CIO Classified

Eric Johnson, CIO at PagerDuty, shares why today’s most impactful CIOs are evolving into strategic business leaders. He explains how AI is driving a fundamental shift in how IT organizations operate—moving from reactive support functions to proactive, value-creating business enablers.About the Guest: Eric Johnson is the Chief Information Officer at PagerDuty, responsible for PagerDuty’s critical IT infrastructure, data management and enterprise systems. Prior to joining PagerDuty, he was the CIO at SurveyMonkey, DocuSign and Talend. Before that, Eric spent 12 years at Informatica driving the information technology vision and strategy as the company scaled to a modern SaaS architecture. He is an active advisor and board member to several early-stage companies and a regular contributor to IT thought leadership.Timestamps:*(05:20) -  Embrace shadow IT and AI tools*(18:40) -  Changing role of the CIO*(30:00) -  Security and cybersecurity awareness*(33:35) -   Future of automation and AIGuest Highlights:“In the CIO org, they need to be business experts as much as the partners that they work with… because AI and the use of it and finding those high value use cases, it's gonna take folks in the CIO org to be a lot more knowledgeable about how the company operates and processes.”“Obviously, certain roles are going to change much more than others, but I think across the board, roles are going to change.”“As these changes come, how do you reorient the organization—the humans in the organization—to be able to find that higher value work?”Get Connected:Eric Johnson on LinkedInIan Faison on LinkedInResources:Learn more about PagerDuty: www.pagerduty.comHungry for more tech talk? Check out these past episodes:Ep 59 - CIO Leadership in AI Security and InnovationEp 58 - AI-Driven Workplace TransformationEp 57 - The CIO Roadmap to Executive LeadershipLearn more about Caspian Studios: caspianstudios.comCan’t get enough AI? Check out The New Automation Mindset Podcast for more in-depth conversations about strategies leadership in AI, automation, and orchestration. Brought to you by the automation experts at Workato. Start Listening: www.workato.com/podcast

Siroui Mushegian, CIO at Barracuda, shares how she’s building a smart, secure foundation for AI—-from setting up an AI council, to governing agents, and creating employee guidelines that protect innovation. She also shares how AI is transforming IT operations and unlocking new levels of productivity across the enterprise.About the Guest: Siroui Mushegian is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Barracuda. Siroui joined Barracuda most recently from BlackLine, where she was responsible for all aspects of BlackLine's internal corporate IT. Before BlackLine, she held executive IT leadership roles at PBS’s WNET New York Public Media, the NBA, Ralph Lauren, and Time, Inc. Bringing more than 20 years of executive and IT leadership experience, Siroui has successfully built strong operational environments that eliminate technology silos, elevated the maturity and impact of technology within her enterprises and delivered measurable and scalable business outcomes. Siroui holds a Master of Business Administration in Management and Strategy from Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business and a bachelor’s in mathematics and finance from University of Connecticut.Timestamps:*(04:10) -  Skills for Future CIOs*(07:00) -  Barracuda’s AI and Automation Projects*(08:50) -  Tips for AI Security *(33:25) -   The Importance of Community and CollaborationGuest Highlights:“ A lot of people are worried they are going to work themselves right out of a job. It remains very important for us to keep our position as thought leaders to hold that mantle high.”“ Your partnerships with your colleagues and leaders across the enterprise will help you get more done than any AI agent will.”“ I love the concept of the education we're getting ready to roll out  in a curated way to people who are going to take these tools and come up with solutions that I could never in my life think of because I don't sit in their shoes every day.”Get Connected:Siroui Mushegian on LinkedInIan Faison on LinkedInResources:Learn more about Barracuda: barracuda.comHungry for more tech talk? Check out these past episodes:Ep 58 - AI-Driven Workplace TransformationEp 57 - The CIO Roadmap to Executive LeadershipEp 56 - Best Proactive Cybersecurity Strategies for CIOsLearn more about Caspian Studios: caspianstudios.comCan’t get enough AI? Check out The New Automation Mindset Podcast for more in-depth conversations about strategies leadership in AI, automation, and orchestration. Brought to you by the automation experts at Workato. Start Listening: www.workato.com/podcast

