Cloud Storage CEO Sees Opportunities for Growth

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- The chief executive officer of cloud storage company Box Inc. surveys the world in turmoil from the pandemic and, while concerned about the crisis, sees opportunities for growth in certain sectors.

What are you learning in the middle of this crisis?

This is certainly one of the most radical shifts in technology and business operations in history. Companies have had to make their business model go digital in a matter of weeks. Whole new businesses will emerge, new types of players able to get customers they previously wouldn’t have been able to serve on a global basis.

What’s changed with the way companies operate?

You’re able to run your company almost completely in the cloud, whether that’s on Zoom or Webex or Microsoft Teams or Slack, from a videoconferencing and a chat standpoint. You’re able to get access to your data from applications and platforms like Box.

And how has all this affected the way people work in the WFH era? The days are actually longer. Work is getting done more in off-hours. People are using more technology to be able to do their jobs. We’ve shifted to more virtual ways of working. And we’re seeing an increase in collaboration amongst industries. You’re going to see, in a very odd way, because of social distancing, an increase in the level of connection.

Have the dynamics within a company changed? For the better or worse?

There’s an improvement—by an order of magnitude—in our ability to have conversations with dozens of people or hundreds of people at a time where anybody has a voice. You get a lot more engagement across the business—as opposed to normal meetings when a few people in the office own the conversation. As soon as companies start to settle into this remote work environment, this is probably going to be the most profound part of the transformation.
 
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