{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"S13 E12 Digital Trailblazer Essential Lessons to Jumpstart Transformation and Accelerate Your Technology Leadership","description":" I am joined by best-selling author, digital transformation leader, successful CIO, and founder of StarCIO, Isaac Sacolick. Recognized as a top 100 social CIO, blogger and industry speaker, Isaac has over 20 years of experience delivering innovative solutions, leading IT teams, and transforming underperforming businesses.  On this episode, we discuss his new book, \u201cDigital Trailblazer: Essential Lessons to Jumpstart Transformation and Accelerate Your Technology Leadership,\u201d his journey to becoming a digital transformation leader\/CIO, how the audience can employ their skills as a digital leader, and more.  Here are some of the top takeaways you will receive from this episode:  The impact of generative AI from both an opportunity and a risk perspective  Navigating your role as a transformational CIO  Isaac\u2019s transformational journey  How to use data and analytics to a strategic advantage  Developing and refining your \u2018vision\u2019  The clash between CIOs, sales leaders, and marketing leaders  Driving transformation and aligning with your organization\u2019s offense   As a CIO and Business IT Leader here are More wins you will get by listening: (4:32) Isaac: \u201cSo that was neural networks back in the \u201890s. We had no algorithms, there\u2019s no tensor flow, there was no cloud, it was all very slow. But we were trying to solve some interesting things around computer vision, around predictions, a little bit of natural language processing.\u201d  (5:19) Isaac: \u201cThree years ago we went from growth to resolving a pandemic set of issues, to supply chain issues, to hybrid working issues. We did this huge pivot in 2020 that I talk about in chapter 10 of the book. I think we\u2019re on the cusp of another major inflection with AI. What\u2019s the impact of generative AI from both an opportunity and a risk perspective?\u201d  (6:06) Bill: \u201cWhat are the ways that you can have private AI within your organization versus public AI?\u201d  (6:49) Isaac: \u201cWe need to look at the horizons and the frequency. Whatever that frequency was before, double it because things are just happening too fast.\u201d  (7:20) Isaac: \u201cMarketing departments are going to really be the first group hit with a whole set of point solutions that can help them generate graphics, videos, and content.\u201d  (9:11) Bill: \u201cIt seems to me that ChatGPT and Microsoft\u2019s investment is sort of the first interface that is real practical for human beings to use.\u201d  (9:39) Isaac: \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to see how that plays out, especially with Copilot. I think that\u2019s going to change how people work. It\u2019ll be interesting to see where the big four are going to start making their AI explainable or are we going to put regulations in place around that. Are companies going to firewall off this capability because they\u2019re afraid of IP being leaked out to it?\u201d  (11:04) Isaac: \u201cIf you don\u2019t say anything to your employees, they\u2019re going to see a green light there. They\u2019re not going to know where to stop in terms of what they should and shouldn\u2019t do because you haven\u2019t provided guidelines.\u201d  (14:47) Isaac: \u201cI was a bit of a go getter in my young days. I joined a startup that was a hosting provider for applications provider for newspapers. And I tell people, that\u2019s where I really learned transformation. We were looking at an industry that went through massive disruption. I got to see that front row in seat with my board.\u201d  (19:16) Isaac: \u201c10 years of being CIO in companies that were trying to figure out how to use data and analytics to a strategic advance and involve their products considerably from what they were doing before.\u201d  (21:15) Isaac: \u201cI used to say CIOs knew more about the boxes that hosted the data than the data itself. I think a lot has changed in the last 10-15 years. CIOs learned to build up their strengths and build up their vocabulary and understand the analytics space a little better.\u201d  (22:18) Isaac: \u201cThe reality is that whatever we come in from our backgrounds when we become CIOs, we come in from a single or maybe two lanes of understanding. I think the biggest challenge for CIOs is expanding their own capabilities by hiring lieutenants who are highly versatile, who are two-way learners so that they can educate but also continuously learn.