March 2024 Perspectives

CIO Perspectives features Silicon Valley or Global CIOs that provide short answers to 5 questions I pose to provide readers 5 minutes of insights from today’s top technology leaders.

In this edition of CIO Perspectives, I am featuring Bailey Szeto . Bailey currently serves as the CIO of Certinia and is a Member of the Board at Simpplr .

Bailey is noted as a deeply technical and pragmatic technology executive that focuses on developing a North Star of a highly desirable end-state and leading organizations to continuously deliver results according to that vision.

1) Bailey, what is top-of-mind for you today from an overall business or macroeconomic perspective?

"Overall I would summarize the current environment as 'cautiously optimistic'.? With a few exceptions (red hot AI hardware and platforms), most companies are reporting modest revenue growth.

This means that companies are still making investments into IT technologies and tools, but they have to be carefully considered and aligned with the top priorities of the company.

For smaller companies, the mindset has shifted away from 'growth at all costs' to a focus on profitability -- preferably 'grow while being profitable'."

?

2) How do you envision your top priority in your role of CIO? Do you have anything interesting to share in terms of how it may have evolved over time?

"I like to say that IT really only has two goals -- 1) Help grow the top line, or 2) improve the bottom line though operational efficiency.? The other 'stuff' (technology, upgrades, deployments, etc.) is just the mechanism we use to help achieve goal #1 or goal #2 .

Likewise the job of CIO has evolved from being a technical expert to having a deep understanding of the business processes and how to cross connect them. The business stakeholders? are experts in their business function (sales, customer org, etc.), but it is often IT that has a better understanding of the complete process."

?

3) What do you like to see when it comes to your organizations journey around AI, Cloud adoption, Cybersecurity, or other important trends?

"New technologies come and go, but I like to stick to the same mantra -- 'use the best tool for the job'.? AI is red hot and it can do some incredible things -- if you apply it to solve the right kind of problem.? Large language models to understand questions and give a directionally correct answer -- AI is perfect for that.? Precision data that you are signing off and being held liable for? Not so much.

So whether it is AI, the use of cloud, or any other technology evaluate the problem you are trying to solve and choose the best tool for the job. Yes in some cases it might be running scripts on a physical server in a data center :)"

?

4) Speaking of organizational effectiveness and acquiring & retaining talent, what are your priorities? How about focus on workplace culture?

"The best solutions come from having a diverse team -- diversity in all aspects (race, gender, background, geographic location, etc.).? We are constantly bringing in early in career professionals to bring new ideas into the organization.

One way that we can afford to do this is by focusing on countries that have a strong university system with a lower overall cost of living (for example Spain). As a smaller company I cannot compete with the "Magnificent Seven" from a salary perspective for experienced employees, so that means focusing on the things that I can control -- culture, work life balance, fun and engaging teams, recognition, learning opportunities, and most importantly a strong leadership team.

The old saying of 'you don't quit your job, you quit your boss' is extremely accurate. I want to make sure my team is full of great people leaders."

?

5) What is useful for you as a CIO, when it comes to how your leaders, teams, or technology partners interact with you? What advice or suggestions would you provide them to be more effective?

"Context -- provide context to what you are telling me. I mentioned previously that the job of the CIO has evolved from being a technical expert to a business process expert.

So likewise if you are going to tell me something, provide me with the context in terms of the business.? What is the business trying to solve? What issues are they facing? How is what you are telling me going to help with that business situation?"

I hope your enjoyed these insights and I want to thank Bailey for providing invaluable these insights as a top business & technology leader.

If you have feedback on this edition of CIO Perspectives or have suggestions for future insights from CIOs, please provide them here and I’ll consider them for future editions.