Dr. Swatee Singh, CIO of Data, AI and Corporate Technology at TIAA, joins host Bradd Busick to explore what "careful" really looks like when AI agents start making decisions at scale in the most risk-aware industry in the world: insurance.

Bradd and Dr. Singh get into the questions that every IT leader is excited (and maybe a little nervous) to answer. What does it take to move fast with agents, but still sleep well at night? Why might the best governance design look less like a traditional org chart, and more like a knightly round table? And what's the one thing you should never hand to an agent…even when it can do the job?

Dr. Singh also shares how TIAA pivoted to avoid a fragmented approach to risk, and instead embraced a shared, enterprise-wide way of working. She also reveals the surprising lesson her team learned about safe experimentation - one that saved them from building something they never needed. Bradd and Dr. Singh also look at where the real value of agentic AI is waiting for organizations that are willing to rethink how work gets done, the unglamorous foundation that makes it all possible, and how leaders can build trust while keeping the pace of innovation high.

Highlights:

2:11 - When was the moment that the insurance industry started changing around AI? 

7:05 - What does it look like when AI agents are deployed with the same rigor that insurance applies to everything else?

14:40 -  Where's the biggest opportunity to modernize when you’re still carrying tech debt?

20:48 -  What benefits await the technology leaders who aren’t waiting and seeing before they take action?

Links:

Park Place Technologies: https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/

The Savvy CIO podcast page: https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/the-savvy-cio/

Bradd Busick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbusick/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParkPlaceTech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/park-place-technologies/

X: https://www.linkedin.com/company/park-place-technologies/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/parkplacetechnologies

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parkplacetechnologies/

In this episode, host Bradd Busick sits down with colleague, IT leader, fellow podcast host - and longtime friend - Jason Elrod. Together, they don their (figurative) hard hats and descend into the crevasse of the IT skills gap.

Bradd and Jason answer deep questions - like, why AI can’t be layered onto a legacy mindset? Where’s the first place you should bring AI into your organization? Do we really have to rewrite entire roles, new hire job descriptions…and maybe even the very meaning of work?

Jason also sets the backdrop of the AI era's unprecedented pace of change, shares how the purpose-driven origin of his podcast Drink Coffee, Do Cool Stuff has informed the way he thinks about work, and lays out the key difference between leadership by choice versus management by mandate. Bradd and Jason also plumb the depth of how CIOs, CISOs/CTOs, and boards need to be viewing AI through the lenses of strategy, risk, resilience, and fiduciary responsibility; why “AI inventories” are becoming obsolete as AI gets embedded into everything; and why addressing the modern skills gap might be less of a hiring issue, and more of a changing of the guard when it comes to team leadership - a problem that can’t be solved by merely working hard, but requires smarter thinking to shift teams from fear, to curiosity.

Highlights:

6:47 What makes this moment in IT different?

9:50 How can you quantify the value of AI effectively?

16:49 How can you patch the talent leaks in your organization?

20:58 Where should you start if you’re a leader who wants to fix the skills gap in your own team?

Links:

Park Place Technologies: https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/

The Savvy CIO podcast page: https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/the-savvy-cio/

Bradd Busick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbusick/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParkPlaceTech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/park-place-technologies/

X: https://www.linkedin.com/company/park-place-technologies/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/parkplacetechnologies

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parkplacetechnologies/

Limitless Cyber: http://www.limitlesscyber.com/

Limitless Cyber YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LimitlessCyber

Drink Coffee. Do Cool Stuff. podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oJiTLBUN_Q

Host Bradd Busick is joined by Rob Brothers, Program Vice President of Cloud and Infrastructure Services at IDC, where he also leads their Financing and Lifecycle Services programs - making him the perfect guest to discuss what a CIO’s first step should be when the dreaded OEM warranty expiry notice lands at their doorstep.

David Cramer, Park Place Technology’ President of Service Delivery, also gives his two cents on what ROI really looks like for CIOs that elect to extend the life of their hardware versus those who go the path of refresh, and sheds light on how AI is changing the game for capital and operational expenditures.

Bradd and Rob also discuss some of the significant overhead costs of new technology (beyond the price tag of the tool or hardware itself, of course): teams need to be trained; installation and configuration needs to be paid for, somehow; and organizations need time to let the technology “bake in” through testing across real systems and environments. Rob leans on his past experiences as a value-added reseller and third-party maintainer to unravel the often messy compatibility matrix that complicates transformation projects, and regales Bradd with some of the best worst stories he witnessed from businesses forced into rushed refreshes.

The added friction, time, and cost to asset migrations and broader transformation efforts can be a headache waiting to happen for any CIO - but picking the right partner in navigating the post-warranty world might just be the medicine you didn’t know you needed.

Highlights:

3:06 What’s changed in the last couple of years for CIOs seeking options when warranty ends?

9:19 Which path leads to the best ROI? with David Cramer

14:24 What can go wrong if you make the wrong choice?

19:55 How do you pick the right third-party service partner?

Links:

Park Place Technologies: https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/

The Savvy CIO podcast page: https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/the-savvy-cio/

Bradd Busick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbusick/

Rob Brothers: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-brothers-b787427/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParkPlaceTech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/park-place-technologies/

X: https://www.linkedin.com/company/park-place-technologies/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/parkplacetechnologies

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parkplacetechnologies/

Infographic: https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/resources/what-to-do-once-an-oem-warranty-expires/