Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business - CIO & IT Leader Interviews, Digital Transformation, Digital Innovation

On this episode of the Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business podcast, host David Wright welcomes Rachel Lockett, Chief Information Officer at Pohlad Companies, to the show.

Starting as a programmer, Rachel moved into technology management early in her career. Leading and helping people reach their potential within the technology realm is her passion in life.

Pohlad Companies is a private and family-owned business out of Minneapolis. They oversee various companies from real estate to automotive and robotics. They also own the Minnesota Twins baseball team. Rachel oversees digital transformation, information security, and, her favorite, leadership development.

Throughout the episode, Rachel hits on the theme of people and the processes behind tech management. Rachel is authoring a book on why technology isn't so crucial as communications.

Rachel says one of Pohlad's most significant challenges is finding and retaining talent. She believes in strengthening the collaboration between the business and technology sides. Then there won't be a skilled labor shortage.

What if most problems in the world could be solved with technology? Rachel believes this is the case. The only way for technology to rise to its potential is to improve people and the process side. 

Resources:

·      Rachel Lockett

·     Pohlad Companies

·      Blinkist

·     David Wright

·      Disruptive Innovations   

·     Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business

Thanks for listening to the Disruptive Innovators podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the subscribe button and never miss another insightful conversation. And be sure to leave a review to help get the word out about the Champions of Digital Business.

On this episode of the Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business podcast, host David Wright welcomes Phil Merrell, Chief Information Officer at The PromptCare Companies.

Coming out of the military and transitioning into sales, Phil lays the foundation for his path to CIO. He credits the advice he learned from a young senior-level executive at IBM early in his career. "Results and relationships. You have to have relationships to produce the results. You need the results to keep the relationships. Stay focused on both fronts and you'll be successful with where you need to go."

Phil provides practical insights and timely advice throughout the show. When working with technology in healthcare, the focus should always be on what is the necessary outcome to move the business forward.

He breaks down the concept of being strategically tactical and tactically strategic and how it applies to him and his team.

What is the overarching role of the CIO? Phil's perspective is that CIOs bring all these moving parts together; to translate strategic directives into executable actions and update stakeholders on what's possible with purpose-driven technology. 

Resources:

·       Phil Merrell

·      The PromptCare Companies

·       The Five Love Languages

·       David Wright

·       Disruptive Innovations   

·       Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business

Thanks for listening to the Disruptive Innovators podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the subscribe button and never miss another insightful conversation. And be sure to leave a review to help get the word out about the Champions of Digital Business.

On this episode of the Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business podcast, host David Wright welcomes Andy Lehman, Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President at Kettering Health, to the show.

Andy begins with the fascinating namesake of Kettering Health, Charles Kettering. Right under Thomas Edison, Charles was one of the most prolific inventors. He invented numerous items like the electric starter for the car.

Kettering is a Health Network in Dayton, Ohio, with nine hospitals, and it does around two and a half billion in net revenue.

Before becoming CIO and branching into healthcare, Andy was an entrepreneur. He started his own business when eBay first became popular on the web. Now almost a decade in the CIO position at Kettering, Andy shares many fascinating insights on digital transformation and his take on leadership.

He advocates for the willingness of individuals to develop their leadership capabilities. When a leader gets better, everybody from the individual to the team and organization wins.

Andy also dives into the importance spirituality has played in his professional and personal life. "Service is key. You've got to get out of the way at some point."

Resources:

• Andy Lehman
• Kettering Health
• Mastering Leadership Book
• David Wright
• Disruptive Innovations   
• Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business

Thanks for listening to the Disruptive Innovators podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the subscribe button and never miss another insightful conversation. And be sure to leave a review to help get the word out about the Champions of Digital Business.

On this episode of the Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business podcast, host David Wright welcomes Steven Michaels, VP and Chief Technology Officer at SCL Health, to the show.

SCL Health is the 11th largest nonprofit healthcare system in the country. Steven heads the organization's data center technologies, network servers, storage service desk, and the caregiver experience. 

Throughout the episode, Steven reiterates the advice never to stop learning. To him, there are two forms of being a student. One's a personal standpoint, learning about spirituality. The other is from a professional perspective, with leadership and relevant industry innovations.

