I've been CEO of Waste Management for seven years, and from day one I knew that the one way we could transform our company was through technology. Puneet is the right person to do it because he has the ability to grasp the vision and then operationalize it. To be a true business partner with the CEO, which is what every CEO is looking for, don't just be a technologist. One of the first things Puneet did was to live the life of a customer service rep, a dispatcher, a driver and a route manager. Before he did anything with technology, he went into the field to learn the business.

As told to Contributing Editor and CIO Executive Council VP Rick Pastore. Visit after Feb. 21 to view Waste Management's complete CEO Agenda video interview.