This Pipeline podcast features a not-so-serious Q&A with Pegasystems CMO Tom Libretto covering Journey albums, blockchain hype and what happens at a user conference.
LAS VEGAS -- Banking blockchain begets burning hype.
As such, banking blockchain support in the newly announced Pega Infinity toolbox debuted to much fanfare at the PegaWorld user conference. But, as is the company's custom of taking the conservative approach with hyped technologies and applying it to specific, customer-requested use cases, the product doesn't cover full-on banking blockchain or cryptocurrency integration.
Instead, Pega Infinity's banking blockchain comprises support for a private ledger in which a consortium of banks can share validated documentation to crowdsource customer onboarding, which can seem onerous in some countries where regulations require a lot of identity verification to open accounts.
Then, in his PegaWorld keynote, CEO Alan Trefler -- in a funny moment -- disparaged the blockchain hype by showing the pivotal Rosebud snow globe opening scene from Citizen Kane on the MGM Grand Garden Arena big stage, edited with a voice breathlessly gasping "Blockchain!" as the glass shatters.
Like many hype cycle curves, blockchain is certainly going through its own.
For Pegasystems Ltd. CMO Tom Libretto, that whole situation may have caused a twinge of heartburn, as he helped orchestrate the company's big banking blockchain unveiling on the eve of PegaWorld. We asked him: Doesn't that make your job a lot harder when the CEO takes a shot at your big announcement?
"Like many hype cycle curves, blockchain is certainly going through its own," Libretto said, interpreting Trefler's theatrical joke as a slight toward the rest of the world overrating blockchain's potential as opposed to a direct swipe at his own product. "We've seen that play out with AI and other technologies that are either further along or lower on that adoption curve."
Other burning topics in this episode of the Pipeline podcast include that when Pegasystems decided to do away with version numbers for its platform -- previously Pega 7, rechristened Pega Infinity -- the company's marketing team must have had Buzz 'To Infinity and Beyond' Lightyear -- from the movie, Toy Story -- in mind, or albums from the '80s band Journey. One or the other. Libretto answers for that, too. Well, kind of.
