Episode 1

The CIO as Leader and Business Partner

Published on: 17th July, 2023

On this episode of The Smart IT Podcast, I welcomed Timothy Laudell Jackson, CIO @ Diamond Offshore, to the show to have a chat about what IT has been through over the last two decades and what professionals can do to be prepared for the next decade. His vantage point as a CIO was invaluable in this discussion. We talked about IT and its continued adaptation to changes in the business. He works for a company in the Oil & Gas industry and gave us insights into its business priorities and the nature of investments in IT; the effects on his team because of the challenges of economic downturns and the pandemic; and the big focus on efficiency as a driver for many of IT’s initiatives. One of those initiatives led to capturing and extracting more value from their data to help support the business with predictive analytics for their physical equipment. 

We discussed several insightful areas, including: 

  • The other professional skills that are needed beyond technical acumen to be successful in supporting our organizations, communicating what is technically possible and the challenges of turning on new functionality quickly. 
  • The strategy of leveraging Cloud and Managed Services to extend internal IT capabilities, transferring risk, and delivering new capabilities to the business faster.
  • Improving decision making support through strategy and education to optimize how technology can be used to improve process or maximize profit. 
  • Upskilling professional skills to stay relevant when technology changes is vital. Improving your understanding of user needs through process understanding and feedback elicitation. 
  • Focusing on the design of systems to improve the experience of ends users interacting with the technology. 
  • Improving teamwork, both internally and externally.
  • Understanding team dynamics and inspiring action, ensuring the business goals are understood by everyone. 
  • Importance of understanding business functions, the why and how your organization makes money and competes in the marketplace. 

Parting thoughts on the opportunities for IT professionals to prepare for what is next. 

For More Information:

LinkedIn: Timothy Laudell Jackson

NPower | NPower creates pathways to economic prosperity by launching digital careers for military veterans and young adults from underserved communities.

NPower: https://www.npower.org/

Genesys Works: https://genesysworks.org/houston/

#cio #oilandgas #efficiency #measurement #metrics #ai #blockchain #smartcontracts #cloud #managedservices #mentoring #leadership #team #business #businessanalyst #enterprisearchitecture #predictiveanalytics 

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About the Podcast

The Smart IT Podcast
Where IT explores what's next...
The Smart IT Podcast, where IT professionals can assemble and hear from each other, industry leaders, thought leaders, and those in adjacent fields to collaborate and learn from each other and explore what’s next for IT.

The Smart IT Podcast explores what’s next for IT as it continues to find ways to get the important things done for our organizations.
Preparing for the next decade, we need to think differently about how we approach our work to continue to thrive into the future.

Smart IT is an approach, conceptual framework, and development model to getting the important things done by transforming the way traditional IT thinks, works, and leads. It supports the disruption of the status quo, simplifies the complex, reduces uncertainty, and improves risk mitigation.

There has never been more pressure to deliver for our organizations; but I know IT is up to the challenge.

That will require IT to lead by working smarter. Let’s do it together.

About your host

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William Reed

I am an advisor of technology for business use, have seen the possibilities, the challenges, the constraints, and the risks. I have seen firsthand the technical debt, silos, broken communication, despair of IT, and business frustrations. And, I have seen the possibilities, the hopes, and the opportunities while working in the trenches of IT.

As someone that has analyzed, designed, built, and supported technology infrastructure for many businesses over the years, and followed the technology trends and cyber threats, I see the opportunities for our organizations and for the professionals of IT as a fulfilling and thriving career.

I believe we have been blessed with great opportunities to continue to improve ourselves and organizations. If it’s possible, there is no reason enterprise IT cannot reach new heights and help our businesses thrive in age of disruption, complexity, and risk.

I have a passion is bringing a fresh perspective to the challenges in front of IT and help inspire a team to tackle and win. And to help individuals and organizations make better decisions to improve outcomes and experiences.

I advise on matters of technology use for organizational benefits. He has over 20 years’ experience in the Information Technology field. He has worked for multiple technology value added resellers, representing the major vendors and technologies in the industry. He has consulted across the major industries, including banking, health care, retail, oil & gas, education, government, finance, and legal.