Early in his career, Steven embodied a workaholic nature and took on less fulfilling roles for money. One of his greatest failures was taking a job for the pay. It matters to be grounded in something greater than work. He also advises pursuing passions and interests, and then the money will align.

Steven highlights the current initiatives he and his team are tackling. One is rolling out more solutions via the cloud, like a cloud contact center.

He sees healthcare moving to more community-based health and a value-based care system.  

Resources:

• Steven Michaels
• SCL Health
• Patrick Lencioni Books
• David Wright
• Disruptive Innovations   
• Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business

Thanks for listening to the Disruptive Innovators podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the subscribe button and never miss another insightful conversation. And be sure to leave a review to help get the word out about the Champions of Digital Business.

On this episode of the Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business podcast, host David Wright welcomes Lawrence "Larry" Bilker, EVP & CIO at Pyramid Healthcare, on the show.

Larry gives succinct and sound advice throughout. No matter what business you're in, learn all aspects of how it works. He emphasizes the importance of trusting intuition and that gut feeling. If something feels off, even when starting, lean into that. Seek out any way you can help out.

Larry comes from a background in optical engineering, having spent 15 years at General Electric, working his way up from a help desk manager to CTO and CIO roles.

Pyramid Healthcare is an integrated system of behavioral healthcare programs – employing a staff of 1,400+ and operating 80+ facilities and 6 schools across the eastern United States, offering a variety of treatment and recovery services for adults and teens.

From his vision of the future of healthcare to the inner workings of Pyramid's digital transformation, Larry gives deep and provocative insights. Listen to the episode now.

Resources:

• Lawrence “Larry” Bilker
• Pyramid Healthcare
• Book recommendation:  Good to Great
• David Wright
• Disruptive Innovations
• Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business

Thanks for listening to the Disruptive Innovators podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the subscribe button and never miss another insightful conversation. And be sure to leave a review to help get the word out about the Champions of Digital Business

On this episode of the Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business podcast, host David Wright welcomes Mona Flores, Global Head of Medical AI at NVIDIA, to the show.

For actionable advice, Mona recommends not being afraid to try new things. Growing up, she knew she wanted to help other people. Before transitioning to computer science, she first dived into medicine and worked as a cardiothoracic surgeon.

Mona saw the possibility of helping millions of patients instead of working with one at a time. She points out the potential of technology’s impact on healthcare—genome sequencing; drug discovery; medical imaging; health analytics—AI and advanced computing possibilities are near limitless.

Mona works at the intersection of NVIDIA’s technology stack and translational medicine. She explains the challenges she and her teams face and gives insights into the initiative she is currently working on—federated learning.

Mona gives practical takeaways on self-development throughout the episode. Vulnerability and accepting imperfections are key to learning and growing from mistakes. Listen to the episode to learn more! Resources:

Resources:

• MonaFlores
• NVIDIA
• David Wright
• Disruptive Innovations   
• Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business

Thanks for listening to the Disruptive Innovators podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the subscribe button and never miss another insightful conversation. And be sure to leave a review to help get the word out about the Champions of Digital Business.

On this episode of the Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business podcast, host David Wright welcomes Michael Archuleta, CIO aka CDDIIOTO (Chief Data, Digital, Information, Innovation, Operations and Transformation Officer) at  Mt. San Rafael Hospital and Clinics.

Michael took on the task of heading the digital transformation at Mt. San Rafael. The organization has advanced to receiving national recognition. Before Michael led the innovative change, the hospital used legacy software and hardware. He goes into depth about all the technology implemented to enhance the patient experience.

Michael brings deep knowledge and great advice to the podcast. He emphasizes that any enterprise change has to be substantiated by data. Data is the new oil and it's required to enact lasting change in large organizations. Data plus building trust make a successful digital transformation possible.

David and Michael also dive into the critical role cybersecurity plays in the healthcare industry. They discuss the changing dynamics involved with so much information moving to the cloud. 

"We need to continue to focus on our people. That's our greatest asset moving forward with anything we do." Michael shares a plethora of insights in this episode. Listen in now!

