How innate talent, unrelenting drive and a moment of serendipity catapulted Charles Phillips into the rarefied circle of America’s top tech CEOs.
“Being in proximity to someone who has an open heart, who gives you confidence and can see something in you, can change your life.”
—Charles Phillips, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, RECOGNIZE
Charles Phillips, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, RECOGNIZE.
Jessica Pliska: You’ve built an iconic career as the leader of some of the largest global tech companies in the world, at Oracle, then Infor. Where did it all start?
Charles Phillips: I was a natural tinkerer as a kid, and one day I wandered into an electronics store in the mall. The owner didn’t look like me and we had nothing in common. He told me they had a club in a back room some nights, where people built computers. I didn’t know what he meant, but I was curious. It was all guys in their 50s, who encouraged me, saying, "You could learn this.” I built my first computer in 30 days and wrote my first app in the next 30. I got obsessed. I'd be up doing it at all hours and I learned.
Pliska: I have to stop you. You’ve led two different multinational corporations and pioneered some of the world’s most cutting-edge technology. And it all happened because you happened to walk in that store that day?
Phillips: That was it. Serendipity.
Pliska: Your whole career.
Phillips: My whole life changed because of that moment.
Pliska: My first thought is of all of the young people with a gift for something, who are never exposed to the opportunity to discover it.
Phillips: That’s why I say being in proximity to someone who has an open heart, who gives you confidence and can see something in you, can change your life. None of that would've happened for me if I had walked into another store.
Pliska: So a natural gift and a moment of chance—that’s why you’re where you are?
Phillips: And a work ethic my dad insisted on. He was a Senior Master Sergeant in the military, so you can imagine the discipline. His mentality was that you couldn't work hard enough. If you washed the car and it had a spot on it, you washed it again. That was his mindset: you could always be doing more. Nothing was ever quite good enough for him and I never wanted to disappoint him. It was frustrating, but it also gave me a fire, like, "I'm going to prove myself to him."
Pliska: The motivation of highly successful people can be instructive for others, but it also reminds us that we’re all human, no matter the heights we reach.
Phillips: Yes, and I also understood his motivation. He came by it honestly. He grew up picking cotton and baling hay. They took him out of school five months out of the year to work, so he only went to school four months. He knew he was smart, so he left home at 16, thinking there had to be something better, and joined the military. It was an escape from a bad situation.
Pliska: You followed his footsteps into the military, majoring in computer science at the Air Force Academy, and served five years in the Marine Corps. What did you work on?
Phillips: They were still building the origins of the Internet then, called ARPANET. That's how networking started and I was deeply engaged in it. So by the time the Internet came along, I already knew the power of it. I said to myself, "That's going to be a big thing.”
Pliska: So after the military, that’s what you wanted to do? How did you start?
Phillips: I wrote something like 150 letters trying to get an interview. I got just one response, from someone at BNY Mellon, who said "If you're ever in town, come see me." So I made up a reason to be in town, of course.
Pliska: My favorite ruse. All the smartest people do that.
Phillips: I don’t think he really wanted to meet. But I was persistent and flexible on terms since I didn’t have a lot of options. I acknowledged I didn’t have investment experience but neither did many other new hires. He hired me, and eventually, they put me in equity research. I had no idea what it was, but it was a good fit since enterprise software was becoming a more important investment theme and they hadn’t spent much time on technology beyond IBM. So I understood the products but had to learn Wall Street.
Pliska: In those days, what was it like being a young Black executive in tech?
Phillips: I didn’t often see people that looked like me. I didn’t have a natural cohort. But the technology and innovation were the common language and culture that brought people together around something exciting.
Pliska: You travel now in powerful circles that are not always, but are often, predominantly white. What are you hearing in conversations about race?
Phillips: People are more open to conversations about race and diversity than ever before. We’re seeing progress. But the changing demographics are difficult for many to accept. It’s a rough journey and it’s led to a polarization our political leaders don’t know how to resolve.
Pliska: You moved steadily ahead in your career to lead Oracle, then Infor, and now RECOGNIZE. Do you feel the same passion for business as you do for technology?
Phillips: I love running businesses. At RECOGNIZE, it’s motivating to be around young entrepreneurs, learning about new technologies. I love our ‘player-coach’ model, helping our companies grow. Everything they're trying to do, we've done 100 times, but it’s important to use that to co-innovate to optimize for today. They want that advice, or they wouldn't come. That's our differentiator—you can get money anywhere, but come to us if you want help thinking through strategy, recruiting, or connecting with customers.
Pliska: What else do you love about it?
Phillips: I like that technology is a gateway for great jobs and we can help define the future of work. Take OneTen, the organization I helped create with other Black leaders to promote the hiring of one million Black workers without college degrees into tech careers. We have 72 companies signed up, 50,000 people placed, $100 million committed, and mayors calling every day, asking how to get involved.
Pliska: You’ve been that kind of community leader for decades, as Chairman of the Apollo Theater, Co-founder of the Black Economic Alliance, a Board member at education organization The Posse Foundation, and the list goes on. How do you manage your time?!
Phillips: I only choose things I think are interesting, important, impactful and fun. I’m highly optimized and automated around key technologies and processes I’ve refined over the years. And I picked up my work ethic from my father, the Senior Master Sergeant.
Pliska: The guy at BNY Mellon who hired you reluctantly for your first job. Do you know where he is now?
Phillips: I saw him 25 years later, when I was President of Oracle. I visited with his CEO since they were an important customer and he surprised me by attending. He was a tad proud. I was even more grateful for the opportunity he gave me and haven’t forgotten it to this day.