Saket Srivastava is the Chief Information Officer at work management platform Asana. Saket oversees Asana's IT organization, including optimizing technology systems and processes, connecting technology strategy to overarching business strategy, and ensuring that technology infrastructure supports organizational goals. Previously, Saket held executive positions at Square, Guidewire Software, and other leading technology companies. Saket holds a Master of Computer Applications (MCA) from the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, and an MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.Timestamps:*(01:30) -  Asana's Impact and Internal Operation*(08:15) -  AI and Employee Experience*(13:25) -  Collaboration and Cross-Departmental Partnership*(19:05) -  Future Trends and SkillsGuest Highlights:“When you add business understanding with technology understanding, that makes a deadly combination where you can serve and help move the needle for your business.”“The reality is we get sold all the time, every day. When you show up as a practitioner, as a peer, and you're ready to talk about the good, the bad, the ugly, there's a lot of power.”“ Good news is bad news being delivered early. It's so important to be able to create a healthy environment where you can talk about those risks.”Get Connected:Saket Srivastava on LinkedInIan Faison on LinkedInResources:Learn more about Asana: http://asana.com/Hungry for more tech talk? Check out these past episodes:Ep 57 - The CIO Roadmap to Executive LeadershipEp 56 - Best Proactive Cybersecurity Strategies for CIOsEp 55 - Engineering Leadership for Scale, Agility, and MomentumLearn more about Caspian Studios: caspianstudios.comCan’t get enough AI? Check out The New Automation Mindset Podcast for more in-depth conversations about strategies leadership in AI, automation, and orchestration. Brought to you by the automation experts at Workato. Start Listening: www.workato.com/podcast

Rich Horwath, CEO of Strategic Thinking Institute and best-selling author, shares strategies that help CIOs to elevate their strategic thinking—providing a roadmap for transitioning from technical leaders to visionary business executives. Drawing from his advisory work with top-tier technology leaders, Horwoth breaks down the critical skills needed to move beyond operational management and position themselves as strong CEO candidates.About the Guest: Rich Horwath is the founder and CEO of the Strategic Thinking Institute where he facilitates strategy workshops to help executive leadership teams think, plan, and act strategically to set direction, create advantage, and maximize their leadership performance. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of eight books on strategic thinking, including his new book: STRATEGIC: The Skill to Set Direction, Create Advantage, and Achieve Executive Excellence. He’s published two articles in the Harvard Business Review this past year and has helped more than one million leaders develop their strategic thinking and planning skills over the past two decades in pursuit of his vision to teach the world to be strategic.Timestamps:*(01:35) - The CIO to CEO Journey*(07:25) - Innovation and Competitive Strategy*(28:45) - Future State Thinking for CIOs*(44:05) - Transitioning from CIO to CEOGuest Highlights:“The great CIOs understand that it's not about copying. It's about creating and innovating by understanding the competition.”"If you're really being strategic, you're going to tick a lot of people off internally and externally."“What are we trying to achieve? And how are we going to do it? So planning can be too complex sometimes, but it boils down to those two questions.”Get Connected:Rich Horwath on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/richhorwathIan Faison on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ianfaisonResources:Learn more about the Strategic Thinking Institute: www.strategyskills.comHungry for more tech talk? Check out these past episodes:Ep 56 - Best Proactive Cybersecurity Strategies for CIOsEp 55 - Engineering Leadership for Scale, Agility, and MomentumEp 54 - AI Business Strategy for CIOsLearn more about Caspian Studios: www.caspianstudios.comCan’t get enough AI? Check out The New Automation Mindset Podcast for more in-depth conversations about strategies leadership in AI, automation, and orchestration. Brought to you by the automation experts at Workato. Start Listening: www.workato.com/podcast

