CIO Leadership Live with Annette Cooper, Director, Data & Analytics, Graham Construction,

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Welcome to CIO Leadership Live.
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I’m Lee Rennick, executive director
of CIO communities for cio.com.
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And I’m very excited
and honored to welcome
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Annette Cooper, director of data
analytics at Graham, to the show today.
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Annette, could you please
introduce yourself
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and maybe tell us a little bit
about your current role?
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Yeah.
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So as you see in Annette Cooper I’m
the director of data and analytics here
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at Graham Construction.
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So Graham is one of the largest
construction companies in Canada.
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And we also have a pretty big presence
down in the United States.
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my role is leading the data and analytics
practice here.
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And I’ve been at Graham about three years
and I was the first one of me.
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So data and analytics is new to Graham.
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and we’re all going on
the journey together.
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That is wonderful.
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That must be incredible.
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Well, I really appreciate you joining
us here today and thank you so much.
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So we’ve develop this series,
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to support the technology leader
in their tech and leadership journey.
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So first question and I ask everyone
this question.
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Could you please tell us a little bit
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about your own career
path and leadership journey today?
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Any lessons learned along the way
that you could share?
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Just sharing
generally about your journey so far?
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I think the lesson at the end of it
all, I’ll do that.
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First is there’s no one way to have
a career path, particularly not in it.
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And when I started out
working 20 years ago,
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there wasn’t really
even this role that I’m sitting in now.
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So I think the biggest lesson is,
you know, do it your way.
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There’s no there’s no pathway,
there’s no prescription.
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So I started off
as, a researcher working in academics,
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very much on the analysis
side of the data world, and then ended up
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working in central government
in New Zealand for a long time
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as a policy researcher.
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And then I got offered the opportunity
to move into a leadership role.
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And I think that’s where I found
my first real fit,
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or feeling like
that was something that I did really well
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and something that I really enjoyed
and could bring skill to.
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And then I’ve sort of grown from there
so much.
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Like I said, it’s been a very non-linear
millennial style,
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kind of twisty turny career,
and I’ve followed my interests.
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and I’ve also followed
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other leaders that I thought were people
that I could learn from.
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And as opportunities have come along,
I’ve taken them.
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So I moved away from government
and into core technology
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like I am now, because it was something
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that I hadn’t done before,
and it was something that interests me.
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So just leveraging the wide range
of skills that I had,
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sort of in and around other leaders
that I was interested in learning from.
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I love that, and,
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you know, you have a lot of experience
in different areas, especially government.
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But I’m sure there’s a lot of process
and ways of processing things
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and developing things that were
very different to, how you do things now.
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But it probably helps and impacts on your,
your role.
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you know, there at Graham,
every different place that I’ve worked
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has given me a slightly different way
of looking at the world and also
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a slightly different set of skills
for analyzing how to get things done.
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You know, is this a place where we
we really focused on process?
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Is this a place where
we’re really focused on relationship?
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You know, what matters to the people
sitting at the top table?
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That’s the same
whether you’re working for,
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elected official or,
you know, the people that I work for here.
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So, yeah,
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it’s all just about that skill of how
do you get done what you need to get done.
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And the diversity of my experience
has given me lots of opportunities
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to flex that muscle.
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Well that’s wonderful.
Thank you for sharing that.
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I really appreciate that.
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And congratulations
to Graham on the CIO Canada Award winning
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project on enterprise data.
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So I would love to learn a little bit
more about the project
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and maybe how it transformed the business.
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Yeah.
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So Enterprise Data Platform was a great
big audacious
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goal, that I set
when it came in about three years ago.
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we as a business
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were a little bit behind on
some of our use of data.
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And I think that’s probably
just the reality of a lot of businesses.
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We all like to talk about that.
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We’re really data enabled.
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But reality is right.
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It costs money and it takes time.
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So because Graham has grown significantly
through the journey acquisition,
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one of the key things was we needed
a platform that was going to be agnostic
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to our main ERP or the ERP,
you know, all the other things.
