Maria Sexton, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of UT Medical, joins David Wright to explore leadership, AI adoption and the evolving role of IT in healthcare.

Maria shares her journey from help desk to CIO. She talks about the importance of simplifying both life and leadership and examines why technology is easy, but people leadership is hard. She also unveils why AI holds a unique promise in healthcare and how to avoid “AI for AI’s sake.” Arguing that IT must be fully embedded in the business rather than operating on the sidelines.

David Wright is joined by Maruf Haider, Interim Chief Medical Information  Officer for Digital and Virtual Health of Carilion Clinic, to discuss what it takes to lead digital health inside complex healthcare systems. Maruf shares how his background as a practicing physician shapes his leadership approach, why technology alone cannot fix systemic issues, and how trust, clarity, and adaptability determine whether digital initiatives succeed at scale.

This week, David Wright is joined by Jason Oliver, Chief Technology Officer of Western University. They explore what it really takes to lead digital transformation in higher education, with a focus on people, culture, trust and authenticity. Jason shares lessons from his global career, his move from the UK to Canada and why effective change management matters more than any single technology decision.

This week, David Wright is joined by Ryan Olsen, Chief Administrative Officer of Hoag Health System, to discuss what it takes to lead large healthcare organizations through complexity, constraint and change. Ryan shares lessons from turnaround leadership, physician alignment and organizational politics, and explains why trust, incentives and discipline matter more than technology alone. The episode also explores the realistic role of AI in healthcare, the pressures facing health systems today and the personal leadership lessons Ryan learned the hard way.

David Wright is joined by Siva Balu, Chief Information and Digital Officer of Quartz Health Solutions, for a conversation on authentic leadership, lessons learned from costly missteps and reimagining the healthcare technology landscape. Together, they explore pivotal career insights — from recognizing when technology distracts from real business challenges to the importance of grounding strategy in customer needs rather than pursuing innovation for its own sake.

Lawrence Hamilton, Executive Vice President of Performance of The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., joins the show to discuss how healthcare systems can improve outcomes without losing the human element of care.

He shares how Kaiser Permanente’s integrated model delivers longer life expectancy, lower mortality and high patient satisfaction at lower cost. He also explains why digitizing broken systems creates risk, how incentives shape outcomes and where technology helps or hurts clinicians. The conversation explores health equity as a core performance metric, the challenge of scaling personal care and why meaningful leadership requires taking on work where failure is possible.

David Wright is joined once more by Breno Gentil, Strategic Advisor of C.I.KNOW. In his second appearance on the podcast, Breno — a former CIO for Heineken and British American Tobacco — discusses his recent month-long journey racing across the Atlantic Ocean in the Clipper Race. He shares profound insights on leadership resilience, the psychological challenges of high-stakes environments and how the lessons learned at sea parallel the complexities of digital transformation. Breno offers a unique perspective on the future of the CIO role, arguing that as technology becomes the DNA of an organization, leadership must shift toward human change orchestration.

David Wright is joined by Frank Sweeney, Chief Information Officer and Assistant Director of Support Services of the Arizona Department of Child Safety, to discuss Frank’s journey from a history major to a technology leader, and the crucial role of innovation in public service. They discuss Frank’s mission to protect children and empower frontline workers through technology, the importance of culture over strategy in innovation, and the power of staying curious and patient in one's career.

This week, David Wright is joined by Ahmed Abuelenein, Senior Manager of IT Technical Product Management, Healthcare Digital Innovation at a major academic health system. Ahmed discusses his journey from biomedical engineering to leading digital innovation in healthcare, emphasizing the importance of horizontal skill development, continuous improvement informed by the data and securing data access for researchers while protecting patient information.

This week, David Wright welcomes Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer, Chief Information Officer and Single Point of Authority for Cybersecurity at NATO, to discuss the Alliance’s digital transformation, the rising sophistication of cyber threats and the role of people, processes and technology in securing global defense systems.