Carl Froggett, CIO at Deep Instinct, breaks down the AI-driven disruptions reshaping the cybersecurity landscape. From navigating complex security architectures to busting big data myths, Carl offers strategic advice for CIOs and CISOs on staying one step ahead in a rapidly evolving tech world.About the Guest: Carl Froggett, CIO of Deep Instinct, brings nearly 30 years of experience to the role. Previously, as Head of Global Infrastructure Defense and CISO Cybersecurity Services at Citi, he led risk reduction efforts across devices and networks in 100+ countries. Now, he oversees Deep Instinct’s infrastructure growth, internal systems, security, and processes to support global expansion and strategic partnerships.Timestamps:*(08:10) - The Impact of AI on Cybersecurity*(25:45) - Rising IT Spending and Persistent Breaches*(28:00) - Challenges and Strategies for Modern CIOs and CISOs*(32:10) - The Future of Cybersecurity and Deep LearningGuest Highlights:“It takes a level of leadership to say, ‘Hey, our investment over here has been great for the last 5, 6, 7, or 10 years, but that is no longer good enough. We need to replace, we need to reinvest, and we need to retrain.’”“We need to be more aggressive on the front-foot as the defenders. Just protecting your endpoint is not enough—your endpoint's the last resort. If your endpoint fails, game over.”“When opportunity knocks, you say, ‘Come on in.’ It doesn't matter if it’s a role that you were hired to do and it's outside of that role, say yes and get involved. More experience leads to you knowing more people.”Get Connected:Carl Froggett on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/carlfroggettIan Faison on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ianfaisonResources:Learn more about Deep Instinct: www.deepinstinct.comHungry for more tech talk? Check out these past episodes:Ep 55 - Engineering Leadership for Scale, Agility, and MomentumEp 54 - AI Business Strategy for CIOsEp 53 - Business-First IT in the AI EraLearn more about Caspian Studios: www.caspianstudios.comCan’t get enough AI? Check out The New Automation Mindset Podcast for more in-depth conversations about strategies leadership in AI, automation, and orchestration. Brought to you by the automation experts at Workato. Start Listening: www.workato.com/podcast

Jason LaFollette, CTO at Yext, shares his product-driven approach to leading agile teams, maintaining tech debt, and using a “top-down, bottom-up” style to keep productivity and momentum high.About the Guest: Jason LaFollette is Yext's Chief of Technology. Jason joined the company in 2014 and built out the enterprise consulting side of the business before moving over to product engineering and technology. Prior to joining Yext, Jason was CEO and co-founder of Citrrus, a professional services company specializing in mobile app development and wearable devices, which Yext acquired as the company's first acquisition. Timestamps:*(02:30) - Understanding Yext's Business Model*(04:55) - Leadership and Team Management Strategies*(14:20) - Scaling and Technical Debt Management*(24:00) - Adopting New Technologies and AIGuest Highlights:“What I'm looking for is momentum with the teams, momentum with the people, momentum with the systems. If you get fixated on the tactical parts... It's a false sense that you're doing something great, but you’ll hit a ceiling quickly in terms of productivity.”“We only want process when it accelerates us… Once we've proven that we know how to do it manually by keeping smart and talented people in the loop and making good situational decisions is our secret sauce to scale with a lot less pain.”“If something is important to us, the company, or the management team and we aren't measuring and watching it, other people aren't going to value it either. I've come to adopt a mix of top-down and bottom-up leadership where we can't have all-of-one or all-of-the-other, or everything falls apart.”Get Connected:Jason LaFollette on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jasonlafolletteIan Faison on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ianfaisonResources:Learn more about Yext: www.yext.comHungry for more tech talk? Check out these past episodes:Ep 54 - AI Business Strategy for CIOsEp 53 - Business-First IT in the AI EraEp 52 - Empowering Citizen Developers and Reshaping Business with AILearn more about Caspian Studios: www.caspianstudios.comCan’t get enough AI? Check out The New Automation Mindset Podcast for more in-depth conversations about strategies leadership in AI, automation, and orchestration. Brought to you by the automation experts at Workato. Start Listening: www.workato.com/podcast

