Ten years ago, CJ Cannata had a vision focusing on young influencers—a vision celebrating young people in our industry under 40 years of age who are making a difference in their organizations. He recognized the younger generation working in the industry was making an impact, and they represented the future of the office technology industry.
In the first nine years of the franchise, 67 young leaders have been profiled, with most still in the industry and graduating to more senior roles in their organizations. For others no longer in the office technology industry, the positions they held at the time they were profiled were stepping stones in their career advancement.
Somewhat surprising and especially gratifying is how easy it is to find young influencers. Sometimes we find them organically by attending an industry event, or they were sources quoted in recent articles, like two young influencers profiled in this issue. Others have been found by reaching out to dealers and vendors across the industry who connect us with young people in their organizations who are not on our radar but who should be.
It is often lamented that this industry doesn’t do a good job attracting young people. Perhaps, but what we have seen over the past 10 years—including in this year’s young influencers’ profiles—is that quality young talent is certainly finding its way into the industry and building successful careers. As in our past Young Influencer issues, I believe you will be inspired by this year’s group of up-and-coming influencers.
In addition to our Young Influencer profiles, we have reached out to other young people in the industry to get a better idea of how they leverage technology, social media, artificial intelligence, and the internet to assist in their career development. Finally, we look at the impact of Gen Z in the workplace with “The Gen Z Workplace Revolution: How Their Values are Reshaping the Future of Work.” For those of us on the north side of this generation, we need to start prepping.
No matter what generation our young influencers identify with, hopefully, it will be as obvious to you as it is to me that this industry is well positioned for the future thanks to the young talent that continues to find their way into the industry and emerge as key players in an ever-changing channel.
Cheers to our young influencers, past, present, and future!