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We wanted to have something
that was data specific.
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So we went about building the platform
itself,
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where we could bring information
from across all of our major organizations
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and across Graham’s disparate systems
together
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in a place that we could use it
particularly focused on operations.
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So project operations, building
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bridges, building giant high
rises, the stuff we do at grain.
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The other
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thing that that in and of itself was
a big task, but the other thing was about
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how do you get that out to people in a way
that is useful and usable
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and recognizing the challenges
of the folks in our field,
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so they’re not sitting at desks
all day long.
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so we also built what we refer to as our,
insights hub.
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So that’s the thing that sits
on top of the enterprise data platform.
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That’s where all of our reports are
that we’ve built,
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and that sits on our gateway,
which is our main entry,
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and people can access the information
through there.
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The other thing I’m really proud of
about enterprise data platform
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is that we’ve taken a, product approach
to how we think about data.
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So we’re not building reports
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and putting them out there
and hoping someone wants them.
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We’ve bought product thinking,
and so every report is its own product.
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It needs a product owner.
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We’ve also designed
to make the lives of our users easier.
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Well designed products
make the world easier for our users.
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So all of that has been going on
in the background,
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while we’ve also been building pipes
and things like that.
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So it’s been impactful to the business
in the sense that it’s radically different
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to where we were.
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Like, it is a big step forward.
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And because we’re laying the groundwork
for the importance
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of thinking about reports
as living things,
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as our business changes,
our data needs change.
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And thinking about,
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the importance of design and all of our
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technology operations.
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So that’s what I’m most proud of.
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Wow, congratulations
and congratulations on the award.
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I mean, we really pride ourselves
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on developing these awards
so we can showcase projects like this.
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And I think this is such an important one.
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we didn’t have this one player,
but I mean, obviously with the year
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being a lot about generative
AI for some, a lot of companies,
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you know, this idea of data and enterprise
data and pulling that all together
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and how you use that is such an important,
you know, for what I’m hearing from CIOs
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is such an important piece
to having successful AI platforms
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and building out
anything you might want to.
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So sounds like you laid down
some great groundwork, not groundwork,
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but, you know, implementing
great strategies, an end goal,
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and then also making sure that user
had that amazing experience with it.
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yeah. So congratulations on that.
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Any thoughts around that?
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Just around how you might be planning for
AI and things like that?
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You can’t do anything
if you don’t have the pipes in the ground.
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Right.
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And I think it’s one of the benefits
of working
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at a construction company was
it was an easy analogy to make to people.
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Right.
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So you cannot build a, 60 story
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sky rise on top of an open pit.
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So we are building the foundation
for all data work in the future.
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Airframe generative AI,
whatever it is, was
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whatever
is most important to the business.
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Yeah.
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We chose a tool that could manage
structured and unstructured data.
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We’re not
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using any unstructured data at the moment,
but we wanted to future proof ourselves
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yet again,
taking the long term view and doing
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the boring hard work,
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you know, getting everything
where it needs to be.
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Okay, so this segues very well
into the next question perfectly,
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which is around the role of the senior
tech leader or the tech leader.
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So we release every year
a state of the CIO report.
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when we interviewed 1100 CIOs globally
about that, their role, 79% of tech
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leaders said that the CIO has
an educational partnership with the CEO
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and the board of directors.
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Now, you just talked about that,
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how you’re describing
and explaining these projects.
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But, you know,
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what are your thoughts on that
given the scope of the project you led?
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I am lucky I have a close relationship
and a lot of access
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to our senior executive team,
and that’s helpful.
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when you’re talking about budgets
and funding
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and big picture
thinking about what we want to do,
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but I would say the real people
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that I needed to influence were that next
layer down, because those are the people
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who are operationally in charge of parts
of our organization.
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Right.
