Bytes of Experience : CIOs Unplugged

In this episode Bo Wandschneider and Dana Sanderson talk with Brian Stewart, CIO at SFU, about Uniform, an administrative benchmarking system used in Canada, the UK and Australia, and how it helped the University of Alberta drive a major service consolidation and cost realignment.

They discuss what Uniform measures, the nuance needed when using its data, how benchmarking informed a service‑hub operating model, and the key lesson: re‑engineer processes and reduce effort before cutting staff to achieve sustainable transformation.

In this episode, Gayleen Gray, CTO at McMaster University, joins us to unpack why blanket budget cuts undermine institutional resilience when IT is treated as a cost center. Drawing on Alex Usher’s insights, we explore digital transformation gaps, the rise of shadow IT, benchmarking strategies, and how smart investments in people and platforms can drive efficiency, trust, and long-term savings.

Resources: 

"No One is Coming to Save Us”  June 12, 2024

“Nobody is Coming to Save Us, But…” March 17, 2025

“Where Canada Lies in Global Trends” (World of Higher Ed podcast) January 9, 2025

"Radical Candor"

Episode 7 welcomes CISO Isaac Straley to explore the evolving role of the CISO in higher education — from reporting lines and key relationships with CIOs, presidents, and budget offices to the human impact of breaches.

Bo and Dana discuss practical leadership lessons, collaborative security models like CANSOC, and how security programs should enable research and campus life rather than simply impose controls.

Key takeaways: prioritize people, translate technical controls into institutional outcomes, and build trust across campus to manage risk effectively.

Isaac Straley | LinkedIn

CanSSOC

In part two of their storytelling arc, Bo and Dana unpack the leadership lessons behind their most memorable IT projects. From trust-building in crisis to the art of triage and communication, they explore what it really takes to steer technology through chaos. With reflections on collaboration, resilience, and the occasional comic relief, this episode turns hard-won experience into practical wisdom for anyone leading tech in higher ed.

In this episode Bo and Dana share unfiltered stories of major IT challenges and wins from their careers in higher education — from a risky Office 365 migration and a campus-wide ERP rollout (Project Beacon) to building a Data Resource Center and a resilient campus network through COVID and Hurricane Fiona.

They highlight practical leadership lessons: communication and trust, listening to stakeholders, turning skeptics into allies, and focusing on student experience and process maturity. Expect candid insights on change management, collaboration across IT, libraries and research, and how persistence and transparency pay off.

In this episode of Bytes of Experience, Bo  and Dana  explore the cultural conflicts CIOs face in higher education—resistance to change, shared governance versus agility, misaligned priorities, reporting structures, security and innovation tensions, and uneven digital literacy.

They share examples from campus life, discuss strategies for turning conflict into opportunity through cultural change and storytelling, and present a day‑in‑the‑life profile of Dr. Abby Lee, a CIO balancing diplomacy, strategy, and rapid context switching.

Bo Wandschneider and Dana Sanderson discuss the modern CIO’s challenges in higher education, exploring five themes: translation between tech and stakeholders, navigating institutional culture and shared governance, strategic influence beyond IT, emotional intelligence in leadership, and metrics, wins, and accountability.

This is Part 1 of the episode series, highlighting storytelling, digital moments, building partnerships, trust during crises, and how to communicate wins; Part 2 will follow to cover cultural conflicts and a day-in-the-life CIO story.

Two recently retired CIOs, Bo Wandschneider and Dana Sanderson, reflect on decades of higher education IT evolution. They trace the journey from punch cards and mainframes to cloud platforms, discuss the tension between centralized and decentralized IT, and share lessons about culture, governance, funding, and strategic planning.

The episode also tackles pressing pressure points—security, privacy, accessibility, sustainability, and the impact of AI—while offering leadership takeaways about perseverance, listening, and collaborative strategy.

Resources:

Link to "The Crisis in Information Technology Support: Has Our Current Model Reached Its Limit "- Polley McClure

In the pilot episode of Bytes of Experience, retired higher-ed CIOs Bo Wandschneider and Dana Sanderson introduce themselves and share the journeys that brought them into university IT leadership. They reflect on pivotal career moments, the shift from technical expert to people-centered leader, and the evolving scope and pressures of the CIO role.

The hosts explain the podcast’s purpose: candid, unfiltered conversations about IT strategy, governance, AI, financial challenges in higher education, and practical lessons for CIOs, IT teams, and institutional leaders—inviting listeners to learn, contribute topics, and stay connected to the community.

Glen Hicks | LinkedIn

Rewired not Retired Rewired Not Retired by Glen Hicks on Apple Books