Technovation with Peter High (CIO, CTO, CDO, CXO Interviews)

1036: What does it mean to manage a digital workforce? In this episode of Technovation, we feature a panel from our most recent Metis Strategy Summit where three top executives explore how AI is reshaping work, both automating tasks, and changing the nature of management itself. Peter High speaks with: Jennifer Charters , Chief Information Officer at Lincoln Financial Prasanna Gopalakrishnan , Chi...

Our broadcast today features a panel from our most recent Metis Strategy Summit on the topic of Delivering the Product Operating Model (and Mindset) at Scale. In this panel episode, we explore the limits and lessons of scaling the product operating model. Sal Companieh (Cushman & Wakefield), Jim Fowler (Nationwide), and Diane Schwarz (Smurfit WestRock) reflect on where product thinking thrives...

What if the most defensible companies of the AI era aren’t the ones building the infrastructure—but the ones using it to rethink workflows? In this Technoventure episode, Peter High speaks with Jamie Montgomery , Founder and Managing Partner of March Capital , about why the firm is investing heavily in the AI application layer —not chips, not clouds, but the companies delivering real task-based ou...

What’s stopping AI from scaling across the enterprise? For Madhu Ramamurthy, CIO of Zurich North America, it’s not the technology. It’s the culture. In this episode, Madhu shares how he’s navigating the paradox of AI: a tool with unprecedented potential, surrounded by institutional resistance, unclear regulations, and cultural misalignment. He outlines Zurich’s approach to responsible AI deploymen...

What does it really take to scale AI across a global enterprise? In this episode, Jaime Montemayor, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at General Mills, shares the AI playbook behind the company’s digital transformation from foundational investments in cloud and data governance to business-led innovation across supply chain, e-commerce, and marketing. With 96% of General Mills’ supply chai...

What does it take to transform IT from a bottleneck into a business accelerator? In this episode, Waco Bankston, Chief Information Officer at NiSource, shares how he’s repositioning the IT organization to support growth, enable speed, and shift decades of technical and cultural inertia. Leading a 6.5-year enterprise transformation effort, Waco discusses the discipline required to modernize legacy...

What does it take to reimagine a 10,000-employee enterprise for a digital-first future? In this episode, Unum CTO Gautam Roy breaks down how he transformed the company’s operating model, culture, and technology foundation by reshaping experiences from the customer backward. Gautam shares how Unum evolved from applications to journeys to value streams; how AI, data, and automation have become lever...

What if your company’s greatest advantage isn’t the product—but the purpose behind it? Mike Hayes, Managing Director at Insight Partners and former COO of VMware, believes mission clarity is more than culture—it’s a strategic asset. Drawing on 20 years as a Navy SEAL and senior tech executive, Mike shares why knowing “who you want to be” is a superpower for founders and boards. In this episode, Mi...

What does it take to evolve IT into a forward-looking innovation engine? Mike Blandina, CIO of Snowflake, shares how he’s reimagined IT as “Enterprise Technology” as a way to describe what ‘IT’ really does: lead a solutions-first mindset at Snowflake designed for the AI era. In this conversation, Mike reflects on his first eight months leading tech at one of the world...

What if your hiring strategy were fueled by the largest contingent workforce dataset in the world? Magnit CEO Chandra Dhandapani joins Technovation to explore how data is reshaping how companies think about talent—from role design to sourcing strategy to real-time labor cost insights. Chandra also shares lessons from her journey from CIO to CEO and offers perspective on why automation—not AI—is th...

How can AI be designed from the customer back and not the model forward? Hari Gopalkrishnan, Chief Technology and Information Officer at Bank of America, joins Peter High to share how one of the world’s largest financial institutions grounds its AI strategy in user behavior. From developing Erica to enabling employees with tools like Ask Merrill, Hari explains why every AI solution must begi...

What does it take to scale AI from 800 siloed experiments into enterprise-wide impact? Doug Schmitt, President of Dell Technologies Services and CIO of Dell, joins Peter High to unpack the company’s enterprise AI playbook—a journey from fragmented innovation to four scalable platforms used across software development, customer service, supply chain, and sales. Highlights from this episode: How Del...

