Charleston Conference veteran Tom Gilson and I spoke to Kumsal Bayazit, the new CEO of Elsevier, at Charleston in November 2019. Part of the conversation dealt with transformative agreements and open access; part of it dug into how Elsevier, as a part of the RELX Group, is changing as the company navigates the rapidly-changing information landscape. 

What is clear is that Elsevier is no longer just a traditional publisher and cannot be expected to behave like a traditional publisher. Kumsal Bayazit, who is both very smart and very savvy, was apparently hired because of her technology background, not her background in publishing.

I believe that the interview is quite revealing.