Carfax CTO: A Need for Speed

“I used to be the vice president of the data center, but I got tired of trying to explain that. CTO just made more sense.”

  

Gary Lee

CTO of Carfax

As the CTO of the Carfax, one of the leading sources of information on vehicles on the Web, Gary Lee focuses on deploying the best technology available in the most cost-effective manner possible. In this CTOedge interview, Lee defines how he sees his role.

CTO Edge: Your organization has both a CTO and CIO. What’s the major difference in the two roles?

Lee: A lot of it has to do with being focused on external versus internal functions; although there are a lot of gray areas. As CTO, I tend to be a lot more informed about products and external operations. I used to be the vice president of the data center, but I got tired of trying to explain that. CTO just made more sense.

CTO Edge: If someone wants to be a CTO, what type of company should they be looking to work for?

Lee: They have to see technology as a differentiator. And that just doesn’t mean the coolest technology, but rather most cost-effective. And the company has to want to move fast.

CTO Edge: What technology areas are getting your interest at the moment?

Lee: Extreme programming and anything to do with Java. Again, we’re always trying to move fast.