The human brain is very much like a complex organization, says Walter Mullikin. To survive, both require sensory input, instantaneous processing, decision-making skills and feedback controls. Mullikin has been applying those principles – learned as a scientist doing brain research at the University of Pennsylvania – in his current role as a partner at Philadelphia-based CSC, where he is considered one of the firm's leading visionaries in science and technology. Most recently, he helped international food service provider Aramark rethink the way it negotiates and interacts with food manufacturers. For starters, the Philadelphia-based company needed help managing product rebates from hundreds of manufacturers.
Mullikin built a system that helps Aramark analysts not only keep track of rebates, but also develop what-if scenarios around contract management. By setting up contract algorithms based on purchasing, volume and other factors, Aramark can identify the best negotiating position. "It became a really strategic project for the organization," Mullikin says. He led the Proof of Concept and Architecture phases of the project and later assumed responsibility for the project's technology architecture components in addition to providing leadership to the technical team.
Mullikin also was the visionary behind an information management system, designed with DuPont's Crop Protection Discovery unit, which integrates millions of research data points to help essential crop protection products reach the market faster.
Colleagues say he's also able to walk into difficult client situations, assess the problems, organize the approach and delegate responsibility.
Mullikin honed his people skills as an entrepreneur for 12 years developing biomedical research systems, hospital information systems and information management systems for researchers and scientists.
"Having my own company, you develop all those skills. I had to build stuff then take it around the world and sell it—get people to believe in us and entrust us," he says.
Today, Mullikin focuses on business intelligence work and helping companies figure out how to capitalize on masses of collected data. Just like the human brain gathers data and then learns to process it and make course adjustments, companies are facing the same challenge.
"We're so good at collecting lots of data, we have these huge storage devices to put data into now, but we're so poor at knowing how to make use of it," Mullikin explains. "I don't know if we know how yet. Maybe that will be the next visionary thing."
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