The 10 Most Innovative CIOs to Follow in 2022

ISSN 2582-127X

February 2022

Top Technology Trends for CIOs to Watch in 2022 and Beyond

T H E

MOST INNOVATIVE

The Modern CIO: Innovation Needs an Innovative Tech Leader

Chief Information O cer at OneNine AI

KIRAN PALLA Spearheading Digital Transformation with a Mix of Business and Disruption

CIOs TO FOLLOW IN 2022

and then co-creating products and services with their Csuite peers to take advantage of these. Here, the concept of innovation stems from the virtuous combination of ingenuity, exertion, and dynamic feedback loops. With regard to feedback loops, there are two ways to gain intelligence, that is through research and customer engagement. Even phase-shifting, epoch-making invention comes from an iterative process. It is possible to iterate for generations and still face market stagnation and then suddenly hit a jackpot. Moments like that garners massive market support. In such an uneven process, every iteration matters and every round of feedback, supported by research, helps the organization telescope on eventual success.

This kind of laboratory, which consists of a constant cycle

EDITORIAL

of development, trial, feedback, and iteration, finds a natural place in the office of the CIO. To understand this is to arrive at the conclusion that innovative organizations have strong CIOs whose organizations act as testbeds for innovative new ideas. Here, it is useful to think of the service org aspect of IT. If IT has qualities of a service organization then internal users can be thought

T

of as customers. They consume their own new products he pandemic dramatically accelerated the digital

and solutions ideas and then offer feedback, which can

transformation efforts of almost every sector.

come in a variety of forms. Through a service-level agreement, IT then responds to the feedback with fixes to problems. With the help of CIOs, the companies can

It consisted of everything from cloud computing to

have a built-in, vendor-customer ecosystem. While

software-driven automation and artificial intelligence,

external customer feedback is important, it is unwise to

compressing years' worth of change into a matter of

overlook the fact that internal customers and

weeks or months. Now CEOs and investors have seen

constituents can provide fuel for innovation just as much

what technologists can deliver when challenged, the

as any external party can. Discounting the role of the CIO

pace of change will now be dialed up forever. As a result

and the CIO organization in the grand process of

of this, the CIO role has evolved from its traditional focus

innovation is a huge miss. This is a clarion call to CIOs to

on serving other corporate functions to one that

be vocal about this and to communicate the importance

emphasizes broad innovation and collaboration.

of their organizations in innovation.

These technology leaders are using data and machine intelligence to help identify new business opportunities

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Cover Story

CONTENTS

08

Kiran Palla OneNine AI

ARTICLES

22

Top Technology Trends for CIOs to Watch in 2022 and Beyond

48

The Modern CIO: Innovation Needs an Innovative Tech Leader

Executive of the Month

16

Himanshu Sharma Fair Fintech

28

24

Tuomas Kaulio

Martynas Sarapinas

Finnvera

Girteka Logistics

42

36

50

Tony Lau

Bruce Carlos

Van Richardson

Sequent Software

SXiQ Information

iManage

56

62

Belinda Finch Three UK

Gary Lovell 33 Degrees South Consulting

8

Cover Story

Kiran Palla Chief Information Officer at OneNine AI

Spearheading Digital Transformation with a Mix of Business and Disruption

9

“ A CIO's communication should be crisp with a motto 'business first while IT at its best' and focus on business value realization.

Kiran Palla Chief Information Officer OneNine AI

“ 10

O

neNine AI is a no-code AI platform that

The platform also allows people to build neural networks

democratizes AI to everyone. It reduces

or traditional machine learning models just by answering

entry barriers for individuals and businesses

a few questions. Furthermore, it allows non-experts to

to start using AI and machine learning. The

develop a concept from an idea to model in minutes. Its

company's goal is to bring AI to everyone and

modern data exploration and visualization feature

accelerate digital transformation and

allows the users to explore and visualize the data, from

organizations' AI journey. Its robust SaaS platform offers

simple line charts to highly detailed geospatial charts

a self-service wizard-based interface for data analysis,

with few clicks. No-code viz builder allows them to

data visualization, and predictive models. OneNine AI

connect to any SQL-based data sources or upload CSV

leverages several top services besides professional

files. The users can also search open data from Data.gov

services engagement. The company's Automated Data

(The home of the U.S. Government's open data) and

Analysis lets users uncover new insights from their data

other sources to discover a correlation between their

with self-service exploratory data analysis. The users can

data and open data from around the world, Open

also pick and choose from the marketplace of some of the

Government Data is a philosophy and increasingly

most popular machine learning models in the world. It

becoming a set of policies - that promotes transparency,

helps them learn AI concepts and develop models at the

a c c o u n t a b i l i t y, a n d v a l u e c r e a t i o n by m a k i n g

same time.

government data available to all. Public bodies produce and commission huge quantities of data and information.

A Multi-Talented Leader with a Customer-Centric Mindset Mr. Palla came to the US in 1992 and completed M.S from

studying in 96 global universities. Mr. Palla further

the New York Institute of Technology and an MBA from

describes that he conducted 759 online seminars on

Northern Illinois University, IL. He is the Chief

topics in education, family health, finances, and career

Information Officer (CIO) at OneNine AI, which is a no-

planning. He ran 158 Edu talk shows at major NPO

code Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

organizations, educational institutions, and private

platform. He has a strong consulting background by

corporations.

forming AVS Consultants Inc in 2001 and currently

Mr. Palla recounts that when he was in his first IT job at

serves as a technology advisor, executive mentor, board

Andersen Consulting, the company used to have daily

member, and board chairman for multiple organizations.

issues with replication, and the business leaders were

He is the recipient of the United States Presidential Gold

worried since IT had no solution for the problem for a

Service Award.

long time. One day, Mr. Palla tried a small script of two-

Mr. Palla admits that his passion for education made him

line code that stopped replication errors for 1,600

start his online academy, AVS Academy, which is a college

servers. The business team sent goodies, cakes, and

prep academy that focuses on developing persuasive

flowers, and started treating him like a king. He says, “I

leadership skills through effective communication.

was like why is the business team was so excited for my

Under his guidance, more than 1,759 students went

small fix. I did not realize that business teams were losing

through college preparation, and they are currently

almost US$50,000 per day due to the issue.”

11

He further talks about how Andersen CIO was called

simple acts prompted him to start his journey into roles

upon the stage at a Lotus Notes conference, and he

that had wider influence. In this process, he started his

credited him on that grand stage for the fix. The CIO had a

own company in 2001 and stayed in business for 21 years

coffee with him and said one thing “Mr. Palla, your fix

with a customer-centric mindset. The roles at various c-

saved IT reputation.” Mr. Palla explained that the brief

levels brought him a responsibility that demanded skill,

talk and subsequent incidents where IT was valued with

character, and empathy.

Compassionately Bending the 'Misunderstanding' Curve Mr. Palla was frank about sharing the challenges that he

with different business cultures, processes, functions,

faced at an early stage of his career. He says that it was

and capabilities, which enhanced his capability to

mostly about understanding the business processes and

become more customer-centric. He also describes that in

functions. He explains that the management seldom

his role as a business continuity professional, he dealt

exposed him to the business and that brought a lack of

with real-time disaster recovery processes where he

understanding of how systems interact as per business

realized that IT supports businesses when it is a part of

needs. While working with information technology, Mr.

the business value realization. He asserts that it was an

Palla recalls that he used to think that whatever the

eye-opener for him as he realized that when he is talking

systems he implemented worked with business. But

about IT systems, he is actually talking about the process

later, he realized that it was incorrect and at that time, he

it supports. Later in his career, Mr. Palla reveals that he

struggled to understand the overall business impact.

thought more about cost containment and cost savings

In the later part of his career, while traveling around the

for everything that he implemented.

globe in consulting roles, Mr. Palla started interacting

The 4Cs Modern CIOs Should Follow According to Mr. Palla, every CIO must have the agility

sensitive customer behaviors that can be impacted by a

and be aligned to change the business needs. He

change. He gives examples that a lot of times, CIOs tend

considers that CIOs should have the following four key

to claim early victories saying that they implemented

characteristics- Courage, Collaboration, Compassion,

systems but miss the boat in assessing the underlying

and Communication. Mr. Palla refers to this as the 4Cs of

unrest from businesses. Besides this, he thinks

modern CIOs. He believes that bringing change in big

communication is the key as the need for fast

organizations is a hassle but the courage of a CIO to bring

communication to a broader audience is constantly

timely change is what makes the CIO unique.

evolving. A CIO's communication should be crisp with a

For Mr. Palla, the courage to communicate about the

motto “business first while IT at its best” and focus on

business risks and changing infrastructure and

business value realization. He also advises that dropping

operations requires boldness on behalf of the CIO. He

buzz words, catchy phrases, and long statements should

feels that compassion is the most important

be avoided since the attention span of a person is now at

characteristic where the CIO takes into consideration

22 seconds. Furthermore, Mr. Palla states that

12

collaboration is also crucial. A CIO's collaboration with business and IT instantly reflects on the outcomes.

With the current state of affairs where everything is becoming a necessity, taking key stakeholders into confidence and understanding their viewpoints needs immense collaboration.

