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Guido Sacchi
Global Digital and Cybersecurity Executive with expertise in regulated environments I Board Member I Senior EVP and CIO, Global Payments (2011-2023)
Guido Sacchi is a seasoned technology executive with extensive experience in the digital and cybersecurity domains. He has served as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP) at Global Payments Inc., a leading financial technology company.1
Career Highlights
Sacchi has had a distinguished career spanning over two decades in C-suite positions.3 At Global Payments Inc., he has been instrumental in leading the company's technology initiatives and digital transformation efforts. His responsibilities included:
- Leading the Technology Committee
- Providing Board briefings at quarterly meetings1
- Overseeing worldwide technology teams
- Driving technology modernization and innovation
Expertise and Leadership
Guido Sacchi is recognized as a global digital and cybersecurity executive.4 His areas of expertise include:
- Technology leadership
- Digital transformation
- Cybersecurity
- Team building and development
Recent Developments
As of November 8, 2023, Guido Sacchi announced his plans to retire at the end of the year.2 This decision marks the conclusion of a significant chapter in his career at Global Payments Inc.
Professional Engagements
Throughout his career, Sacchi has been actively involved in various professional activities:
- Speaking at industry events, such as the Forbes CIO Next Summit in New York City, where he discussed technology modernization7
- Serving as an advisor to technology companies like Zscaler3
- Sharing insights on leadership, resilience, and technology trends through his LinkedIn posts56
Guido Sacchi's career exemplifies a commitment to technological innovation, leadership development, and driving business growth through digital transformation in the financial technology sector.
Highlights
Kraftwerk v. Khruangbin
I was very excited to go see Kraftwerk last week at Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA, celebrating the 50th anniversary of their first album, Autobahn (much appreciation for the company of my supportive/amused wife, Ellen). They are considered by some (like me) the originators of most of today’s electronic music and influencers of early hip hop and rap music. You would be surprised by knowing how many songs have sampled Kraftwerk’s riffs!
I am bringing this up because the experience also got me thinking about my struggles relating to young adults starting their careers today (congrats, graduates!) including my own kids. I am all about “the plan”; you want to be a doctor, start a company, rise in the military ranks? Show me your plan, please. Work back from the end point, describe the 100 steps necessary to get there, go out and execute. In other words, I am all Kraftwerk music.
These days, however, “the vibe” seems to be at least as important as the plan. We have, in fact, gone through a vibe shift, as it were. What’s the point of a plan when you have a good vibe going? One may well just ride the wave until the next vibe shift, when things will be reassessed appropriately. Translated into music bands this is, of course, Khruangbin.
And so, inevitably, my best advice to new graduates is - please consider both. Which is the same advice I give myself: I do like to have more Khruangbin in my life. After all, they may well be sampling Kraftwerk in their next album.
My first car back in Rome was a not-so-fabulous Citroën Dyane 6. One of its features was that it did not run when it rained. I had to stop, fiddle with a few things (spark plugs, the glorious Solex carburetor powering a massive 30 HP) and push-start it. Rome is hilly, so I took it as a good full body workout!
It is fair to say that my kids have no idea how to deal with that. Today’s car engines are mainly sealed off and the art of engine maintenance is a romantic hobby. In technology terms, a layer of abstraction has separated the user from the source. The users, unless they really care to dig deep, trade off the convenience for the understanding of the engine’s inner workings.
And so back to GenAI. ChatGPT and similar apps insert another abstraction layer between us and the original sources of knowledge or information, which become more and more mediated. Some tools, such as Perplexity, do provide source links in their output - not always accurate! Should we care? How much trust are we placing into the accuracy of the AI-generated output?
Here's what’s really gnawing at me: can we distinguish between true and false if we can’t get to the source, and is that eroding the fabric of a functioning society?
(Not a lot of AI in this one…)