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And those are the people
who have the real ability to go or not go
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when we’re talking about change
and change management. so
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that’s been part of the product
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thinking was bringing those people
at a director or a VP level into work
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with us to lead the development of what
was important to the part of the business,
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rather than leaving all of those decisions
to the executive
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who are really too far away in some cases
from the actual work that’s being done.
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In a practical sense,
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and what’s going to be helpful
to our operations folks onsite.
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So, yeah, I think it’s important to have
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a relationship with your senior leaders
and you and your CEO.
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And additionally have them.
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But I also think that in
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and of itself is not enough
to be a successful technology leader.
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You want to be building partnerships
with people
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where you’re seen as a strategic partner
in this thinking
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and being brought early into, hey,
I think we’ve got a problem here.
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We don’t quite know what to do.
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Who can we talk to?
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I think your technology leaders,
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you want to be
the people that are coming to talk to.
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I love that analogy.
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Thank you so much.
I think that’s so important.
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I was just having a discussion
with someone today about,
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you know, chief marketing officer.
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And, you know, we were saying, well,
you know, the people that are out running
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the social media are doing this, working
on the CRM, CRM and all of that stuff.
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You know,
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sometimes that person at the highest level
doesn’t really know what’s going on,
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but it’s all the other people
that are involved
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that really help create this interaction
with the organization.
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So I appreciate you sharing that very,
very much.
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Actually, I think it’ll be beneficial
to anyone listening in on this interview.
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All right.
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So, you’re very passionate
about building diverse teams.
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you know,
I work a lot in this area, working with
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some of our research teams around this,
talking to see,
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I was about how they’re helping to support
those that are starting their careers,
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you know, especially,
in the Canadian market here.
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So could you talk a little bit about that?
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Yeah.
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So, I mean, I’m an immigrant and a woman
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and a member of the LGBTQ community.
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And you can’t be
what you can’t see, right?
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So growing up
as a young kid in New Zealand,
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there were very limited
view of what a career looked like.
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I think technology for a long time
was about leadership.
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For a long time has been very much a male
dominated society.
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And that’s true here in construction too,
with we’re still very much there.
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but I’m passionate about diversity
because diverse teams
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bring diverse skills and diverse ways
of looking at things.
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And back to our product mentality.
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When you bring a bunch of different people
into a room
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with different ideas,
you get a better product out of it.
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You get a better,
You also give people the opportunity
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to learn how to collaborate
with others who are different to them.
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and to
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make a team that really gels
nicely together.
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That’s the difference
that brings us together.
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I’m passionate
about getting more women into technology
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because I think the whole place
would be better off.
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I think every place is better
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when we have more women
in it, particularly in leadership roles.
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so I do whatever I can
to support young women.
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And again,
I understand the immigrant experience.
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So I think
all of those things are important.
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And I think opening your eyes
up to the talent that’s out there,
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you people who aren’t taking this view,
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I think it just missing out
on good candidates and good people.
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Yeah, I agree with you.
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And I just interviewed,
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Lucy Ho, who’s the founder
and executive director of Hacker Girl.
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So they’re working with younger girls,
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getting them into technology,
letting them feel safe in the space.
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They’re learning how to code
and do all sorts of really amazing things.
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And I also interviewed Christine Barnhart,
who’s the CEO of the web network.
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And they’re an organization
that supports women in tech.
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And really about that,
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what you just talked about, the diversity
of all the skills you bring to the table,
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usually women are more on that track
because they take more of a
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like a different type of approach
to that end career.
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And so they, you know, really work
globally to support women in technology
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and just building out their skills,
but also having that opportunity
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to to network.
And I think it’s so important.
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So I appreciate your insights
in this area.
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It’s so important to really,
I think for any business to really be
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00:13:27,880 –> 00:13:29,760
successful, to look at those teams
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00:13:29,760 –> 00:13:32,200
and how they’re building out
their diverse teams.
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so I appreciate your insights.
