‘Serial Mover’
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
“A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.” — John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck could not better describe the path that Fossil Group’s Chief Information Officer Ed Robben has taken to get where he is today. Robben, a School of Electrical Engineering alumnus from Oklahoma State University, is a self-proclaimed “serial mover.” After working as an information technology executive for BNSF Railway and a consultant at the Feld Group and EDS, Robben set his sights to the retail world and helping J.C. Penney keep up in the evolving world of technology.
Looking for another challenge after five years, Robben became the CIO of the Fossil Group in June 2012. The company, based in the Dallas suburb of Richardson, Texas, knew that developing capabilities to engage customers and listen to their needs with a targeted, analytical approach was the only way to continue its success, and Robben would play a large role in that.
Dealing with cybersecurity, millions of consumers’ personal information, complying with the regulations of up to 150 governments (Fossil products sell in 150 countries, and the company has locations in 27) is becoming more and more complex. Robben prides himself on being able to work daily with some of the smartest people he knows.
“The experience and being able to see all the different companies and how they think about technology and how it’s applied has been great,” Robben says. “Meeting great people along the way and having great projects to work on has helped me move up in my career. I love the leadership aspect of it, and that’s why I’ve gravitated towards the position of CIO. Working with the leaders and the teams really energizes me.”
Today’s advances in wearable technology are exciting, Robben says. He’s seeing it on a daily basis at fashion company Fossil, but he has always been around innovation throughout his career.
Robben worked with the global positioning system in its infancy in the early ’80s. At the time, the systems weren’t the super-compact devices of today; they were closer to the size of microwave ovens, he says. He’s seen his work on GPS systems evolve into radio frequency identification (RFID), which keep track of everything from rail carts to shirts at J.C. Penney and now to wristwatches that can track your every move.
As an avid runner, he is excited to see this wearable technology’s impact on running. The demand to make this tightly packed technology into something that goes as well with khakis as it does running shoes is one of the challenges that Fossil and Robben are tackling.
Robben can attribute much of his success to his experience at Oklahoma State. He says he uses the problem-solving skills he developed while getting his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at OSU in Stillwater daily in business. He participated in a co-op program that was once in place for three semesters, gaining invaluable experience. Entering the professional world with production-level programming experience under his belt kick-started his career and gave him the ability to move up the ladder very quickly.
Still, he says the best thing to happen to him at Oklahoma State was when, “I met my wife of 31 years at Oklahoma State. She’s the mother to my 3 daughters, all of whom are now a part of the OSU family.”
“I met a lot of great people, and OSU does great things and continues to get better each time I visit,” says Robben. “I’m really proud of the university and everything that they’re doing.”
He offers advice for today’s students: “If you’re in the field of change or driving to create change, believe it can be done,” says Robben. “Have a clear vision and focus and understand the risk. Be flexible and at the end of the day, remain calm.”