'Market-Driven' Approach to Trigger Innovation Mr. Palla thinks that product or solution innovation

mind AI and self-aware AI. Its roadmap includes an

should be market-driven. He admits that he sits on

aggressive R&D in these advanced AIs and educates

boards, executive briefing sessions, panel discussions,

businesses on the potential benefits. Mr. Palla explains

and other knowledge sessions to understand the market

that OneNine never assumes that its target audience

trends. He currently works for an AI organization and the

knows very little or nothing, but is cognizant that they

platform deals with reactive AI and low memory AI, but

have all the information they need, and caters to their

its target audience is already thinking of the theory of

needs right away.

Disruptive Technologies are Beneficial, Yet Challenging In Mr. Palla’s opinion, disruptive technologies keep the

the leader is now a change management agent and a true

leaders on the edge. He thinks that the role of a leader

negotiator. Mr. Palla also declares that leaders are now

has currently evolved from adopting change, leading the

fostering innovative sessions, encouraging new ideas

change to disrupting (in a positive way) the change. As

and new generation thinking. He believes that the

per his views, the leaders have become tougher to ask for

integrity, honesty, and viewpoints of a leader are closely

business justification of the innovation that is boasted by

watched by the business since leading the monumental

these disruptive technologies. He explains that leaders

task of bringing a disruptive change means putting the

are cornered or left with no choice than embrace change

organization at high risk.

without change, there is no future in this digital era. So,

13

Taking Business IT to New Frontiers with Cloud Migration Mr. Palla reports that digital transformation forces

the mix and force IT teams to become product owners

companies to scale down IT and may probably push IT

working in business groups. As per his vision, the AI and

into business and brand it as business IT. While talking

Industry Revolution 4.0 will make this transformation

about the future of the company, he says that a lot of new

much more agile and by the end of 2030, the economy

products will come to meet the market demand and

will be driven by those who establish their digital

enterprises may become product shops with agile

footprint that is much more resilient and customer-

delivery. According to him, cloud migrations will take the

centric.

operations and infrastructure management hassle out of

Word of Wisdom for Emerging Leaders Mr. Palla advises budding CIOs and leaders to stay on top

he gives is that the leaders should not try to build their

of technology and to align with business needs. He

own kingdom with known people or people they

explains, “As an emerging leader, your fresh perspective

interacted with in the past. Instead, they should try

on things and the style of operation is welcomed once

someone who really values the organization's business

you start producing small wins, aka low-hanging fruits.”

model and becomes a lieutenant by challenging the

He also insists on not carrying away with buzz words and

leader and not praising them.

trying to use them in front of the enterprise since that is viewed as scare tactics. The most important advice that 14

Kiran Palla

Himanshu Sharma

Chief Informa on Officer

Chief Informa on Officer

OneNine AI

Fair Fintech

Kiran Palla is the Chief Informa on Officer (CIO) at OneNine AI, which is a no-code Ar ficial Intelligence and Machine Learning pla orm. He has a strong consul ng background by forming AVS Consultants Inc in 2001 and currently serves as a technology advisor, execu ve mentor, board member, and board chairman for mul ple organiza ons. He is the recipient of the United States Presiden al Gold Service Award.

Himanshu Sharma is the Chief Informa on Officer of Fair Fintech. He is an IT leader who is highly focused, value-driven, and has an engineering mindset across various technologies. He brings well-rounded and crossfunc onal 18 years of experience in applica on development, enterprise architecture, digital transforma on, technology management, resource management, and cybersecurity.

He is currently building Neobank, Fair Fintech, Inc., while leading the IT and development team.

www.onenine.cloud

T H E

MOST INNOVATIVE

CIOs TO FOLLOW IN

2022

www.bankwithfair.com

Tuomas Kaulio

Martynas Sarapinas

Van Richardson

Tony Lau CISO & Head of Cloud Opera ons

Chief Informa on Officer

Chief Informa on Officer

Chief Informa on Officer

Finnvera

Girteka Logis cs

iManage

Tuomas Kaulio is the CIO of Finnvera. He is a pragma c and development-driven IT leader. He has worked as a Chief Informa on Officer (CIO) for over ten years now, first in telecommunica ons and then in the financial services domain at Finnvera. His work builds on a deep understanding of technology and experience in developing agile and lean opera ons in a DevOps manner.

Martynas Sarapinas is the CIO of Girteka Logis cs. Having joined as the CIO and Execu ve Board Member just two years ago, the main challenge Martynas faced was ‘Delivering perfec on’ while facing heavily scru nized industry against the worst of COVID-19 fallout. The company needed a rapid strategic pivot to a more innova ve and sustainable business model and Martynas served that purpose.

Van Richardson is the CIO of iManage. He has been working in the IT sector for more than 20 years and has led the department of Enterprise Informa on Technology and Workplace Solu ons.

Everything that involves internally suppor ng the company’s global business is within his responsibili es. Van also provides technological support to the engineering organiza on to enable efficiency in their work.

Tony Lau is the Cloud Services and Informa on Security Execu ve at Sequent So ware who has extensive system architecture and opera ons experience in mee ng payments and security requirements. Tony Lau has served the bank customers with serviceoriented professional service at HP and VeriFone. Also, he managed, integrated, and deployed secure electronic payment transac on systems to major banks in the world.

www.finnvera.fi

www.girteka.eu

www.imanage.com

www.sequent.com

Bruce Carlos

Belinda Finch

Lori Beer

Ben Fried

CISO & Prac ce Lead

Chief Informa on Officer Three UK

Global Chief Informa on Officer

Chief Informa on Officer

SXiQ Informa on Technology and Cyber Security Services

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Google

As a recognized global business technology leader with a successful CIO background and twenty years of hands-on experience, the role of Bruce as the Chief Informa on Security Officer (CISO) involves leading the company on mul ple fronts of building and delivering strong cyber resilience programs. He drives the protec on of core informa on assets for the company as well as for the customers where there is scope to prac ce. www.sxiq.com.au

Belinda Finch is currently the Chief Informa on Officer of Three UK. She is responsible for all IT-related things, whether be it delivering new technology required for its new products or proposi ons across all channels, managing changes to its Call Centre technology, the digital estate and retail systems, Billing, and CRM. Basically, all things in IT that make a connec vity company like Three operate come under Belinda’s control.

www.three.co.uk

Lori Beer is the Global Chief Informa on Officer (CIO) of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a member of the company's Opera ng Commi ee. She is responsible for the firm's technology systems and infrastructure worldwide. Lori manages ver 50,000 technologists suppor ng JPMorgan Chase's retail, wholesale and asset and wealth management businesses. She also serves as the co-sponsor of the firm's Access Ability Business Resource Group. www.jpmorganchase.com

As Google’s CIO for the past nine years, Ben Fried has overseen the transforma on of IT over the course of compu ng’s most disrup ve decades. In the years since Ben came to Google, technology has changed drama cally and at an increasingly accelera ng pace. Part of his success was rooted in ac vely adjudica ng how new technologies impact his core mission.

www.google.com

Himanshu Sharma Chief Information Officer of Fair Fintech 16

Executive of the Month

The Adaptive Pioneer Changing the Banking Landscape with Advanced Financial Services

F

air Fintech is a Neobank and financial services

transfers with no fees, debit cards for kids with no fees, as

platform. Fair is a membership-based fintech

well as high-yield dividend accounts that pay up to 4%

that aims to empower consumers with ethical

annually.

banking, lending, investments, and retirement services that improve traditional, profit-driven banking models. It

An Experienced Info-Geek with Prolific Leadership

operates exclusively online without traditional physical

Himanshu Sharma is the Chief Information Officer of

branch networks. As Neobanks have no branches, their

Fair Fintech. He is an IT leader who is highly focused,

overheads are significantly lower which helps to reduce

value-driven, and has an engineering mindset across

the overall fees. It has partnerships with traditional

various technologies. He brings well-rounded and cross-

banks to federally insure customer deposits. Money

functional 18 years of experience in application

deposited in a Neo-banking account is secure with

development, enterprise architecture, digital

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

transformation, technology management, resource

insurance.

management, and cybersecurity.

Benefits that Fair provides to its customers include

He is currently building Neobank, Fair Fintech, Inc., while

Neobanking without hidden fees, debit cards, access to

leading the IT and development team. Recently,

over 55,000 Allpoint ATMs with no additional fees,

Himanshu has released FairPay mobile banking app for

spending accounts, up to 2-day early access to direct

iPhone and Android users. He has built the state-of-the-

deposit funds, Fair Pay to send money to other Fair

art Membership Portal, a single window to provide all

members, seamless bill payments, international money

banking and financial services to Fair customers. He has

17

“ Building Neobank--- better banking which is accessible to all.

- Himanshu Sharma Chief Information Officer Fair Fintech

“ 18

successfully advanced operations services using

reporting to understand the user behavior and provide a

automation, data sciences, and AI technology to reduce

better solution using A-B testing.

the manual work in Fair Fintech.

