Alto CEO Alicia Boler Davis Joins SamPac Managing Partner Tirto Adji at Stanford GSB Turbo Talk.

The Stanford Executive Program (SEP) was proud to host the former Executive VP at General Motors, Senior VP at Amazon, and now CEO of Alto Pharmacy, Alicia Boler Davis, at their Turbo Talk on July 11, 2023. Samudra Pacific Managing Partner Tirto Adji joined Davis as the moderator while they discussed the main topic of leading at scale surrounding Davis' many impressive experiences.

The SEP audience of 200 consisted of emerging leaders from over 50 countries on track to complete a fast-track MBA curriculum at Stanford’s renowned Graduate Business School. Although the audience boasted C-suite executives from mid to large-sized enterprises, the attendees were captivated by Davis’ unique origin story and journey to excellence.

Managing a team of over 140,000 at General Motors and 800,000 from Amazon, with one of the largest teams and budgets at the company ($80B), Davis spoke about her guiding principles in managing uber-fast systems and large-scale resources.

“I can think back on my career where I had many crucible moments where I was either going to fail or not and what I had to learn early on was that it wasn't about me working harder, it was really about how do I create the right mechanisms,” Davis said. “In order to make sure I'm really clear about what's important? How do we measure it? And how do I make sure I'm communicating and keeping the team aligned? That's what I've learned.”

Davis also touched on Amazon’s famous customer-centric company and the principles and culture that have elevated the company to the next level. Davis said that she initially wanted to join Amazon because she believed it was the most customer-obsessed company in the world while also being highly innovative. However, Davis was equally impressed at Amazon’s commitment to operational excellence, which allowed them to invest in technology and maintain their enormous scale.

With Amazon's typical environment characterized by incomparable speed and its dynamic demand-driven procedures, Davis also experienced navigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic at the company. Through these troubled times, Davis said she learned a lot about how to run businesses with transparency.

“To learn the importance of saying we do not know, but based on what information you have, we believe; and also being in the trenches, doing that with my team, being there helping to explain what we are doing and why we are doing it and being able to listen to criticism,” Davis said.

While making her transition to Alto as their new CEO, Davis was excited by the challenge of switching to the new healthcare domain. Notorious for having misaligned incentives and being slow-moving, Davis believes while the healthcare industry is complex, it can be fixed and become better.

“I think what I'm hoping to bring is this commitment and this tenacity to fix it, to improve it, to do something about it, to leverage technology to help us solve problems to do that, while still caring for people,” Davis said.

Now as Davis has reached her almost one-year mark as CEO of Alto, Davis admits she is still learning every day about the intricacies of the healthcare industry and is fueled by her curiosity and willingness to learn and listen.

Even after Davis’ multitude of career accomplishments, Davis has reached the point in her career where she is not afraid to do something different and challenge the status quo. Her goal with Alto is not to be conservative or cautious but to lead with determination and leave it all on the table.