This week’s insider convo is with Elya McCleave, founder & CEO of Innovorg, as well as a member of the CloudFest USA Advisory Board. Elya brings more than two decades of expertise in IT service management and customer success.
Originally from Uzbekistan, Elya moved to Canada early in her career, where she went on to found Innovorg—a platform focused on skills development and workforce optimization. Alongside helping businesses thrive, she has also volunteered as a mentor with the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and the Dixon Transition Society.
You founded Innovorg not long ago, in 2021. What changes in the cloud industry have you seen over the past four years that have changed the way you operate your business?
A: Over the past four years, we’ve witnessed the cloud industry undergo profound transformation — what was once primarily about migration and infrastructure has evolved into an ecosystem built on complex service delivery, talent fluidity, and automation at scale.
A few things stand out. First, the talent and skills crisis has intensified. As infrastructure becomes more distributed and workloads more dynamic, service providers are being challenged not only on uptime but on how quickly their teams can adapt, reskill and deploy expertise across hybrid environments.
Second, there’s been a significant shift toward service convergence — service providers are blending offerings to meet customer demands for integrated experiences. This has only increased the need for real-time workforce intelligence and cross-functional alignment, which is where Innovorg thrives.
Lastly, the rise of AI has created new possibilities — and pressures — for organizations. This has changed how we build, how we train, and how we hire.
In 2024, Innovorg launched advanced AI training content and further enhanced general AI capabilities. How do you make sure you still stay relevant, responsible, and value-driven in a fast-moving AI landscape?
A: We ground our AI strategy in three core principles: context, customization, and credibility.
At Innovorg, we don’t treat AI as a feature — we treat it as an intelligence layer that sits on top of a deeply contextual understanding of our clients’ roles, skills, and business models. This is why Innovorg AI doesn’t just suggest content — it prioritizes learning based on individual skills gaps, certification requirements, and business goals.
Second, we make sure every AI-driven experience is tailored. Whether a client is in colocation, managed cloud, or hyperscale hosting, their teams engage with learning, career pathing and workforce planning that’s specific to their vertical and environment.
Lastly, we are deeply committed to responsible AI. This means not just transparency in how we use data, but making sure every recommendation, insight and automation enhances human decision-making instead of replacing it.
As a repeat CloudFest USA panelist, what topic or topic ideas are most front of mind for you in 2025?
A: In 2025, the topic that’s most front of mind for me is: “Scaling Talent for the Future of Infrastructure.”
As the lines blur between cloud, network, edge, and AI services, the way we train, organize, and mobilize talent must evolve. I believe the future of digital infrastructure will be shaped not just by tech — but by how quickly teams can align around outcomes, shift between domains, and operate at the edge of their capabilities.
Other themes I’m watching:
· AI-Augmented Teams: How infrastructure companies are using AI to supercharge onboarding, compliance, and decision-making
· Talent Elasticity: Creating flexible workforces that scale up or specialize in real time
· Skills as Infrastructure: Treating skills not as static inventories but as active, living systems that fuel growth
What are you most looking forward to about CloudFest USA 2025 and its move to Miami?
A: Honestly — the energy. Miami is becoming a hub for tech reinvention, and I think it’s the perfect backdrop for the kind of bold conversations that need to happen in our industry.
I’m also excited about the opportunity to connect with a more diverse range of attendees — both in terms of geography and perspective. As CloudFest USA grows, it’s becoming more global, more inclusive, and more multi-dimensional. That aligns beautifully with our mission to serve the global digital infrastructure workforce.
Plus, who can resist a little sun while talking about cloud?
If you could program your own fireside chat with one person currently working in the industry, who would it be and why?
A: I’d choose Lydia Leong, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. Lydia has been one of the most insightful voices in cloud infrastructure for over two decades. Her ability to cut through noise and offer clear, forward-looking perspectives on market shifts, strategies, and the real drivers behind technology adoption is truly unmatched.
I’d love to have a candid conversation with her about where she sees the next phase of competitive differentiation emerging in the cloud and digital infrastructure space — not just from a product standpoint, but in how companies build, organize, and scale their talent to meet the demands of convergence, AI, and customer complexity. Her lens is both strategic and deeply technical, which makes her perspective incredibly valuable.
If you could program your own fireside chat with any person, dead or alive, who isn’t currently in the industry, who would it be and why?
A: I would choose Indra Nooyi, the former CEO of PepsiCo. Indra led one of the world’s largest companies through a period of massive transformation by focusing not just on performance, but on purpose, people, and long-term sustainability. Her leadership style resonates deeply with me because she always emphasized building organizations that are resilient, values-driven, and future-focused.
I’d love to explore how she navigated scaling a global enterprise while staying true to a mission—and how she balanced short-term demands with long-term human investment. At Innovorg, we’re obsessed with unlocking the full potential of teams across the digital infrastructure space, and her insights on workforce development, talent mobility, and ethical leadership would be incredibly powerful for our industry right now.
In a world where automation and AI are moving fast, I think Indra would remind us that the real differentiator is still our people — and the systems we build to help them grow.
Join CloudFest USA in Miami
November 5-6, 2025