'A u t o m a t i o n a n d A n a l y t i c s ' a t t h e H e a r t o f An Epitome of Disruptive Banking

Improvement

Himanshu has sufficient work experience in large

Himanshu says that he has experienced a significant

organizations such as US Bank, IBM, Genpact, and more

improvement in business efficiency by using automation

at leadership positions while being a part of multiple

and analytics. The cutting-edge technologies help in

startups and playing a crucial role in their success. He is a

reducing financial risk and efficient use of digital

pioneer in Open Banking APIs and setting up standards

channels with advances in cybersecurity. He considers

for banking API in the prepaid card industry. Himanshu

that the overall operation cost reduction and

has led digital transformation at multiple banks while

improvement in the bottom line can be achieved by

building prepaid cards processor and program managers.

leveraging advanced technologies efficiently.

He is an eminent advisor and investor in various startups for building robust products like a banking mobile

Envisioning a Protected Financial Journey

app and ePayStub, which millions of customers have

Himanshu presumes that he foresees significant growth

cherished over the last decade.

over the next decade and the team will be helping customers by reducing the cost of banking and better

Getting Better, Getting Ahead with the Right IT

services. He claims that the key focus will be to bring

Development

more and better financial services to the Fair platform.

Himanshu expresses that the primary challenge he

According to PwC, Neobanks will grow exponentially

experienced is to decide between different technologies

and are expected to grow at 46.5% CAGR between 2019

and picking one, which could lead to better career

and 2026, generating around USD 394.6 billion by 2026.

growth. The ongoing journey has helped him in gaining a

It is guaranteed that Neobanks will transform the

more comprehensive knowledge of IT development

banking industry and will bring a similar level of changes

processes through finding the business domain of

as eCommerce to the retail industry.

interest and finding the right job opportunity.

A Big Tip to Attain Success Entwining Tech and Business for Better Leadership

Himanshu advises, “Learn as many IT technologies as

According to Himanshu, a leading CIO should have a

possible and find the business use for them, understand

combination of broader technology and business

the businesses processes, and try to make them efficient

knowledge with a strong understanding of business

using technology. Efficiency and quality are the

processes, IT processes, and people management.

mantras!”

When Innovation Meets Digitization Himanshu mentions that the importance of design thinking helps in building multiple prototypes and iteratively improving the designs. The company is focused on data-driven decision-making for product design and improvements. The team uses analytics and

19

A Top Technology Trends for CIOs to Watch in 2022 and Beyond

ssociations have gone through a

dramatic transformation, sped up by

the real factors of the most recent

two years. Chief information officers are

confronting refocused essential drives that are

moving away from addressing the requests

connected with the pandemic. With the digital

transformations that have bloomed in

endeavors beginning around 2020, CIOs have

turned into a vital piece of plans to manage a

developing client base that is fundamentally

more technically knowledgeable. Now is the

time for these CIOs to evaluate their

organizational priorities and focus on trends

that can help maximize the growth and impact

of their businesses. The 2022 trends poised to

shape automation this year and beyond will

focus on modernizing the variations of

workspaces—remote, hybrid, and in-office.

Hybrid workplace enablement tools

The benefit of the hybrid work model is that

employees can choose to work wherever and

whenever they please, meaning they can

schedule time for learning and improvement

more easily than if they were fully remote or

office workers. Learning, training, and development don't just happen inside training courses. As the impact of COVID-19 persists and hybrid work continues, new and better tools to enable the mixed environment may emerge and CIOs should keep a close on these tools.

The continuing data explosion People and businesses are generating more data than ever before. Organizations presently gather gigantic measures of buyer information from an assortment of sources.

However, much of this data is not being tapped

22

into, as it is locked away in unprocessed documents.

cloud-based data exchanges, along with solution

Numerous associations are arriving at an intersection

providers that enable collaboration based on data

and should decide how to use each of their information to

without the actual sharing of the granular data itself, are

illuminate direction or face the gamble of falling behind

key enabling technologies here.

their rivals. Automation and intelligent document processing (IDP) solutions can transform inaccessible,

Blockchain applications

unstructured data into structured, actionable data to

The enterprise use cases for open-source distributed

give companies the ability to glean more data-driven

databases and ledger technology are becoming clearer.

insights.

The four most important uses cases cited by IT leaders according to the survey will be secure machine-to-

Widespread automation

machine interaction in the Internet of Things, shipment

Widespread automation, now called hyper-automation,

tracing and contactless digital transactions, keeping

is the act of quickly recognizing and automating as many

health and medical records secure in the cloud, and

IT and business processes as possible. Business

securing connecting parties within a specified

leaders—especially CIOs and CTOs? Business pioneers

ecosystem.

particularly CIOs and CTOs? Will be approached to direct their ventures in mechanizing all processes

Generative AI

imaginable. Previously, organizations have frequently

The world is abuzz with the promise of generative AI

battled with automation projects because they lacked a

from natural-language generation models that can write

p r o c e s s f o r i m p l e m e n t i n g hy p e r - a u t o m a t i o n .

computer code to algorithms that produce deepfakes.

Developing AI and machine learning operations will

It's not all hype. There are some meaty enterprise

ensure greater success in hyper-automation. By

applications for generative AI, which is far more dynamic

automating core business processes, organizations can

than the machine learning currently being used in most

improve efficiency, reduce employee workloads, and

organizations.

increase profitability.

Generative AI refers to the capability of artificial intelligence-enabled machines to use existing text, audio

Smart space technology

files, or images to create new content. In other words, it

This will be augmented with smart space technologies

runs on algorithms that identify the underlying pattern

that help in building intelligent physical spaces, such as

of an input to generate similar plausible content.

manufacturing plants, retail stores, and sports stadiums.

According to reports, 82 percent of IT leaders agree that

Next-generation EDR

implementing smart building technologies that benefit

As ransomware continues to rile organizations, next-

sustainability, decarbonization, and energy savings have

generation endpoint detection and response (EDR) is

become a top priority.

emerging as a key cybersecurity capability for the next normal, providing increased visibility into threats with

Collaborative data platforms

machine learning detection for faster response. Next-

The ability to share data beyond organizational borders

generation EDR solutions have the attention of CIOs

to create new insights is becoming increasingly

because they combine behavior analysis, anomaly

important. The ability to create data ecosystems will be a

detection, and real-time updates from threat engines to

top priority for enterprises in 2022. Secure, real-time

provide breach protection.

23

Tuomas Kaulio CIO of Finnvera

24

Energizing the 'Giant Leap' in the Financial Sphere with Technology and Innovation

F

innvera is a specialized financing institution that

was staggering; the development throughput increased

provides financing for the start, growth, and

by 100% in a short time period even though the

internationalization of enterprises and

resources did not change. Similarly, the business

guarantees against risks arising from exports. Finnvera

satisfaction towards IT skyrocketed. Tuomas exclaims

strengthens the operating potential and

that this was a dream come true for a young CIO. The

competitiveness of Finnish enterprises.

Norwegian team was very competent and that made the change possible. Tuomas mentions that he is still thankful

A Tech-Savvy Leader

for them. Since then, he has learned a great deal more

Tuomas Kaulio is the CIO of Finnvera. He is a pragmatic

about how important change management can be at all

and development-driven IT leader. He has worked as a

levels of an organization.

Chief Information Officer (CIO) for over ten years now, first in telecommunications and then in the financial

Creating an Inclusive Environment

services domain at Finnvera. His work builds on a deep

Tuomas presumes that it was important for him to learn

understanding of technology and experience in

how to energize and motivate people, and at the same

developing agile and lean operations in a DevOps

time, to maintain the pragmatic and solution-oriented

manner.

approach. He claims that it is the people in companies who produce the outcomes and not only the CIO himself.

Real-Life Experiences: Making the Impossible Possible Tuomas says that at the beginning of his CIO journey, his

Promoting Customer-Centric Services to Meet Targets

team succeeded to turn around the development

Typically, the role of the CIO is to make the change

process of a medium-sized Norwegian company by going

possible. Tuomas reveals that when he gets a possibility

into agile development. From the scattered agile island,

to influence, he promotes using service design methods

the team combined a unified agile way of working

in development. This is because the service design

throughout the organization. The outcome of the change

methods have an in-built customer feedback loop for the

25

“ Focus on the outcomes; the technology is just a means to achieve a target. Let the best technology win in the hands of the most skillful tenderer. Keep on optimizing the operations.

- Tuomas Kaulio CIO Finnvera

“ 26

development artifacts. He recalls that some years ago,

may be avoided. The company has the opportunity to

the team had a chance to introduce the 'Google design

direct the manual work effort more to value-adding

sprint' service design method to one of the online service

activities. In the case of Finnvera, a more value-adding

projects. Like many others, the company found out it was

activity was the actual improvement of customer

the customers and potential customers who had to tell

experience.

the team developers obvious matters regarding the

As the development cycles are shortening over the years,

usability of the online service.

Tuomas thinks that the role of a leader should nowadays focus more on innovation methods rather than on

Espousing Business Goals with Technology

matters being innovated.