What does it take to play the long game in innovation? Venture capitalist Brad Feld has spent four decades answering that question as a founder, mentor, and early-stage investor in companies like Fitbit, MakerBot, and Techstars. In this episode, Feld unpacks the enduring impact of mentorship, the logic behind his “Give First” philosophy, and how startups and enterprises alike can benef...

What if your company’s data could become a public good and a competitive moat? Beaumont Vance, SVP of Data and AI at Paychex, shares how his team transforms payroll and HR data into real-time economic insight, powering everything from AI copilots to U.S. government response efforts. With 1 in 11 U.S. workers on the platform and 39 million client interactions annually, Paychex treats data as infras...

1025: What does it take to go from CIO to CEO? For Saul Van Beurden, tech leadership was the ideal proving ground. Now CEO of Consumer, Small, and Business Banking at Wells Fargo, Saul shares how his background in IT helped him lead at enterprise scale. In this episode, he speaks with Peter High about the strategic, operational, and cultural mindset shifts that enabled his rise—and why CIOs are un...

Where is AI actually moving the needle in industrial operations? In this episode, Anil Bhatt, Chief Information and Digital Officer of Norfolk Southern, shares how the $12B freight rail company is turning AI into measurable value without overhyping its potential. Topics include: A disciplined approach to AI deployment with measurable ROI Norfolk Southern’s “3 As” framework for enterprise data stra...

What does it really take to scale AI responsibly across a global enterprise? In this episode, Ramon Richards, Chief Technology Officer at T. Rowe Price, shares how his team is advancing AI capabilities with discipline and speed—balancing innovation with the need for risk controls, data readiness, and workforce enablement. Ramon unpacks T. Rowe Price’s multi-pronged approach to artificial intellige...

How can venture investors consistently identify the next breakout market? Barry Eggers, Founding Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, reveals the firm’s thesis-driven approach to venture capital of using early “learning investments” to test conviction, then scaling fast into emerging markets before the crowd arrives. In this episode, Barry shares insights from Lightspeed’s foundational bets in...

What if your innovation team operated more like a venture fund than a lab? In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Andres Vazquez, Chief Digital Intelligence Officer of América Móvil, about how he leads open innovation at scale, evaluating thousands of companies a year to drive customer value, operational efficiency, and revenue. Key topics explored include: How Andrés acts as a “V...

Is your infrastructure ready to flex? In this episode of Technovation, Manish Kumar, EVP of Digital Energy at Schneider Electric, explains how buildings can become interactive energy assets with the help of AI, real-time data, and distributed energy systems. He shares the strategy behind Schneider’s Energy Command Center model, which reduced energy use by 25 GWh across 23 buildings, and outlines h...

What happens when the CIO responsible for powering AI also has to manage its energy demands? Richard Donaldson, SVP & CIO of Duke Energy, joins Technovation to discuss the unique position utilities now face: supporting exponential growth in data center power needs while simultaneously using AI to optimize grid performance, customer experience, and internal operations. In this episode, Richard...

What does it take to build a high-performing IT organization from scratch while navigating a carve-out, preparing for IPO, and pivoting into acquisition? In this episode of Technovation , Kirk Ball, Chief Information Officer at Worldpay , shares his 15-month journey leading digital transformation, tech modernization, and cultural reinvention at a global payments company doing business in 135+ coun...

Former Cisco CEO John Chambers returns to discuss why AI is scaling faster than any tech wave before it, including the internet. Now the CEO of JC2 Ventures, Chambers shares lessons from advising 24 AI-native startups and offers a strategic lens on how leaders, companies, and countries can win or be left behind. In this episode: AI’s “5x speed” vs. the internet How La Poste retrained 220K workers...

How is Experian transforming from a data company into a technology-first innovator? In this episode, Kathleen Peters, Chief Innovation Officer at Experian, joins Peter High to reveal how her team is scaling Generative AI, agentic AI, and behavioral analytics to fight fraud, streamline decisioning, and make advanced modeling accessible to everyone. Kathleen shares how Experian’s global Innovation L...

As Senior Vice President for Enterprise Business & Digital Transformation and Chief Information Officer at Lockheed Martin, Maria Demaree is leading one of the world’s largest aerospace and defense companies through a sweeping digital and cultural transformation. In this episode of Technovation with Peter High , Maria shares how Lockheed Martin’s 1LMX program is uniting more than 122,000 emplo...