Aaron Gerlitz has an extensive background in IT, first with the United States military and currently as a senior IT project manager with Lowe’s. And, as a producer of IT Visionaries, he is flush with insights into what is going on in the world of technology.
On a special episode of IT Visionaries, Aaron joins his old pal Ian Faison to discuss some of the common topics that have come up in the first forty episodes of the podcast and what they tell us about the world of IT as a whole. Plus, they look into the future and share what they’re excited to talk about in upcoming episodes.
Takeaway No. 1: The relationship between business and technology executives
Many of the CIOs and CTOs who have come on IT Visionaries have talked about what it means to build trust – and a good relationship – with the other departments and executives in their business. Whether they spend the day shadowing a salesperson or the operations department, tech leaders are consistently saying how important it is to be completely aligned.
“The technology leaders kept emphasizing how important it was to build trust and be transparent with business executives, so that the first time there is a major incident or problem, you’re not trying to build that relationship fresh,” Aaron says.
“In this day and age, you have the CIOs who have been successful who have talked candidly about what has made them successful in their career, and it’s been understanding the customer needs and understanding the things the business side is trying to achieve and then trying to achieve that,” Ian adds.
Takeaway No. 2: The way IT plays a role in every aspect of business
The CIOs and CTOs who come onto the show detail the enormous responsibilities they have every day at massive companies such as UPS and Palantir. From the outside looking in, you wouldn’t expect the IT leaders to be as involved with so many aspects of day-to-day business, but – by and large – being an IT leader has come to mean being involved in all parts of business strategy.
Across the IT community, there are common problems that each IT leader is dealing with — from business CIOs to the CIOs of universities or major cities, each has a set of problems that are wide-ranging and affect just about every part of their business, university or city.
Takeaway No. 3: Working with legacy technology
When Aaron was in the military and working with satellite and space technology, he was struck by how technically-advanced the projects he was working on were – and the fact that they were still dealing with thirty-year old infrastructure and programs that didn’t match up. This is a common problem that Aaron noticed throughout the interviews.
“We interviewed people that are working on quantum computing, putting chips on your chest that are the equivalent of an EKG… people working in some of the most technologically advanced companies in the world,” Ian says. “And yet, the IT organization and infrastructure that support those efforts are sometimes thirty years old.”
“Sometimes, organizations think they are unique – but a lot of these problems are similar across all different industries and sizes of organizations,” Aaron agrees. “The way to solve those problems is to listen well, partner with your team, and have great organization.”
In the lightning round, so many leaders choose a basic organization app as their favorite or most-used. This is an insight into how IT leaders are going about solving problems, and it’s all about keeping it simple.
Takeaway No. 4: The incredible innovation across the board
Regardless of who was being interviewed, the one constant was the unbelievable innovation each was involved in. IT leaders are committed to continuing their learning and engaging with what’s new, which will help them avoid becoming those same legacy systems that hold companies back.
“Even if this tech doesn’t apply to your job today, it’s probably going to apply to your job and your life tomorrow,” Aaron sums up.
“The curation of what’s going on around you is more important than ever,” Ian says. “It’s so important to know what your peers and your mentors are up to.”
Listen to the full episode here.