They explore the growing challenges of nation-state adversaries, multi-domain military operations, and the accelerating impact of AI on both offense and defense. Manfred also reflects on leadership lessons learned across his global career and why effective cybersecurity hinges on human behavior as much as technical capability.

In this episode, David Wright is joined by Richard Zane, Chief Medical and Innovation Officer of UCHealth, to explore how healthcare systems can embrace innovation by focusing on people, processes and pragmatic problem-solving. Richard shares lessons from his journey — from emergency medicine to leading one of the most advanced innovation centers in healthcare — highlighting the importance of clarity, communication and execution in driving sustainable change.

In this episode, hear an inspiring conversation with Raman Kaur, Vice President, Education Technology at Elsevier, as she shares valuable insights in her journey from the clinical world to leading technology-driven innovation in education and healthcare. Listeners will discover practical lessons on curiosity, action, the power of change, accountability, and the future of learning shaped by artificial intelligence.

Walt Carter, President of THG Advisors, discusses effective leadership and business transformation with David Wright, as well as the systems required to address disruptive challenges. Walt shares his journey across technology, marketing and consulting, emphasizing why systematized leadership and empowered teams are essential to real sustainable change. The conversation covers lessons from Walt’s new book “Stop Driving Behind Idiots,” real-world strategies for fostering cultures of trust, and how leadership must adapt to an increasingly complex digital landscape.

Greg Townsend, Senior Vice President, Chief Data Officer and Analytics Officer of AltaMed Health Services, sits down with David Wright to share how data and analytics can drive meaningful organizational change. From governance and scalability to risk modeling and AI adoption, Greg explains how his team aligns strategy and operations to deliver consistent value.

David Wright speaks with Karl Mosgofian, Advisor at RampCIO. Karl reflects on his career journey, the expanding scope of the CIO role, and the realities of leading in an era shaped by AI expectations. He emphasizes the importance of empathy, stakeholder alignment and prioritization as essential skills for technology leaders.

In this episode, David Wright sits down with Ken Knapton, Chief Information Officer of Win Brands (Costa Vida / FatCats), to explore the evolution from individual contributor to strategic team leader in enterprise IT environments. They delve into overcoming organizational resistance to change, particularly when implementing shared services across multi-location businesses. Ken reveals how personal growth and humility transformed his leadership approach, while David and Ken examine the challenges CIOs face when stakeholders misunderstand collaborative IT initiatives and unfairly assign security ownership solely to technology leaders.

Holly Hon, Senior Vice President of Operations at Entertainment Partners, joins David Wright to explore how strategic execution, data-driven leadership and cross-functional collaboration shape long-term success. Holly shares lessons from transforming services into scalable product organizations, building AI readiness through data governance and advocating for enterprise-wide change — all with a mindset rooted in continuous learning and purposeful leadership.

Host David Wright talks to Breno Gentil, Strategic Advisor of C.I.KNOW, whose previous roles include Global CTO of British American Tobacco and Senior Director of Digital and Technology at Heineken. Breno shares lessons from his global career leading transformation across consumer goods and explains why simplifying tech is core to IT leadership today. From AI hype to sailing analogies, this conversation dives into the people-centered realities behind digital progress.

Ramesh Razdan, Global CIO/CTO of Bain & Company, joins David Wright to share how a foundation of humility, gratitude and servant leadership has shaped his journey from rural Kashmir to leading global technology transformation. They discuss managing change at scale, fostering collaboration across geographies and functions and how emerging technologies like AI can unlock personalized solutions in areas like healthcare.

A technologist who embraces business leadership, prioritizes humility over ego and learns to truly let go can drive lasting transformation.

Brad Sexton, Chief Information Officer of Terrible's, joins David Wright to talk about leadership, innovation and the realities of driving digital transformation in a diverse, fast-paced organization. Brad shares lessons learned from a career spanning government, hospitality and retail, offering practical insights on team empowerment and the importance of actionable data. The discussion covers how Terrible's deliberately different approach fuels growth, the challenges of integrating legacy systems and the value of learning from every member of the organization.