Latest / Chief in Tech Deep Dive Shortcast / Chief in Tech S1E1 - Cloud, AI, and Sustainability: The CIO's Perspective (Accenture, HP, Oracle)

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Chief in Tech S1E1 - Cloud, AI, and Sustainability: The CIO's Perspective (Accenture, HP, Oracle) · Chief in Tech Deep Dive Shortcast

• 0:00
  Wow, getting ready for this deep dive into this future is now.
• 0:04
  CIO panel honestly has me feeling so energized.
• 0:07
  Oh yeah.
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  These women are amazing and it's just what like the perfect way to kick off the week.
• 0:12
  Right?
• 0:12
  They sure.
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  So we're diving into your notes and the transcripts obviously focusing on Jay Evans
• 0:18
  from Oracle Penelope Pret from Accenture and Ron Garrier.
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  Yeah.
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  Talk about a CIO dream team.
• 0:25
  Right?
• 0:26
  That's.
• 0:26
  Absolutely.
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  And the timing couldn't be more perfect for a conversation like this, right?
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  We're at this like turning point where everything's changing so fast.
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  Yeah.
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  And these CIOs aren't just talking about the future.
• 0:36
  They're building it.
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  Totally.
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  And they're not like sugarcoating anything either.
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  Yeah.
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  Take the cloud, for example.
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  Penelope basically said, if you're still asking about the ROI of the cloud, you're
• 0:44
  already in the slow lane.
• 0:45
  Yeah.
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  Penelope's comparison of the cloud to the internet I thought was just spot on.
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  Yeah.
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  It really highlighted how fundamental it is.
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  Right?
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  This isn't like a trend or a fad.
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  It is the foundation upon which like almost everything else will be built.
• 1:00
  Yeah.
• 1:01
  And it's not just theoretical either.
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  Jay Evans from Oracle shared this really interesting story about how even they
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  uncovered wasted resources after moving to the cloud.
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  Oh, wow.
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  Which just goes to show, I think, how complex all of this is.
• 1:14
  Absolutely.
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  And you know what's so fascinating about that is how the cloud actually
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  provides more transparency.
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  Yeah.
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  So it's like, it allowed them to see those inefficiencies that maybe they
• 1:24
  didn't even know were there before.
• 1:26
  It's like shining a light in all the corners that you just never even think to look.
• 1:29
  Exactly.
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  And that kind of brings us, I think, to another big takeaway from this panel,
• 1:33
  which is data is power, obviously, but only if you have the skills to actually use it.
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  And Ron Garrier had this really interesting perspective on what those skills actually are.
• 1:45
  His point about moving beyond just being a math person is so important.
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  And it really resonated with me.
• 1:51
  Yeah.
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  Technical skills are obviously important, but it's about being a problem solver.
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  It's about being a storyteller.
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  It's about collaboration.
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  Those are the things that really make a difference.
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  It's about bringing people along on the journey, not just, like you said, crunching
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  numbers in your little corner.
• 2:05
  Yeah, exactly.
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  And speaking of journeys, I mean, Ron's own career trajectory is like a
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  masterclass in adaptability.
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  Oh, tell me about it.
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  Going from repo agent to five times CIO.
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  I mean, that's incredible.
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  It really goes to show you that sometimes those unexpected paths can
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  lead to really amazing places.
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  For sure.
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  And he actually got his start in IT because of the Y2K rush.
• 2:29
  Oh, wow.
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  Which is crazy to think about now.
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  I know.
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  It's like this blast from the past.
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  But it just shows you how these big moments can completely change entire industries.
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  Yeah.
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  Speaking of big moments, though, Penelope did not hold back when she said change or
• 2:43
  die when it comes to digital transformation.
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  She really didn't.
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  Which is kind of her style.
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  It's true.
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  But you know what?
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  That bluntness is actually what makes it so powerful.
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  Oh, for sure.
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  It's a wake up call.
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  Yeah.
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  For anyone who's dragging their feet.
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  Totally.
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  And it's not just talk.
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  Either Accenture under Penelope's leadership, they are a case study in rapid digital
• 3:04
  transformation.
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  Absolutely.
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  They practice what they preach.
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  Exactly.
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  And it makes sense, right?