According to Tuomas, what matters is the outcome, not the technology itself. If the company is able to achieve the

'Customer Orientation' as a Trigger to Success

target more optimally by utilizing new technology, only

Tuomas sees customer orientation as the key. To be more

then the use of new technology become relevant.

precise, he thinks it is all about how the customer (or

Sometimes in the RFP process, a tenderer is able to gain a

internal customer) feels about IT. According to him, it is

competitive edge compared to others with new

vital for a CIO to clearly communicate with non-techies.

technology. Thus, as long as the technology meets

He adds that the CIOs should also have the ability to

certain minimum criteria, he cares less about the

listen and talk with technical subject matter experts. He

technology itself and rather puts more emphasis on how

has tried to create an environment where all techies

the technology performs in the hands of the tenderer and

interact effectively and understand each other. All this

what outcomes it produces. He phrases it as “Let the best

may sound trivial and self-evident, but it actually is not as

technology win in the hands of the most skillful tenderer”.

easy as it sounds. Tuomas reveals that he has

He adds that, for example, the team recently completed

experienced many critical situations where the subject

procurement of low-code technology and the

matter experts have misunderstood each other without

technology-related development partner. It was

the experts themselves even realizing it, regardless of

interesting to see how differently the low-code

the location and the company.

technologies performed. Moreover, they also identified significant differences among the vendors who were

Creating a Fascinating Ecosystem with Futuristic Tech

competing with the same technology. As generally

Tuomas considers the future is fascinating. He says that

known, also procurement showed that it is not only the

with a brilliant team, Finnvera needs to adapt to

technology but also the people and their competencies

continuous change. New technologies will enable

around the technology that make the difference.

financial institutions to process and analyze significantly

Sometimes technology really makes the difference.

larger data sets in a short time frame. Tuomas predicts

Tuomas mentions that the team had a chance to

that it will bring completely new ways of achieving the

experiment with AI-based solutions for the analysis of

targets.

customer feedback. Using a commercial purpose-built AI tool, the insight of the customer experience was

Words of Wisdom for Emerging CIOs

analyzed in seconds. AI managed to grasp the relevant

Tuomas advises aspiring CIOs to put focus on the

message from the feedback data and presented findings

outcomes. He concludes that technology is just a means

in the order of relevance. Thus, with the help of AI, the

to achieve the targets.

manual work effort required to analyze and gather data

27

Martynas Sarapinas CIO of Girteka Logistics

28

A Visionary Tacking Digital Challenges and Driving Technology towards New Fronts

G

irteka Logistics is Europe's largest full

leadership through execution of strategy and

truckload company with 20,000 employees

organizational portfolio; sponsoring and catalyzing the

a n d d e d i c a t e d t r u c k d r i ve r s w o r k i n g

group-wide digitalization program; leading operational

relentlessly, transporting around 1m loads annually for

excellence capabilities to build a culture of customer-

major business brands across Europe, Nordics, and

centricity; leadership of Global Business Services setup

Russia. When COVID-19 hit Europe, one company stood

for the Group.

out 'delivering perfection' and that is Girteka Logistics.

Martynas brings a broad technology and transformation

With a wide-reaching network, Girteka Logistics delivers

leadership experience from principal positions in

high-quality services to various sectors including FMCG,

financial & technology companies. He previously held

Fo o d & S e a f o o d , E l e c t r o n i c s , E xc i s e d g o o d s ,

positions like the First Vice President at Danske Bank,

Pharmaceutical, Retail, Automotive, and Industrial

MobilePay (MobilePay is considered No. 1 app in

Goods.

Denmark and No. 2 strongest brand in Denmark within customer experience), and strategic transformational

A Transformational Leader Breaking the Odds

roles at Barclays Bank PLC.

Having joined as CIO and Executive Board Member just

He holds an MBA in Finance & Business Management,

two years ago, the main challenge for Martynas

along with several executive education programs at

Sarapinas was 'Delivering perfection' while facing

Oxford Saïd Business School and Kellogg School of

heavily scrutinized industry against the worst of the

Management.

COVID-19 fallout and the turbulence caused. The company needed a rapid strategic pivot to a more

The Success Story of a Business Genius

innovative and sustainable business model that is a

Martynas was born into an entrepreneurial business

stepping stone towards mastering the digital edge.

family. He shares that ever since he was a child, he

Martynas believes that with strategic objectives of

watched his parents invest a lot of time in doing various

empowering business growth using technology and

kinds of business activities. When he was 13 years old, he

29

“ Future of supply chain will tie resiliency and sustainability into the new core of the industry where customers will continue to dictate expectation and pace of change

- Martynas Sarapinas CIO Girteka Logistics

“ 30

started his own business as he had a dream of buying a

opportunity materialized to take a transformation

bicycle. It was a very successful commercial business that

challenge of a lifetime, he was completely and utterly

continued late into his teens. It has built up his love for

ready for the journey with Girteka.

dynamics, business, power of the network and he explored that further while studying for his bachelor's

Devising Effective Strategies to Overcome Adversaries

Business Management studies and MBA.

Martynas classifies his primal challenges into three

Martynas has mastered STEM and economical sciences

main categories.

early on. As he was doing exceptionally well at school as

Mentioning a famous saying “All strategies are worth

well as university, he was encouraged by lots of

nothing without execution”, Martynas relates, “We truly

professors to explore various areas and topics. A book

had weak capabilities to execute the strategy and we

called “The Goal” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, given by a very

needed to really 'sharpen the saw' and rebuild it

well-regarded professor, built a deep obsession and a

practically from scratch while also doing it faster than

new passion for studying change management, project

ever before to get the low hanging fruits fast.”

management, and organizational transformations for

Adding to this, he states that when it is a utility-type

Martynas.

business (logistics and transportation), there is a fight to

His professional career started in Barclays Bank Plc as a

have a decent ROI to keep everybody happy. This internal

Project Management Assistant. It did not take long for

fight can be dangerous if there is a lack of determination

him to develop further and at the age of 27, he had

and resolve to manage finance strategically. As a result,

already amassed an extensive amount of experience and

the whole technical infrastructure from the starting

gained all possible certifications to lead transformation

point was below his expectations and one can't

within the industry. He shared that some of the projects

accelerate digital transformation when they do not

he was involved in were truly game-changing and he is

manage IT, SLA's area, which needs to be fixed with a

grateful to leaders, mentors, and coaches that stood by

future in mind. This led him to venture for a “fix IT”

him at this exponential period of growth.

journey in haste.

According to Martynas, life always has a way of providing

Lastly, he talks about the third category, which is 'culture'.

us with amazing challenges and he has ventured into a

Culture is the king of changes and can consume leaders,

very promising Danish startup – Mobile. He expresses,

strategies, and any initiatives, if not managed well. With

“Those 5 years were another important chapter for

Girteka, there is room for improvement in this area

growth in regards to business but also for me as a leader.

where all the clients and partners of the company are put

It felt like MobilePay came out of nowhere and became

in the center of everything.

the No. 1 app in Denmark for several years with a market penetration as high as 80%+ and a No. 2 strongest brand

Addressing the Must-have Attributes of CIOs

in Denmark within customer experience (after LEGO). It

Martynas believes that in modern times, the role of the

was also a company that built the new face of finance for

CIO is crucial, and it is impossible to imagine a Fortune

many private and SME businesses. During those years, I

500 company that doesn't have a CIO, CTO, or CDO as a

elevated my leadership to CIO level in terms of agile ways

key executive in the main decision-makers team.

of leadership, high-performance teams, ability to lead an

To lead and embrace changes with great velocity in the

exponential growth for the business and handle

fast-moving, customer demands driven and constantly

uncertainty at a whole other level.”

changing environment full of opportunities and

In the words of Martynas, there's no surprise, when the

significant challenges, here are some of the attributes

31

that Martynas assumes every CIO needs: Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

partnerships and utilize AI and RPA for improving asset

Business Acumen- Understanding business to the

utilization at a far greater level than it is in the industry.

core and the industry, so that one can draw insights

Speaking about innovation, Martynas says, “To innovate,

and bring opportunities, communicate with the board

you must understand your own and the industry

as well as other CxO's, bringing initiatives that help

standpoints and where tech links the strategy and

identify innovative revenue streams.

capabilities of the company. We chose to make changes

Customer advocacy- It is fundamental for all

in all areas mentioned previously. So far, we have +75% of

successful businesses – to listen to the market and act

Europe's operations planned with AI and this is the start

fast. If necessary, be noticed across the board and

of the revolution, as we see it. We, as No#1 trucking

speak on behalf of the clients.

company and dreamer of Top#10 Logistics, see that as a

Merry tech & business. “The role of a technology

fundamental operational advantage. Over time, we

leader is not to develop a digital strategy or vision—it

created new interfaces between clients and ourselves

is to embed digital in the business strategy” -Larry

and this resulted in more than 340m EUR inflow revenue

Quinlan, global CIO of Deloitte. Quoting this,

via digitally enriched orders from clients, which entails

Martynas says that CIOs cannot abandon the

+60% growth YoY. On the sidelines, we also run 100+

technology roots, which propelled them to the

robots and will invest even more towards different forms

executive level, with the skills required to translate

of automation shortly.”

external pressures to business stakeholders. Ÿ

Emotional and leadership intelligence – In short,

AI to Open a New Era of Technologies

global hybrid working, different management

Martynas truly believes that this is the world's crucial

techniques, agile leadership, and a day-to-day sense

tipping point where AI will open a new era of

of your people is essential to be a person that leads

technologies that are needed to work with. Adding to

and not just manages.

this, he compares the impact similar to one the internet caused back in the day.

