What is I.T.?

Infrastructure and Operations may be the least glamorous corner of IT, but it is also the one everything depends on. It is the wiring, plumbing, cloud, networks, devices, help desk, backup plans, and people that keep the digital world running. When it works, nobody notices. When it fails, everybody does. In this episode, Doug sits down with Michael Cartier, CIO of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, t...

Artificial Intelligence is everywhere right now, surrounded by equal parts hype, fear, and wildly overconfident LinkedIn posts. But in this episode of What is IT?, Blake Rooney brings AI back down to earth. Blake, Chief Information Officer in the Legal Industry, joins Doug to talk about where AI is actually helping professionals today, where it is still overpromising, and why the real opportunity...

Business Relationship Management might have the worst name in IT, but behind it is one of the most important roles in making technology actually work. In this episode, Jeff Warren breaks down what BRMs really do. And it’s not what you think. It’s not about governance, process, or sitting in meetings all day. It’s about understanding people: their goals, their pressures, and sometimes their frustra...

When most people hear “cybersecurity,” they picture hackers in hoodies, complex passwords, and IT emails nobody wants to read. But cybersecurity isn’t about paranoia or red tape—it’s about protection. In this episode, we sit down with Shannon Ramsaywak to explore what cybersecurity really is—and who it really takes. From his early years in Guyana to growing up in the Bronx, to training in mixed ma...

IT leadership isn’t about technology. It’s about service, intent, and showing up. In this episode, Earl Newsome shares what he’s learned leading technology at scale and why the job of an IT leader is far more human than most people realize. He breaks leadership down simply: know which hill matters, stay close to the work, and understand the steps it takes to move forward. Most importantly, don’t l...

When most people hear “networking,” they think of either blinking boxes in a closet or awkward conversations over bad coffee. In this episode of What is IT? , Doug sits down with Jim Kennedy III , CIO of Trinity Church NYC, to unpack why networking is actually one of the most human parts of IT. Jim brings networking down to earth. He explains how the invisible systems that keep Wi-Fi, video calls,...

Technology powers our world — but people power technology. What is IT? explores the human side of IT through honest, engaging conversations with the people who build, protect, and improve the systems we all depend on.

For decades, IT has been the most misunderstood department in business. Is it the team that fixes your laptop? The group that blocks your favorite websites? The mysterious people who vanish into that closet full of blinking lights? In this premiere episode of What is IT?, host Douglas Wood sits down with two IT veterans — Susan Harwood and Kevin Hollister — to take on technology’s biggest branding...