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  Because it's like Darwin said, adapt or become irrelevant.
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  And that adaptation, that takes a certain mindset.
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  Absolutely.
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  Both Penelope and Jay actually talked about this idea that you have to be comfortable
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  with being uncomfortable.
• 3:20
  Oh, yeah.
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  Like, it's OK to not have all the answers, but you have to at least have the drive to
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  look for them.
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  That intellectual curiosity.
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  It's more important than ever, I think.
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  Yeah.
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  And that's where things get really, really interesting, I think, because it's not just
• 3:34
  about the tech.
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  Right.
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  It's about us.
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  It's about like the future of work, how we live, how we interact with the world.
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  And this is where I think those lines really start to blur.
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  Yeah.
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  Yes.
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  What struck me was that the skills that we need to navigate this new world, they aren't
• 3:50
  just for tech people.
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  Exactly.
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  They're for everybody, every industry, every profession.
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  So for our listeners out there, it's like, OK, how can we take all of this and actually
• 4:02
  apply it to what we're doing?
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  Right.
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  How do we take these big ideas and make them relevant to our own lives and our own careers?
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  Because it can feel overwhelming, right?
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  Well, absolutely.
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  Yeah, it's real, right, that fear of being left behind in the dust.
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  Totally.
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  But Ron Garrier's advice to like fall in love with solving a problem, that really stuck
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  with me.
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  Oh, yeah.
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  You know, it's not about mastering every single new gadget or coding language as soon as it
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  comes out.
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  Yeah.
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  It's about finding what excites you, what you're passionate about, and then figuring
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  out how to use technology as a tool to make a difference.
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  I love that because it really shifts the focus, doesn't it?
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  Yeah.
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  From am I keeping up with the things that I'm doing?
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  Keeping up to what problem am I passionate about solving?
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  I'm excited.
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  And honestly, I think that's just such a game changer for anybody who's feeling overwhelmed
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  by all of this.
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  Absolutely.
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  And it ties back into Penelope's emphasis on intellectual curiosity, too.
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  Yes.
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  Remember, she said you can't master any one specific technology because by the time you
• 5:00
  do, it's going to be outdated.
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  So it's more about cultivating that thirst for knowledge, the ability to learn and adapt
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  and evolve.
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  It's like she's saying, become the kind of person who is excited by all of this change,
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  not threatened by it.
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  Right.
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  And honestly, who wouldn't want that superpower in this day and age?
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  And you know what I love about that is that it's not just about formal education or getting
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  another certification.
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  Right.
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  It's about being curious.
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  It's about connecting with people in your field.
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  It's about just having that mindset of continuous improvement.
• 5:33
  Totally.
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  And it made me think about something else, too, that Ron said that I thought was both
• 5:37
  endearing and kind of insightful.
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  What's that?
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  He was talking about his son, Jordan, who's about to graduate with a degree in math and
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  data science.
• 5:45
  OK.
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  You'd think with Ron's background being such a tech heavy hitter, he would be all about
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  pure technical mastery.
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  Right.
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  Go out there and code the world.
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  Right.
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  Build the metaverse.
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  But instead, he's like, no focus on being a problem solver, be a storyteller, be a
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  collaborator.
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  I love that.
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  It just goes to show you those human skills, those soft skills, they're not just nice to
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  haves anymore.
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  They're the differentiators.
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  Yes.
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  In a world where AI is becoming more sophisticated every single day.
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  It is interesting, though, because we tend to think of technology as being very analytical,
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  very left brained.
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  Right.
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  But this panel really highlighted how crucial the human element still is, that emotional
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  intelligence.
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  And it makes sense, right?
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  Yeah.
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  Because think about it.
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  If AI is automating all those routine tasks, what's left are the things that are uniquely
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  human.
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  Exactly.
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  Like creativity and empathy and critical thinking and being able to build those relationships
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  and solve problems together.
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  You know, it's like that old saying, it's not what you know, it's who you know.
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  Right.
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  But maybe in the future, it'll be, it's not even what you know, but how you connect.
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  I love that.
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  And that connection piece is so key.
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  Yeah, the panel talked a lot about the importance of collaboration, right?
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  Not just within companies, but across industries.
