John Kochavatr on management
From Leading in the Next Normal | CIO Talk Network · · CIO Talk Network
“For us at Portland General Electric, we think about outcomes — it's less about activities and more about outcomes, especially during a pandemic, to help employees understand what the expectations are for them.”
On , John Kochavatr, Vice President of Digital Solutions & Chief Information Officer at PORTLAND GENERAL ELECTRIC CO, spoke about management during Leading in the Next Normal | CIO Talk Network on CIO Talk Network.
About John Kochavatr
John Kochavatr, Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Portland General Electric (PGE), has discussed the company's efforts to accelerate digital transformation and decarbonization. He stated that PGE replatformed its digital infrastructure in 200 days, enabling customers to manage their own energy journeys, and that the company aims for 80% decarbonization by 2030 and 100% zero emissions from its business by 2040. Kochavatr noted that PGE has been the number one voluntary renewable energy program for 14 consecutive years, attributing this to customers voluntarily paying more for clean energy. He also described the "trilemma" of managing reliability, affordability, and clean energy, and said that data center growth, driven by AI and GPU energy demands, is a major source of load growth for utilities. In leadership discussions, Kochavatr emphasized focusing on outcomes over activities, particularly during the pandemic, and said PGE offered employees $300 for ergonomic equipment and $500 for child care. He shared a model from his time at GE that attributes 10% of promotability to performance, 25-30% to image, and 60-65% to exposure. Kochavatr stated that high-performing talent wants to work with other high performers and that leaders must show up as "8 or 9 out of 10" to attract top talent. He also acknowledged taking ownership of a cybersecurity incident during an ice storm in January, when a distributed denial of service attack disrupted PGE's call center.