\u201d  (23:24) Isaac: \u201cDigital Trailblazer is a book of stories so that when you\u2019re facing an issue, an opportunity for the first time, you\u2019ve never had a blow up moment, a shock and awe moment. You\u2019ve never stood in front of the board before. You\u2019ve never had to convince an executive group to go and do an investment in an area they necessarily don\u2019t want to do.\u201d  (24:16) Bill: \u201cWhich percentage of the folks that are in there agree with you are going to be on your side? Which are the ones who are going to take shots at you? And then which percentage of that audience doesn\u2019t really care? And then who is going to take ownership?\u201d  (25:59) Isaac: \u201cPeople like the idea of products until you really have that conversation around product management. It isn\u2019t about taking everybody\u2019s wishlist and coming up with a shiny object that checks all the boxes. It\u2019s about trade-offs.\u201d  (27:20) Isaac: \u201cWhen you see alternatives, when you see new experiences coming in play and business models to the incumbent, that\u2019s what disruption is right? You throw in new technology and that\u2019s the accelerant.\u201d  (28:42) Isaac: \u201cThe track that CIOs have had, we\u2019ve come in from the operating world right? And now we\u2019re trying to influence strategy. We\u2019re trying to influence experience, both customer and employee experience.\u201d  (29:26) Isaac: \u201cHow do you figure out how a salesperson is being incentive? How am I going to help you in your journey and what parts of your journey am I going to have to go and combat the status quo?\u201d  (30:39) Isaac: \u201cThe best salespeople come in and say, \u201cOkay I understand what your problem is. Let me connect you with people who have had similar problems. Let me show you what the outcome of a solution looks like if we implement the solution.\u201d Best salespeople aren\u2019t selling, they\u2019re developing relationships and they\u2019re explaining the value.\u201d  (34:56) Isaac: \u201cAny single solution area, any single technology has a bunch of labels underneath it to get sorted through; lots of choices, compliance factors, multiple vendors, etc.\u201d  (35:33) Isaac: \u201cThe level by which we\u2019re connecting the dots is no longer a three-tier application living on a couple servers right? We\u2019re getting into how business is operating.\u201d  (38:33) Bill: \u201cYou need a vision for your career and for the role and the position and speed of which we\u2019re changing.\u201d  (39:19) Isaac: \u201cThis isn\u2019t an area where there\u2019s a predefined playbook right? You\u2019re always going to be looking at how your organization\u2019s operating and saying, \u201cI got to do things differently.\u201d The world is changing in some fundamental way.\u201d  (41:13) Bill: \u201cWhy do CIOs have so many problems with sales leaders and marketing leaders?\u201d  (41:24) Isaac: \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s a problem or have they struggled to develop relationships with them, is a little bit more work for them to understand their world. I think it again, goes back to our roots. We reported to CFOs, we were asked for ROI. And now we\u2019re flipping the equation and saying, \u2018Look I can\u2019t transform the organization just by finding cost.\u2019\u201d  (43:59) Isaac: \u201cWhat are your assumptions built into your growth model? What are you trying to sell? What are the unknowns for you to be able to hit those numbers. What are your risks and pain points?\u201d  (45:52) Isaac: \u201cIf you\u2019re a CIO driving transformation, you\u2019ve got to align yourself with the offense. And part of the reason is, I know I can get help on the defensive side.\u201d  (47:27) Isaac: \u201cI hear it from CEOs and I hear it from boards. When are we going to be done with this? They say it in a fatigued way, they\u2019re all just tired of the effort of doing two jobs. You have to run today\u2019s business, transform with what you\u2019re executing today and then think about the next horizon.\u201d    Resources  Connect with Isaac Sacolick on LinkedIn  StarCIO  Digital Trailblazer: Essential Lessons to Jumpstart Transformation and Accelerate Your Technology Leadership  Driving Digital: The Leader\u2019s Guide to Business Transformation Through Technology  Subscribe to Driving Digital Newsletter  Coffee with Digital Trailblazers    ","author_name":"Bill Murphy's RedZone 10X Podcast","author_url":"https:\/\/redzone10x.net\/podcast","html":"