Nicholas Michael Donofrio (born September 7, 1945) is an American scientist and engineer and was the Executive Vice President of Innovation and Technology at the IBM Corporation until 2008.

Upon retirement, he was selected as an honorary IBM Fellow, the company’s highest technical honor.

In 1995, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for contributions in the development of semi-conductor memory and technical leadership in computers.

In the book, Donofrio shares lessons learned across almost six decades experience in business and innovation and chronicles the development and launch of seminal technologies such as the IBM S/360, the RS6000, Blue Gene, the Genographic Project and Watson.

The chapters are framed within lessons learned early in life from Donofrio's blue-collar father and mother.