A conversation with one of the Ireland’s and UK's most influential CIOs on people-first transformation, AI in action, and why governance makes or breaks digital change.

Richard Corbridge has led some of the biggest digital transformations in health, government and retail — from Ireland’s HSE and the NHS to Boots, the UK’s Department for Work & Pensions, and now property giant Segro. In this episode, Richard shares what it takes to keep technology people-first, how to make AI deliver real outcomes, and why governance and culture shape the CIO role more than ever. A must-listen for digital leaders navigating transformation in both the public and private sector.

Key Topics for CIOs

• People-first digital transformation — why “citizen, patient, customer or colleague” all come first, not the tech.
• The evolving CIO role — moving from “the basement” to the boardroom, and why CIOs must be catalysts and foundations for change.
• AI in the public sector — lessons from the UK Dept. of Work & Pensions on using AI to read 24,000 handwritten letters daily and deliver help in 24 hours instead of 4 weeks.
• Avoiding AI hype — how to stop “AI for AI’s sake” and pick the right problems to solve.
• Governance that enables speed — why private sector governance delivers faster transformation and what public sector can learn.
• Agile vs. perfection — “Don’t let great be the enemy of good” in digital deployment.
• Building digital talent pipelines — attracting and developing IT professionals in public service, and tackling diversity and generational gaps.
• Cross-sector insights — how lessons from health, retail, government and industry overlap and inform each other.
• Future vision for public services — joined-up government, once-only data use, and seamless citizen experience.
• Personal side of leadership — balancing life as CIO with a thousand-strong vinyl collection and a “collector’s mindset.”

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