Naveen Zutshi, CIO at Databricks, shares his strategies for successful AI implementation. This must-listen episode is perfect for tech leaders wanting to learn how to craft an effective AI strategy, bridge gaps in tech teams, and drive innovation in your organization.About the Guest: Naveen Zutshi is the CIO at Databricks, previously CIO at Palo Alto Networks where he managed analytics, applications, and infrastructure. Before that, he was SVP of Infrastructures & Ops at Gap and held roles at a SaaS startup and Cisco.Timestamps:*(04:40) - Cybersecurity and Data Privacy*(20:00) - Ensuring Data Quality and AI Strategy*(28:45) - Future Trends and Innovations in Tech*(31:35) - Advice for CIOs Guest Highlights:“There's a significant amount of pull from CEOs on the CIO to define the AI strategy for their company. As technology leaders… We have an opportunity to actually provide data and AI strategy, and then help influence that strategy towards ultimate business goals.”“Often, we want to move quickly into the AI world but then realize our data set is in bad shape… First and foremost, you need a clear data strategy and you need to execute on the strategy.”“Having business and users buy-in is key — making sure that you are solving for the right problem rather than looking for a problem because you now have a solution.”Get Connected:Naveen Zutshi on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nzutshiIan Faison on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ianfaisonResources:Learn more about Databricks: www.databricks.comRead Naveen’s AI insights and more on Forbes: https://bit.ly/4frJ93tLearn more about Caspian Studios: www.caspianstudios.comCan’t get enough AI? Check out The New Automation Mindset Podcast for more in-depth conversations about strategies leadership in AI, automation, and orchestration. Brought to you by the automation experts at Workato. Start Listening: www.workato.com/podcast

Cisco Sanchez, SVP and CIO at Qualcomm, shares his business-first philosophy to technology cultivated over 25 years of IT experience. Sanchez emphasizes the importance of IT professionals loving both technology and the business, creating roadmaps that align with business goals, and utilizing frameworks like Charlie Feld's approach. About the Guest:Cisco Sanchez is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Qualcomm Incorporated. As the leader of Qualcomm’s global IT organization, Cisco is responsible for leading the strategic direction for IT infrastructure, Information Security & Risk Management, Cyber Resiliency, Enterprise Applications, and End User Productivity solutions. Cisco is also responsible for driving large scale Pre-Silicon, Post Silicon and Enterprise-wide digital transformation initiatives improving Qualcomm’s agility, leverage, efficiency and security. He collaborates with the executive and business unit leadership and focuses on enabling forward-looking innovative technology solutions to achieve Qualcomm’s vision and deliver strategic value.Guest Highlight:"We love technology. I love technology. I'm a developer, but we should also love the business and understand it thoroughly. So when I first came in, my goal was to not make drastic changes, but understand the business to the best ability possible. I use a framework that looks at the models and try to understand, here's what the business does, here's how it does it, the technology underneath, here's how the enablement activity works. And I think by doing that, it gives you a different, deeper perspective of how the business is interacting and what they do.”Timestamps:*(03:30) - The Role of AI in Modern IT*(09:10) - Frameworks for Business-First IT*(17:50) - Selling the Vision*(18:50) - AI Innovations at Qualcomm*(23:30) - The Convergence of IoT and AILinks & Resources:Ian Faison on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ianfaisonCisco Sanchez on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ciscosanchezLearn more about Qualcomm: www.qualcomm.comHungry for more tech talk? Check out these past episodes:Ep 52 - Empowering Citizen Developers and Reshaping Business with AIEp 51 - Modernizing Legacy Systems with AIEp 50 - Powerful Partnerships That Push CIOs to the Next LevelLearn more about Caspian Studios: www.caspianstudios.comCan’t get enough AI? Check out The New Automation Mindset Podcast for more in-depth conversations about strategies leadership in AI, automation, and orchestration. Brought to you by the automation experts at Workato. Start Listening: www.workato.com/podcast