Embracing Industry Standpoints to Drive Innovation

He highlights that tech like IoT, intelligent enterprises

Martynas mentions several fundamental challenges in

backed by data, RPA, Cloud computing with SAAS, and

the transportation industry well noted in the BGC report

others are fundamental to understanding not only the

published in 2018 (link,

CIO leaders but also business leaders. All businesses are

https://www.bcg.com/publications/2018/why-road-

to a massive extent tech businesses as customers

freight-needs-go-digital-fast ).

demand that and this requires steep learning and adoption of business lines to fit the ever-changing

Ÿ

High Fragmentation, Low Transparency

realities.

Ÿ

Underutilization of Assets & ineffectiveness in costs

“Cyber security is an area of its own. My former

Ÿ

Outdated Customer Interfaces

leadership mentor had a good saying. It's like a snake… you can play with it, but it can also kill you one day. CIOs

Martynas presumes that he sees these as massive

need to understand that it doesn't matter how well you

opportunities that can be improved to a considerable

do in terms of clients and business side of things, security

degree by bringing fintech alike customer interfaces that

is not something you can compromise on,” Martynas

are in the market, new ways to plug the gaps in visibility,

claims.

work with the platform - ultra-asset light business ideas,

32

Towards the Future With More Resiliency and

heavy ones. This does not mean assets will be out of the

Sustainability

equation but from the investor standpoint, the financial

Logistics and the whole supply chain will essentially be

investment will back new agile business models that can

redesigned over the next decade or two, reveals

be easily scaled and fit within the comfort of the market

Martynas. Many businesses learned the COVID-19

when the time comes”.

lessons the hard way and more resiliency and sustainability will be tied into the new design of the

Thumb Rules for Emerging Executives

industry.

Martynas mentions the three important tips for the

This leaves opportunities to improve ecofootprint and

budding or emerging CIOs/tech leaders/executives:

sustainability per service design also bringing

Ÿ

electrification of logistical assets and dropping that 72% carbon emission contribution number to a way more

Understanding the industry and business one is in, taking the lead, and not being a follower.

Ÿ

Never leaving the fundamental tech roots that have

manageable and acceptable level. He says, “Customers

brought one to where he is now but invest in creating

will not sleep on their expectations, which will grow to

a principal understanding of business and leadership

unprecedented demands – like same-day delivery,

to be a T-shaped executive at the decision table.

carbon-neutral service. We will be required to adapt and

Ÿ

Having a high ethical and leadership standpoint and

lead into the next decade. Uber-type experience will

merging them to your values so that you never have to

come about where ultra-asset light business models will

fight against yourself and build a positive synergy

win in the marketplace over the old-fashioned asset-

with yourself.

33

Van Richardson CIO of iManage

36

Enabling AutomatedInformation Technology with Advanced Artificial Intelligence

T

he emergence of remote working amid the

communications. Advanced AI and powerful document

COVID-19 pandemic has created dramatic shifts

and email management can create connections across

in how organizations communicate, collaborate,

data, systems, and people. Crucially, iManage solutions

and operate. With the massive volumes of data and

can build connections based on the context of the

knowledge within organizations today, finding, sharing,

content, which fuels deep insights, informed business

and mining critical knowledge for reuse – especially

decisions, and collaboration. Underpinned by best-of-

when working remotely– is time-consuming and can

breed security, the company innovates to solve complex

drain productivity. Modern organizations understand

professional challenges and enable better business

that the benefits of effective knowledge activation

outcomes for its global customers.

extend beyond empowering their workers for greater

In a nutshell, iManage helps legal and professional

efficiency – also translating into delivery of higher

organizations work more productively, smarter, and

quality services for clients. iManage is an innovative

securely, focusing on 'making knowledge work,'

company that helps legal and professional

recognizing that knowledge is the engine that drives

servicesorganizations and their knowledge work

performance, outcomes, and value to the customers.

professionalswork more productively. Van Richardson leads the Enterprise Information Technology and

A Multi-Talented Leader

Workplace Solutions for the company.

Van has been working in the IT sector for more than 20 years and has led the department of Enterprise

A Successful Provision of Cloud-Enabled, Advanced AI

Information Technology and Workplace Solutions.

Solutions

Everything that involves internally supporting the

CIO of iManage, Van Richardson explains that iManage's

company's global business is within his responsibilities.

cloud-enabled, secure, platform for knowledge work

He also provides technological support to the

enables organizations to uncover and activate the

engineering organization to enable efficiency in their

knowledge that exists inside their business content and

work.

37

“ I learned years ago that having the business on your side to accomplish shared goals will go a long way. Removing barriers and bureaucracy in technology processes is very critical to the success of the technology leader - Van Richardson CIO iManage

“ 38

Va n' s m a n d a t e i s w i d e - ra n g i n g . H i s a r e a s o f

and there was a growing need to reduce the friction. Van

responsibility within the organization include

met with business leaders across the organization and

infrastructure (network, datacenter, cloud, servers, and

took pulse surveys on use cases and user sentiment.

systems), global service delivery (service desk and end

Within 3 months, the company consolidated to 1 tool in

user support), corporate IT security (firewalls,

each area, reducing the number of video tools by 80%,

encryption, system hardening, policies and procedures),

and the number of messaging tools by 75%, which helped

collaboration (Office 365, Zoom, VoIP), business

to deliver greater efficiency, collaboration, and user

applications, data, and business intelligence. Within

satisfaction.

these domains, his biggest priorities are the security of

The likelihood for teams wanting to use tools that they

the company's endpoints, protecting data in flight, and

are familiar with – which are oftentimes cloud or SaaS

end-user training.

products – is increasing. Team members want to use the

Van received both a bachelor of science, with a

same tools that they use at home and in their personal

specialization in business, and an MBA, with a

life. So, Van implemented a SaaS management tool that

specialization in information technology, from Capella

allows him to integrate with SaaS providers and look for

University. Currently, Van is pursuing a Doctorate in

utilization. It gives Van a view into duplication, as well as a

business administration, with a specialization in

view of spending that is being expensed. This allowed him

information technology, from the University of Phoenix

to standardize on common tools, eliminate costs to credit

and expects completion by 2022. Overall, Van's

cards that aren't in line with the standard, and implement

education has been a blend of business and IT, which has

processes to manage the onboarding of new tools within

served him well in his current role.

the enterprise.

The Journey Towards Becoming a Successful CIO

Using Smart Communication to Combat Covid-19

Van describes the technology initiative he led to make

Challenges

the organization entirely remote in response to the

On the IT front, one of the first things Van did when the

COVID-19 pandemic as a purposefully orchestrated and

initial stirrings of COVID-19 were being reported was to

collaborative effort. In preparation for successfully

conduct some initial assessments of the company's

addressing the new work paradigm, he met with business

systems – including video conferencing, IM, VPN, remote

stakeholders and teams to understand the

access, and other key technologies – to make sure that

requirements. He also implemented systems, processes,

they operated as expected and would be fully

and tools to handle the new way of working. The

performant. According to Van, these third-party tools

company coordinated with its vendors within various

have been invaluable, but the company is also well-

geographic regions to ensure it had the appropriate

positioned to support remote working and collaboration,

technical resources to handle the organization's needs.

simply by the nature of its core product offering –

Van led virtual 'IT Café' sessions to aid the workforce in

iManage Work 10.

getting used to working remotely throughout the

With iManage Work 10 emails and documents from

pandemic. Based on the work, the team was voted Team

disparate sources can be organized, managed, and stored

of the Year by the company's global organization.

in one repository as a single source of truth that is

As described by Van, the company had 5 video

available from any device, any location at any time. The

collaboration tools and 4 instant messaging platforms.

SaaS platform provides access to critical document and

This complexity added major confusion to the workforce,

emails with best-in-class security and governance,

39

allowing organizations to be more agile, collaborative,

course. If done successfully, they will be the company's

and responsive to business demands. These capabilities

champions while the leader focuses on meeting the goal.

aren't only game-changing for customers, who increasingly want greater flexibility in endpoints and

Innovation as a Tool to Bring Positive Changes

mobility, but for iManage users as well.

Van stated, "Whether it was leading the IT team at ITT,

As the company has transitioned to making remote

Grubhub, or my current home at iManage, innovative

working 'business as usual' during these unusual times,

technology enablement has been and continues to be a

communication has been key: educating the workforce

passion of mine." He sharedthat he focuses on bringing

about the tools that are available to them and how they

his diverse expertise to support fast-paced and energetic

should use them. Everyone needs a little education when

environments. Van has a passion to develop and lead

the normal routine is upended. Van's role as CIO is

successful teams, and most importantly, he has a passion

understanding what the people need and then working

to learn. He looks forward to continuing to be an agent of

collaboratively to deliver on that. Like People Ops or

change, a force for innovation, and a positive example for

Finance, IT impacts everyone in an organization.

everyone he interacts with.