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  And that brings us back to that whole blurring of lines thing that we were talking about
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  earlier, right?
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  Technology isn't just siloed in the IT department anymore.
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  Nope.
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  It's everywhere.
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  It really is.
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  Like every company is becoming a tech company in a way.
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  Think about it.
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  Healthcare finance manufacturing, even those industries that we traditionally think of
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  as being low tech.
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  Right.
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  They're all being transformed by this stuff.
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  By data, by automation, by AI.
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  It's exciting.
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  It is.
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  But also kind of daunting, right?
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  Especially if you don't necessarily consider yourself a tech person.
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  Exactly. And that I think is where that adaptability comes in that lifelong learning.
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  It all comes back to that, doesn't it?
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  It really does.
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  Because it's about being open to these new possibilities, being willing to learn new
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  things, realizing that the skills that you have right now, they might be transferable
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  to something that you've never even thought of.
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  It's like you're constantly having to level up your skills, your mindset, even just your
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  definition of what's possible.
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  And that brings us to like a really big question that I think is probably on the minds of a
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  lot of our listeners.
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  Yeah, the elephant in the room whenever we talk about AI and automation.
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  Exactly.
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  What does all of this mean for jobs?
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  Right. Are the robots coming for us?
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  It's the question, right?
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  Like what happens to us in all of this?
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  Yeah.
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  And you know what I really appreciated?
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  That they didn't shy away from it.
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  They acknowledge that the job market is changing.
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  Some jobs are going to be automated, but-
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  It's not about mass unemployment.
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  It's almost like this mass opportunity.
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  Right. Exactly.
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  And the thing is, those new jobs are going to require new skills.
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  So it's less about robots stealing our jobs and more about us needing to level up faster
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  than ever before.
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  Yes. And that's where education, I think, both formal and informal becomes so important.
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  Absolutely.
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  It's about equipping ourselves with the skills to thrive in this new landscape.
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  It's interesting though, because it's starting to sound less like humans versus machines
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  and more like humans and machines working together.
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  Right. And the panel really emphasized that synergy, I think, that the real magic happens
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  when we can leverage the strengths of both.
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  So AI can handle the routine data-heavy tasks freeing us up to focus on what we humans do best.
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  It's exactly like creativity and critical thinking and complex problem solving,
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  all that good stuff.
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  Which brings us back full circle to Ron's advice about falling in love with problem solving.
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  It does, doesn't it?
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  It's not about becoming a robot yourself.
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  It's about identifying those uniquely human skills that you bring to the table.
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  Because those are the skills that are going to set you apart.
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  Exactly. And honestly, I think this is the perfect segue to the final thought-provoking takeaway
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  from this whole deep dive.
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  Okay, shoot.
• 9:39
  The future of tech. It's not separate from the future of us.
• 9:43
  Well, that's good. Yeah. It's about all of us.
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  Like it's intertwined, it's personal, and it's happening whether we're ready or not.
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  It is. And that's why I love that you brought up Ron's point about falling in love with
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  problem solving.
• 9:55
  Yeah.
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  Because it really is a call to action, isn't it?
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  It's like, what are you passionate about?
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  What unique value can you bring to the table?
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  Because those are the seeds of innovation in this crazy world that's changing every single day.
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  And that is a question worth thinking about no matter where you are in your career.
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  Even if you haven't started one yet.
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  Exactly. Because this isn't just about finding a job at this point.
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  It's about finding your place.
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  In this whole tech-driven future.
• 10:20
  Yeah. How do you fit in?
• 10:22
  Well said. So, listeners, we've reached the end of our deep dive into this incredible CIO panel.
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  Amazing conversation.
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  But like always, this is just the beginning of the conversation, right?
• 10:32
  Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
• 10:33
  What resonated with you? What are you going to do differently as you move through your world?
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  Think about it.
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  Because technology waits for no one.
• 10:42
  And if you stumble across any other thought-provoking articles, research anything at all that has you
• 10:48
  thinking about the future of tech.
• 10:49
  Send it our way.
• 10:50
  Please do. Because you know we love a good deep dive.
• 10:53
  We do. Until next time, keep exploring, keep learning, and most importantly...
• 10:57
  Keep shaping the future.
• 10:59
  Yes. You heard us right here on this deep dive.