Carter Busse, CIO at Workato, explores how AI is reshaping business decisions and empowering citizen developers. With over 20 years of IT leadership experience, Carter shares real-world automation examples and advice on navigating point solution vendors, and also discusses orchestrating data across systems, democratizing automation, and future trends that will revolutionize the industry. About the Guest:Carter Busse, CIO at Workato, is one of the leading innovators in IT/Business partnerships in automation. An accomplished IT executive, Carter brings a rich history in technology, including leading IT during three IPOs—Excite@Home, Salesforce.com, and MobileIron. Carter was hired by Marc Benioff personally as employee #70 at Salesforce. Over the years, he has developed a specialty in constructing highly effective, collaborative teams (90+), executing business strategies, and driving revenue growth while reducing operating costs. Carter is a sought-after advisor of IT leaders around the country, a Bay Area Orbie CIO Award winner, and listed on the Forbes CIO Next list of the top 50 CIOs in the United States.Guest Highlight:“Architecture is key. Very key. So, you set up the right infrastructure in a secure place to let people iterate in a safe place—that takes a lot of architecture. You don't want stuff being put into production that these guys built and break. Who gets the first call? It's IT.  So, I really feel like our role is changing from doing more building and more enabling and more architecture.”Timestamps:*(00:00) - Impact of AI on business decisions*(04:15) - Empowering citizen developers*(07:20) - Real-world automation examples*(20:05) - Navigating point solution vendors*(23:35) - Democratizing automation with training and metrics*(31:15) - Future trends and CIO secretsLinks & Resources:Ian Faison on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ianfaisonCarter Busse on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/carterbusseLearn more about Workato: www.workato.comHungry for more tech talk? Check out these past episodes:Ep 51 - Modernizing Legacy Systems with AIEp 50 - Powerful Partnerships That Push CIOs to the Next LevelEp 49 - Investment Priorities for the Transformative CIOLearn more about Caspian Studios: www.caspianstudios.comCan’t get enough AI? Check out The New Automation Mindset Podcast for more in-depth conversations about strategies leadership in AI, automation, and orchestration. Brought to you by the automation experts at Workato. Start Listening: www.workato.com/podcast

In this episode, Sheila Anderson, CIO at Aflac, discusses how the company is using AI to modernize while handling legacy systems. Sheila highlights key initiatives such as digital claims processing, establishing an AI center of excellence, and transforming internal operations.About the Guest:Shelia Anderson is an information technology executive with extensive Fortune 100 CIO, services, and consulting experience, particularly in Financial Services and Insurance. Partnering with C-level stakeholders, she drives business change and digitally enables organizations through multi-million dollar technology strategies, agile development, and support initiatives for applications and infrastructure. She is well-versed in a range of technologies, from legacy systems to cloud, AI, and LLMs, focusing on maturing organizations through cloud migration, agile transformation, and digital enablement. With a significant passion and proven results in mentoring and developing talent in STEM, supporting women in technology, and building exceptional teams, Shelia has demonstrated organizational leadership over 2000+ employees across multiple global locations and managed budgets exceeding $600 million.Guest Highlights:“[When it comes to AI] start with your business. Simple, really. Understand your business, your business challenges, and your business opportunities. Always start with ‘why’ and anything that you deliver from there, the closer you can tie the work that you're doing to the business value, the more successful both you and your company will be at the end of the day.”Timestamps:*(01:40) - Aflac’s AI Journey*(03:55) - AI at Scale: Transforming Aflac*(09:00) - Building Automation and Innovation into Culture *(26:15) - Leadership Insights and Advice*(31:15) - Future Trends and StrategiesLinks & Resources:Ian Faison on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ianfaisonShelia Anderson on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sheliaandersonLearn more about Aflac's services: www.aflac.comCheck out the My Special Aflac Duck®: myduck.sproutel.comHungry for more tech talk? Check out these past episodes:Ep 50 - Powerful Partnerships That Push CIOs to the Next LevelEp 49 - Investment Priorities for the Transformative CIOEp 48 - The Future of Employee ExperienceLearn more about Caspian Studios: www.caspianstudios.comCan’t get enough AI? Check out The New Automation Mindset Podcast for more in-depth conversations about strategies leadership in AI, automation, and orchestration. Brought to you by the automation experts at Workato. Start Listening: www.workato.com/podcast