Van emphasized that the IT team provides the foundation for everyone to get their jobs done. When the

Automation at the Top of Future Prospects

company has done its job properly, its ability to react to

In Van's words, "I have no shortage of priorities for the

situations like COVID-19 or to turn on a dime from

coming year! Automation is at the top of the list."

office-based work to working from home can take place

According to him, anything that can be automated should

much faster because the company has done its

be automated. This includes routine tasks, like the

homework and has prepared in advance. That's how the

systems' deployment, as well as an intelligent response

company, as an organization, can ensure that everyone

to threats, and service request management. Van's other

stays safe in the face of the current COVID-19

priorities include continuing to rationalize corporate

challenges, even while it maintains a focus on what drives

applications by removing duplication and finalizing

it as a company.

standard offerings, ensuring a secure and safe return to the office once the pandemic has receded, and finalizing a

'Right Decision at Right Time' Makes a Successful

corporate move-to-Cloud strategy. Van believes that

Leader

being a technology leader requires a unique perspective

According to Van, a leader must make informed

that focuses on transparency and partnerships with the

decisions. He also notes that he learned early on that

business.

leaders can spend too much time looking for the right answer and miss the opportunity to course-correct immediately. Over the years, he has learned to use his experience and business expertise to quickly make decisions and delegate as needed. Van asks, “Who wants to be the leader of the ship and immediately hit resistance?” He described that he has learned that business stakeholders are more willing to support IT initiatives if they understand the reason for the direction. Better yet, they want to be a part of setting the

40

Tony Lau CISO & Head of Cloud Operations at Sequent Software, Inc

42

Empowering the Future with AdvancedSecurity Solutions

T

ony Lau is the Cloud Services and Information

oriented professional service at HP and VeriFone. Also,

Security Executive at Sequent Software who has

he managed, integrated, and deployed secure electronic

an extensive system architecture and operations

payment transaction systems to major banks in the

experience in meeting payments and security

world. Being the head of IT and cloud operations at

requirements.

Vivotech he contributed to providing 7x24 mobile

Based in Silicon Valley, Sequent Software was founded in

payment and loyalty card provisioning service. As the

2010. Since its founding, Sequent has been at the

CISO at Sequent, he works to ensure that companies and

forefront of digital transformation and mobile security. It

customers are protected from continuously mutated

aims to secure the world of shared personal information

security threats and minimized operational risks. He is

with confidence, privacyand simplicity. The company

also aCertified Information Systems Security

delivers its patented technology to enable and secure

Professional (CISSP) with track records of establishing

mobile experiences in payments, financial services,

security policies, procedures, and auditable

loyalty, and digital access to hard and soft assets.

administrative, technical, and operational controls that

Sequent Platform fully secures account data, personal

passed payment security compliance requirements.

data, PII, electronic health records, and other credentials

Tony has very strong hands-on technical competency as

on mobile, wearable, and IoT devices. Its technology is

well as the ability to articulate ideas and directives to a

engineered to reside in the cloud or on-premise. It

variety of technical and non-technical audiences.

enables shielding or redacting critical consumer data.

Sequent technology is protected by numerous US and

Security Awareness that Plays a Pivotal Role

international patents.

According to Tony, security awareness among management and employees was relatively low a few

An Experienced Leader with Strong Hands in Technical

years ago. He said, “We spent a few good cycles of

Competency

training and education to pervade security consideration

Tony Lau has served the bank customers with service-

in all software development lifecycleand company

43

“ Resources should be focused in running core business, thus outsource tasks to external trustable cloud vendors who have the skills, AI capability and scalability are the trends.

- Tony Lau CISO & Head of Cloud Operations at Sequent Software, Inc

“ 44

operations. Now, we have many internal advocates from

architecting and managing payment card industry

management to engineers knowing that successful

governed hosting services that naturally trained me to

business can only exist if we know how to protect

weigh and consider all factors about information

ourselves and our customers”.

security”.

Adding to this Tony also asserted that general data

Data Prevention: An Innovation Beyond Excellence

protection was in his DNA. He mentioned that the first

The greatest innovation in the market of data protection

PCI DSS service provider level 1 audit took a few months

is to prevent data from being stolen. Tony said, “To bring

of patience and persistence to remediate all the gaps

in such innovation Sequent's approach is to make stolen

found butthe second-year onwards it became much

data useless to the perpetrator. The original data at rest

smoother and easier. This way each experience that was

is tokenized and replaced by a blob of undecipherable

a nightmare taught him an experience.Sequent now has

string thus making the data worthless. The data can be

PCI DSS certification on both AWS environment and own

detokenized on the fly for use after a genuine authorized

data centressix years in a row.

user is authenticated. “We provide bank graded security to the payment and healthcare industry to protect PII

Going Forth and Expanding the Systems

(Personal Identifiable Information) and PHI (Protected

High-profile ransomware attacks and data heists got

Health Information),” he added.

everybody's attention frequently. Such cyber-attacks occur daily to organizations of all sizes worldwide.

Injecting Efficiency and Transparency with Disruptive

Appropriate security policies and awareness training

Technologies

control implementation and tokenizing invaluable data

“It is a norm that organizations do not have inadequate

are all critical arsenals for data protection. By

staff to handle all security tasks needed. Resources

implementing tokenization technology together with

should be focused on running core business, thus

identity authentication in providing trust and privacy to

outsource tasks to external trustable cloud vendors who

protected data, Sequent will continue to replicate

have the skills, AI capability and scalability are the

success from payment to healthcare to other industry

trends,” Tony said.

verticals, is what the CISO of the company believes.

“With defense in layers and zero-trust in mind, evergrowing controls and monitors are deployed everywhere

Enlightening Upcoming Executives

at perimeter firewalls, internal application servers, and

In his advice for the upcoming CISOs and executives,

end-user computing equipment.These endless critical

Tony enlightens the starters by telling them that they

but tedious anomaly detection and responses should be

must understand their own business before starting to

outsourced if local governance is allowed. I expect in a

implement cybersecurity solutions. It is better to pick an

few short years that all corporate internet-facing attack

appropriate cybersecurity framework and use it to drive

surfaces can be handled by external network

strategies, identify gaps, and most importantly to gain

aggregators; only filtered and clean traffic should reach

internal support and acceptance. He believes, “For small

corporate networks,”Tony further added.

to midsize organizations, NIST cybersecurity framework is a good start. For the more established organizations,

Experience that Trained and Shaped the Leader

there are probably contractual and legal compliance

Talking about his experience, Tony mentioned “Previous

requirements like PCI DSS, HITRUST,NIST 800-53 or

bank systems integration and deployment with

FedRAMP”.

45

The Modern CIO Innovation Needs an Innovative Tech Leader

C

urrently, business and technology innovation are quite intricately linked, and the demand for digitally-driven

transformational services is growing rapidly. Nowadays, every business leader is realizing the importance of a

technologically-driven business enterprise. The secret behind the success of every organization is technology,

but without the presence of a tech-driven leadership, it will be impossible for the entire team to excel in the industry. A functional CIO must be ready to become a strategic business leader based on the increasingly numerous numbers of upcoming trends towards mobile-first consumers and virtual workforce, facilitating them to make artificial and business intelligence decisions that help enterprises to strive, increase growth and global stability as technology becomes increasingly critical for enterprise success.

48

A functional CIO is a strategic business leader that

need to reimagine their roles in the technology

delegates support functions aimed at shaping people,

organizations. This is one of the most critical principles

supplying resources, and mapping people's skills and

that not just CIOs but all tech leaders can follow. It

competencies. But because of the speed and rapidly

includes establishing the role of information and

growing scopes around this technology, it has become

technology as a business and innovation partner to

quite challenging for the leadership to keep themselves

design a tech-driven business strategy, integrate tech

afloat of all technological updates. This problem is not

management across organizational silos, and deliver

limited to tech leaders themselves, but it also extends to

excellent user experiences. To help technology generate

the job market, hence, tech leaders have to step into 'in-

business value, a transformative CIO has to analyze and

source' these responsibilities.

monitor the goals of the business strategy. CIOs are

For the past several years, executives have stressed

inherently responsible for establishing and shaping the

themselves due to the need for skillful CIOs who can

business strategy, agenda, and strong performance

move beyond simply managing IT to leveraging

based on the core IT goals.

technology to create value for the business, but now, this

A full technology transformation is not about moving to

priority has become a necessity. New technologies have

the cloud or adopting artificial intelligence. It also

become the center of attraction, making and breaking

involves infusing technology into every strategy

top technology trends, reshaping the competitive

discussion and process throughout the organization.

landscape, and disrupting business models. This is one of

During the enterprise transformation, leaders should

the many reasons why companies are focusing on a more

start with a mindset that both the need for

tech-driven leadership.

transformative change and commit to a multiyear

But despite this urgent requirement, out of the

journey at the same time. Besides, an effective talent

organizations that have pursued digitization, around 80

strategy requires a culture that supports talent. Building

percent of those companies are still at their nascent

a center of excellence team will also help the success

stage of technology transformation. Sometimes, many

factor and in doing so requires each team or group of

illegitimate factors delay the progress, but sometimes

people to have the autonomy to reduce bureaucratical

the mind-boggling complexity of legacy systems is

processes.

responsible for such delays. But among these, one of the most challenging aspects that CIOs face is the degree