Resources:

• Michael Archuleta
• Mt. San Rafael Hospital and Clinics
• David Wright
• Disruptive Innovations   
• Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business

Thanks for listening to the Disruptive Innovators podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the subscribe button and never miss another insightful conversation. And be sure to leave a review to help get the word out about the Champions of Digital Business.

On this episode of the Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business podcast, host David Wright welcomes Bashir Agboola, VP and CTO at Hospital for Special Surgery, on the show.

Bashir oversees operations and infrastructure at HSS and heads its technology strategy. How does a world top-ranking Orthopedic differentiate himself through technology?

With a mission to remove pain and give mobility, Bashir takes his role to heart. He shares the advice he provides to students and young professionals: realize that you can have an impact on kids in high school and elementary school, even if you’re a student in university.

Bashir stresses the necessity to stay grounded in life. Ask yourself three questions: What do I want? Why do I want it? And what am I willing to do for it?

He also touches on Blockchain's potential in healthcare. Blockchain may very well hold the key to solving interoperability in the U.S. It also holds promise with revenue cycle management.

Listen to the episode now for more insights from Bashir.

Resources:

• BashirAgboola
• HospitalforSpecialSurgery
• Clayton Christensen TED Talk
• Range by David Epstein
• Influencer: The Power to Change Anything
• David Wright
• Disruptive Innovations
• Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business

Thanks for listening to the Disruptive Innovators podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the subscribe button and never miss another insightful conversation. And be sure to leave a review to help get the word out about the Champions of Digital Business.

On this episode of the Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business podcast, host David Wright welcomes Dr. Lee David Milligan, SVP and CIO at Asante.

Lee shares actionable advice on holding family ties close. He points out that family goes beyond blood boundaries. These strong ties are enough to keep moving forward in life. Add in shared critique, and the relationships can propel each person towards pinnacle accomplishments.

Lee also delves into his background, falling out of college on his first go around. A summer camp job working with kids with muscular dystrophy inspired Lee to jump back into university, where he eventually pursued emergency medicine.

Later, he foreshadowed the incorporation of technology into health systems and went back to school to do computer science. Now, he is heading over 300 people, expanding Asante's enterprise-wide EHR with Epic.

"Anything you pursue, if you want to do it well, takes a tremendous amount of effort. Be willing to put in that effort."

Lee delves into Asante's vision as a healthcare partner and a shift to more focused preventative care. He also gives his predictions for the future of tech and healthcare.

 Resources:

• Dr.LeeDavidMilligan
• Asante
• David Wright
• Disruptive Innovations
• Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business

Thanks for listening to the Disruptive Innovators podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the subscribe button and never miss another insightful conversation. And be sure to leave a review to help get the word out about the Champions of Digital Business.

On this episode of the Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business podcast, host David Wright welcomes Andy Laudato, COO at The Vitamin Shoppe.

Unlike many executives, Andy doesn’t shy away from acknowledging a few key mistakes he has made over the course of his illustrious career. He admits that learning from those errors has made him into the tremendous leader he is today. After all, “failing fast” is a crucial part of being an innovator.

One of the big takeaways Andy leaves us with is the importance of prioritizing customer satisfaction. It can be easy to have blinders on large projects, putting the focus on budget and time constraints. As we all know, IT leaders rarely get praise when things go well — and they’re easy targets when things go awry. Hitting metrics is crucial, but the priority must always return to delivering for employees and their customers. 

Andy recently published his first book, Fostering Innovation: How to Build an Amazing IT Team. In this episode, he shares his inspiration behind writing this book. 

The full applicability of technology spans from design to supply chain and marketing. With this in mind, Andy also provides advice to his would-be younger self and the youth of this generation. 

• Andy Laudato
• The Vitamin Shoppe
• Fostering Innovation: How to Build an Amazing IT Team
• David Wright
• Disruptive Innovations
• Disruptive Innovators: Champions of Digital Business

Thanks for listening to the Disruptive Innovators podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the subscribe button and never miss another insightful conversation. And be sure to leave a review to help get the word out about the Champions of Digital Business.