Blind Spot: A Leader’s Guide To IT-Enabled Business Transformation, is written for business leaders to understand the IT transformation journey in very simple business terms. I’ll be using the framework […]

Business Architecture – Linking Strategic Themes To Tactical Demand

In a recent blog post, Aligning Strategy to Business Capabilities, we discussed how vital it is for leaders to agree on what the company needs the ABILITY TO DO in order to achieve a set of defined strategic priorities or themes. In this post, we’ll explore that it is equally important for leaders to have […]

Aligning Strategy to Business Capabilities

IT doesn’t exist as a function for its own sake, IT exists to enable capabilities that a company needs in order to fulfill its business strategy and ultimately deliver returns to investors. But all too often, the linkage between what is being asked of IT, and the value it is intended to deliver to the […]

Alignment Is Critical In Times Of Uncertainty

These unprecedented times of challenges, obstacles, and crises have produced remarkable opportunities for focus, consistency, and cooperation. Discovering innovative ways to navigate the extraordinary shifts created by a worldwide pandemic, has underscored the need for all of us, as business and IT leaders, to get on the same page. Now, more than ever, we must […]

Connect with Russell Villemez

Russell Villemez

Affiliate, The Feld Group Institute

Head of Technology Strategy, Dialexa – a Feld Group Institute partner

Highly regarded CTO and change agent with IT strategy and enterprise architecture expertise.

Russell Villemez is an Affiliate with the Feld Group Institute and the head of Technology Strategy at Dialexa, a Technology Research, Design and Creation firm that works with organizations on initiatives such as Operational Transformation, Business Growth, and New Venture Creation.

During 17 years in operational roles and 15 years in consulting roles, Russell has worked across a variety of industries in both executive leadership positions and as a subject matter expert. Russell thrives on the scale and complexity of leading major change agendas in large corporate environments.

Recent consulting clients include AmerisourceBergen, the American Automobile Association, Brinker International, Cubic, Equifax, and Cox Automotive. A common thread is the client’s need for strong leadership during a period of change—whether motivated by acquisitions, spin-offs, competitive pressures, or other factors. Clients also benefit from Russell’s expertise in enterprise architecture, agile development, application portfolio rationalization, technology and architecture strategy, as well as business strategy and commercial software product development.

Recognized as a versatile IT executive, adept at solving complex problems with innovative solutions, Russell’s capabilities and achievements span a continuum from business-strategy formation to hands-on IT solution development. His extensive career achievements include pioneering the first use of relational databases in high-volume transaction systems in the ‘80s, applying voice recognition DSPs in public intelligent network services for consumer markets in the ‘90s, and leading large-scale adoptions of open systems, object technology, and middleware frameworks in complex business environments, often in advance of commercially available software products.

Prior to joining Dialexa, Russell served at HP as Enterprise Services Chief Technology Officer for the Americas, leading a global capability for embedded Account CTOs in large enterprises. Russell began his career at Accenture, where he first crafted his consultative problem-solving approach, later honed at A.T. Kearny and the Feld Group. Russell’s deep telecom experience is built upon numerous director and enterprise architect positions at AT&T, Bell Atlantic, Telstra, US West, Pacific Bell, and Sprint, and as V.P. and CIO for WebLink Wireless.

Russell has a BS in Business Administration from Louisiana State University and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. In his spare time, Russell participates in amateur auto racing, and is a driving instructor with the Porsche Club of America.