Bottom line

and extent to which their responsibilities extend. Their

To simple conclude, CIOs have to be the leaders of

role needs to cross over cost and performance

transformation. The CIO's job has continued to change

responsibilities in order to transform IT into a core driver

and grow. There was a time when a CIO was limited to

of business value.

managing and deploying technology. But as companies across the country embrace the digital revolution,

The primary principles that CIOs should follow to

modern tech CIOs are being entrusted to lead the

encourage innovation

business transformation. They have to inculcate the

Skillful leadership is crucial to achieving business goals.

skills and knowledge that will enable them to become the

There is a set standard of principles that CIOs can follow

legitimate contenders to lead businesses.

and encourage the implementation of a holistic transformation. But for that CIOs need to first come to terms with the scope of the transformation itself. They

49

Bruce Carlos Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Practice Lead—SXiQ Information Technology and Cyber Security Services 50

Steering Cyber Security Solutions to Great Heights with Remarkable Leadership Qualities

S

XiQ offers world-class servicesspecialized in

key customers of the company including Thryv

cloud, application migrations and modernization

Australia(formerly Sensis). This gives him deep and a

services, supported by a full spectrum of cyber

balanced cyber-businessexperience, great

security offerings with low-cost high-impact outcomes

opportunities, and the latest hands-on exposure to

for the customer. The company is run by a team of deeply

current and emerging trends and threat profiles across

experienced technology experts, who deliver innovative,

the cyber security landscape that affect businesses,

high-quality solutions rapidly.

corporations, governments, NGOs, and individuals.

The purpose of the company is to create a lasting digital change for all its customers, through the power of its

A Passionate Cyber Leader

people, its ideas, and its energy.

Bruce had a true passion for flying aircraft, space science and technologies and this inspired him to be a successful

A Visionary Leadership for Cyber Security for the

CIO within the global defense and Australian

Digital Age

government sectors.Bruce's is one of the foundational

As a recognized global business technology leader with a

members of the Australian SpaceAgency and an

successful CIO background with twenty-years of hands-

active/avid member of the Australian space program,

on experience, the role of Bruce as the Chief Information

having worked with NASA/JPL contract opportunities in

Security Officer (CISO) involves leading the company on

the mid 2000s including during on the Mars

multiple fronts of building and delivering strong cyber

Rover/Opportunity and Orbiter missions.Bruce's recent

resilience programs and lead protection of core

roles as the hands-on tech leader leading a global cyber

information assets for the company as well as for the

security program also contributed to his current role as a

customers where there is scope to practice end to end

successful CISO. As such, he has helped shape the cyber

business strategy skills to deliver world-class fit for

security posture and the capabilities of global brands,

purpose cyber security leadership. His role at SXiQ

providing a “step-change”, in preventing and protecting

doubles as a practice lead for cyber security for several

the business from advanced global cyber threats. “This

51

“ Cyber Security is one of the core pillars of our offerings to protect our customers from low-cost bases but is highly effective

- Bruce Carlos Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Practice Lead SXiQ Information Technology and Cyber Security Services

“ 52

knowledge combined with mitigating risks through the

people are our first line of defense, so awareness along

business lens, and formulating a fit-for-purpose cyber

with governance is vital to ensure security is practiced by

program that has low-cost and high impact, is considered

every single one in the business,” he added.

to be my achievement. Mymycombined role as a Practice

So, the biggest challenge he faced both as a CIO and as a

Lead which brought together strong, clear, and engaging

CISO, is on how to bring all of the people on the journey,

leadership abilities supported by the latest technological

and that's why “I always start every cyber program with

knowledge, trends, and threats, has made a well-

people, rather than just technology or process,” he said.

rounded cyber leader that I enjoy,” he mentioned.

[somewhere I would like add…as part of what I stand

[Also, I am currently writing a couple of articles on Cyber

for…”My focus remains on doing “good cyber security

Security that are final drafts for publications into the

with the lowest total cost of ownership” to build and

Australina and US Space Journals. These are titled as

maintain Cyber Resilience for complex business

follows:

environments].

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Cyber Security for 2022 and beyond – Space and

Getting IT and Cybersecurity onthe Same Line

Satellite Systems

Bruce believes that every technology leader should

Cyber Security 2.0 – The New Frontier (talks about

possess the following attributes-

global threats, State-sponsored programs, Cyber

Ÿ

A true understanding of the business landscape and

Defence in Space)

vision, strategy, and culture that stands as the basis

The Burning Platform: Reforming Australia's Cyber

for a successful cyber program

Security Strategy (talks about security our Critical

Ÿ

collaboration skills

Infrastructure and how data and Cloud plays a vital role in this. Also include references to Industry 4.0 and EVs – controlled by a central grid etc)

Strong clear engaging leadership, with 360

Ÿ

Up to date knowledge and skills on the depth of cyber security threats, technologies, and the perspective of

Whilst the articles themselves are not yet ready - can we

looking at the solution rather than just a software

make a one-sentence or one-para reference somewhere

application

in this article to add this flavour ? ]

Being authentic Ability to assess what is fit-for-purpose for a

Mitigating Challenges withProper Planning and

given business environment taking into consideration

Strategy

the products and services it offers to its customers.

Speaking about the challenges Bruce said, “The business case for secure cloud migration and automation in the

Industry Trend Analysis is Crucial

early days was a major challenge as most of the solutions

Bruce believes it is important to always stay connected

did not make it clear on the extent of automation of what

with industry trends, threats, and solutions for

secure cloud migration could offer. It was difficult to

leveraging product innovation. And this is what makes

relay the message to make infrastructure and related

his product innovative and extraordinary while

security controls someone else's problem, which was

protecting information and data security across

largely hampered by the cultural change needed within

organizations.

the business”.

According to Bruce the key message is that --Cyber

AI: The Primary Disruptive Technology

security is everyone's responsibility within the business,

Bruce says, “In the past, security was largely confined to

and not just by a handful who carry the title. “After all, our

infrastructure and some aspects of the network. Today,

53

this is very different and complex. In addition to these

executive must start with understanding what their

two, there are eight other core domains that every

crown jewels are and how to protect them as a core, and

business and leadership team or board should

then work around ancillary requirements”.

understand. These are- cloud, identity, endpoint,

“They must always take a strategic view before refining

applications including PaaS/SaaS, data security, security

their approach to tactical or purely operational and

operations, DevSecOps, governance, risk and

recognize and start with their people as people are their

compliance and the often-missedthird party/vendor

first line of defense. Also, culture is often one of the

security”. “AI is one of the primary disruptive concepts

greatest challenges,” he added.

that is applied across this entire spectrum, in both

Bruce asserts that every CISO should make sure that

creating threats and the protection and prevention of

they have a good mentor who is a full spectrum leader. He

cyber-attacks” Bruce added.

believes that transparency goes a long way in ensuring that all the decisions are risk-based and that the

Know Thy Customer, Know Thyself

responsibilities shared on risks are hence not mitigated.

Bruce says, “It is important for every CISO to ensure that

This shows how Bruce is totally aligned with ethics and

they understand the basics and develop a template for

workforce that makes him a leader who everyone should

their approach so there is consistency. We know we

look up to.

cannot protect everything all the time, so every

54

Belinda Finch CIO of Three UK

56

The Digital Backbone Connecting Business Perspectives with Technologies for Better Outcome

T

hree was launched in 2003 as the UK's first 3G-

The company employs more than 4,800 people across its

only network, laying its foundations as the

offices in Reading and Glasgow and its 311 retail stores.

network that was born to be different. Today

Three is a connectivity company that connects people to

A Versatile Leader with IT and Business Expertise

people, people to things, and things to things. It has over

Belinda Finch is currently the Chief Information Officer

9.6 million customers.

of Three UK. She is responsible for all IT-related things,

The company's network today covers 99% of the UK's

whether be it delivering new technology required for its

population and it carries 28% of the UK's mobile data

new products or propositions across all channels,

traffic. Three launched 5G in August 2019 and it is the

managing changes to its Call Centre technology, the

largest holder of spectrum in the country. The company

digital estate and retail systems, Billing, and CRM.

has been recognized by Ookla for 'having the fastest 5G

Basically, all things in IT that make a connectivity

network in UK'. It is the only operator able to meet the

company like Three operate come under Belinda's

International Telecoms Union (ITU) 2020 standard of

control. Belinda works very closely with the commercial

100MHz of contiguous spectrum for full 5G services.

and customer experience teams to ensure that she can

Three is the official partner and shirt sponsor of Chelsea

react very quickly when there is an issue that could

FC men's and women's teams. It is also a proud partner of

impact customer experience or new technology that

Samaritans, which uses the strength of its network and

could help the company advance in certain areas. As well

technology to connect 1 million people to emotional

as this Business-as-usual role, Belinda is responsible for

support. Three was also voted the Best Network for Data

transforming not only Three's IT stack to enable it to give

at the Mobile Choice Consumer Awards, as well as Best

a better customer and agent experience, but also

Network for Roaming by uSwitch, and the Best High

transforming its ways of working to enable the team to

Street Retailer at the Mobile Industry Awards. Three UK

work hand in hand with the rest of the organization.

is part of the CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd group of

Belinda is a firm believer in Business Led IT to change and

companies, which has mobile operations in 11 countries.

this is what she is advocating at Three. Her background is

57

“ To be a successful CIO today, you need to have just as much business knowledge and passion as you do with technology.

- Belinda Finch CIO of Three UK

“ 58

in IT and transformation and she was previously the CIO

confidence is a natural part of growing up!

at Centrica Group PLC and Transformation and Digital Director at Vodafone. She was also an Accenture

Authenticity and Ability to Collaborate Makes a

management consultant for 8 years, and that is where

Successful CIO

she learned most about ensuring business and IT are

For Belinda, a CIO must have authenticity and the ability

absolutely aligned in their goals and priorities.

to collaborate well by tapping into emotional intelligence. She mentions, “The best CIOs I know are the

Exploring Diverse Ecosystems by Accepting the

same people inside work as they are outside of work,

Adversaries

they show their weaknesses as well as strengths, they

Belinda admits that the biggest lesson she learned was

can read a room and understand the emotion in it.” Being

when she started her career. Belinda started as a COBOL

open, honest, and bringing one's team along the journey

programmer for the Bank of England in the late 90s,

is vital. In addition to this, it is also important to be razor-

fixing the millennium bug. In those days, programmers

sharp of finances, especially in a transformation state.

sat in the basement and kept themselves to themselves.

Belinda strongly believes that the CIO is nothing without

She reveals that she was frustrated with this and wanted

his or her team. She feels that the team must have a sense

to know more about the reasons behind the program

of purpose and the same goals. If they are all working

changes she was having to make. Belinda confesses, "This

together, they will have the flexibility to get stuff done.

is when I moved into consulting and realized that IT and

According to Belinda, CIOs need to sit at the top table

technology cannot be separate from the rest of an

and be part of the future. Gone are the days where IT was

organization and the business itself, we need to be joined

an ivory tower, staying away from the rest of the

at the hip… I've been a huge advocate of business-led IT

organization. She also advised, “To be a successful CIO

ever since.”

today you need to have just as much business knowledge and passion as you do technology.”

Crushing the 'Male-Dominated IT World' with Strong Opinions

Customer-Centric Solutions through 'Test and Learn'

Belinda states that initially, the biggest challenge was to

Strategy

find her voice in the big male-dominated IT world and get

Belinda presumes that Three is currently delivering its

the confidence to come out of her shell. She admits that

digital transformation, focusing on delivering a highly

having a different point of view about how IT should

interactive, low friction experience for its users. She is

interact and be set up within an organization was hard to

confident that the easier it is for the customers to

get across as a young 20 something. However, Belinda

interact with the company, the better will be their

started small and began leading the business integration

experience, and the more they'll choose to meet future

practice at Accenture, where she worked with like-

needs and wants. As per her beliefs, this requires

minded individuals and her team started to get the

focusing on knowing the customers, making use of a

message out there that working hand in hand with the

range of technologies to understand their needs and

business as an IT department gets you better wins than

wants without imposing on them to deliver better

trying to be a siloed tower of power. Belinda believes that

connectivity, every day, for every customer. Belinda

now, everything is changing and IT is actually becoming

claims that Three is increasingly operating using rapid,

part of the business more and more. She has learned that

agile 'test and learn' development cycles in some key

multiple voices are better than one, and gaining

areas, hand-in-hand with its business. It really does keep

59

the customer at the heart of everything the company

Wider Intelligence at the Heart of Future

does. Belinda thinks that if Three can get its customers

Developments

involved in its test and learn development cycles then the

From an industry standpoint, Belinda aims to see IT and

company will continue to innovate successfully.

the rest of the organization coming together as one. She wishes that in the not-so-distant future, Three will have

Leaders to Go Hand-in-Hand with Technologies

multi-disciplined teams of technical and business savvy

As stated by Belinda, AI offers a lot of potential in terms

individuals all working together towards the same goals

of predictive analytics and a huge range of use cases that

and priorities. There will no longer be IT vs the rest of the

increase almost daily. She thinks that the opportunity is

business. IT is the business and she thinks that people will

huge but one should be using it in an unintrusive way as

see this organizationally more and more over the next

well as with empathy. “When interacting with customers

coming years. Specifically for Three, as well as taking

is a work in progress but, when we get it right, it will

advantage of its exciting digital transformation, Belinda

deliver a step-change in efficiency and user experience,”

has envisioned the company to leverage wider datasets,

remarks Belinda. She also feels that the role of the CIO

operating in more rapid delivery cycles with its business

has expanded significantly as the breadth of opportunity,

and technology teams' hand-in-hand. Harnessing more

and threats, continue to grow. To her, this means that the

events through its customer interactions and through

team of the CIO needs to be even closer to the rest of the

wider intelligence of how its networks are being used will

organization, working hand in hand with the team

drive better and more diverse offerings in the future.

building solutions with new technologies, and keeping the customers safe.

60

Gary Lovell CIO of 33 Degrees South Consulting

62

A Go-to-Expert Integrating Futuristic Technologies with Customer Needs for Personalized Solutions

3

3 Degrees South Consulting specializes in

management, web development, systems integration,

application support and development while

database administration, and project management.

focusing on systems integrations between new-

age cloud applications and older in-house systems. The

A Veteran Tech Leader with Global Clientele

company serves industries like manufacturing, finance,

Gary Lovell is the CIO of 33 Degrees South Consulting.

aerospace and aviation, motor, online digital, and retail

With full support to multiple international customers,

across the world. 33 Degrees South Consulting was

predominately in the US and Europe, and the

incepted in 2017 and the team put together had already

Netherlands, Gary is contributing greatly to the

worked for 18 years together across multiple

company. He started his career in the IT industry in 1997

international customers, all having their own set of

from a legal banking background as a Cobol programmer.

expertise. The company is focused on designing,

Gary shifted to the retail industry and moved into

developing, and launching with effective partnerships

aerospace and has been in the manufacturing and

and constant communication as per business needs. The

aerospace sector since 2004. He has worked in Hewlett

team follows “One size does NOT fit all” approach to

Packard Enterprise for 19 years as an SVC developer as

tailor the best budget-friendly solutions to its global

well as an information specialist senior. He has two

clientele. There are multiple services throughout the

Diplomas in Delphi Programming and Computer

system integration process such as application

Programming with sufficient skills such as business

63

“ CIOs need to know their customers, their teams, and their businesses. They need to be a multiplier and question rather than challenge- be technically present to recognize future technologies and impacts to the business. They need to understand their business from a use case perspective and financial perspective and how their decisions impact the organization as a whole.

- Gary Lovell CIO 33 Degrees South Consulting

“ 64

analysis, project management, business process

the most recent trends, products, and technologies to

improvement, SDLC, and many more.

ensure relevant solutions.

'Thinking Out of the Box' to Streamline Disruption

AI, Big Data and Hybrid Systems at the Heart of

Gary says that he has learned to integrate disparate

Transformation

systems where one is known to think out of the box for

Gary mentions briefly how advanced technologies are all

implementing integrations. He mentions that rolling out

becoming inherently interlinked--- one almost has no

for a prominent US Forbes Top 500 customer resulted in

value without the other. He adds that today's innovation

one of the banks requesting similar methods.

needs to be a lot more stringent on how and what is stored in big data including quality, as well as quantity, is

From Scratch to Success: Overcoming Adversaries with

needed. Already there are glitches in AI due to data.

Confidence

Meanwhile, using AI to improve real-time data has

Gary claims that he experienced the primal challenge of

already become the future commodity needing tighter

finding a way of integrating different technologies from

security measures. The team at 33 Degrees South

as low as green screen antiquated computing to the

Consulting is capable of seamlessly integrating multiple

latest trending cloud integrations.

hybrid systems from cloud, on-premise, off the shelf, as well as in-house developed systems through Java EE,

Focused Understanding for Better Leadership

DBA, SQL, Linux, Unix, ARIBA, and SAP PI.

Gary states that CIOs need to know their customers, their teams, and their businesses. They need to be a

Shining Brighter with Enhanced Synergy

multiplier where they need to question rather than

33 Degrees South Consulting will be more integration-

challenging to be technically present to recognize future

focused while partnering with a customer who wants to

technologies and impacts to the business. He adds that it

make use of the latest and greatest technologies, claims

is important for CIOs to understand their business from a

Gary. The team does not want to lose the current apps

use case perspective and financial perspective as well as

and features they currently use. The correct solutions

how their decisions impact the organization as a whole.

tend to enhance the synergy between user and business process to accelerate the user ownership of systems.

Emphasizing Customer-centric Solutions with Advanced Technologies

Empowering Leaders with Handy Tips

Gary emphasizes that 33 Degrees South Consulting is

Gary advises aspiring leaders to be connected with their

focused on customized integrations and systems for the

own teams. “A leader should know how they think and

least invasive user experience. Improvement is

what drives their team by spending time with them. This

inevitable with creative IT solutions. The team provides

creates a platform for innovation and future designs with

exc e l l e n t a p p l i c a t i o n m a n a g e m e n t , s u p p o r t ,

a motto. Work with your teams, don't make them work

customization, as well as integration to the target

for you,” he concludes.

audience. He highlights that there are four core businesses in this company such as business application consulting, SAP business solutions, data analytics, and technology platforms. The team remains current with

65