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00:13:34,160 –> 00:13:37,920
I would especially say nowadays, right,
when we’re hearing of,
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00:13:38,120 –> 00:13:42,240
companies sort of contracting and,
and things like that, know
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if you’re just doing things
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00:13:43,360 –> 00:13:46,840
the same way, you’ve always I mean, I’m
a millennial and I’m middle aged, right?
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00:13:47,120 –> 00:13:49,880
If you’re just doing things
the same way you’ve always done them,
269
00:13:49,880 –> 00:13:51,880
then you won’t be around much longer.
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00:13:51,880 –> 00:13:52,200
Yeah.
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00:13:52,200 –> 00:13:55,200
The generationally
young people want different things.
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00:13:55,200 –> 00:13:55,480
Yeah.
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00:13:55,480 –> 00:13:59,880
and I and I think it’s a, it’s
just a big missed opportunity
274
00:13:59,880 –> 00:14:04,560
to not be taking a broader meet
when you are thinking about hiring.
275
00:14:05,160 –> 00:14:09,320
I’ve never met another immigrant
who hasn’t been incredibly hardworking,
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00:14:09,320 –> 00:14:12,720
because in order just to get here,
you have to be hardworking.
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00:14:12,960 –> 00:14:15,440
Yeah. So just wonderful people.
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00:14:15,440 –> 00:14:17,480
And I think it’s a it’s a shame
if you miss out.
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00:14:17,480 –> 00:14:21,360
We’re also lucky here in Calgary
we have toast is based here which is a
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00:14:21,480 –> 00:14:26,120
and a women and IT recruitment company
who our awesome know
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00:14:26,120 –> 00:14:29,520
and do an amazing job of
like helping other women integrate roles.
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00:14:29,520 –> 00:14:33,320
So I think it’s shifted
in the last few years
283
00:14:33,640 –> 00:14:38,040
and I hope to be
part of that continued shift.
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00:14:38,680 –> 00:14:41,680
Thank you so much for doing that
and being engaged and
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00:14:42,120 –> 00:14:44,440
and explaining why it’s so important.
I really appreciate that.
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00:14:44,440 –> 00:14:44,800
All right.
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00:14:44,800 –> 00:14:48,280
So we’re recording this in December 2025.
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00:14:48,280 –> 00:14:50,000
It’s just around the corner.
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00:14:50,000 –> 00:14:51,400
any predictions
290
00:14:51,400 –> 00:14:54,840
on how you see technology
and continue to lead and impact business?
291
00:14:55,280 –> 00:14:57,360
Technology is here to stay.
292
00:14:57,360 –> 00:15:02,000
I think the biggest honest struggle
for businesses is managing cost.
293
00:15:02,600 –> 00:15:06,920
So, you know, we talk about a lot of
people talking about AI all the time.
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00:15:07,360 –> 00:15:10,760
If you don’t have a use case for it,
that’s fundamentally important to
295
00:15:10,760 –> 00:15:13,680
your business. You will spend
a lot of money to get nowhere.
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00:15:13,680 –> 00:15:18,560
So I think that the technology leader
2026, yeah,
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00:15:18,560 –> 00:15:19,960
there’s a lot of stuff out there.
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00:15:19,960 –> 00:15:22,960
Yeah,
there’s a lot of shiny whizzy things.
299
00:15:23,320 –> 00:15:28,240
But managing cost for your business,
I think that is the thing
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00:15:28,240 –> 00:15:31,760
that once we get over this AI hype cycle
301
00:15:32,040 –> 00:15:33,560
and we come down the other side
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00:15:33,560 –> 00:15:36,560
and I’m looking forward to coming down
the other side, there’s going to be
303
00:15:36,560 –> 00:15:39,560
a lot of people cutting programs
that are too expensive.
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00:15:39,560 –> 00:15:42,840
So for me,
you know, and others that I talk to
305
00:15:42,840 –> 00:15:45,000
in my kinds of roles,
that’s what we’re thinking about.
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00:15:45,000 –> 00:15:48,040
How are we managing cost to still deliver
307
00:15:48,040 –> 00:15:52,200
as much business value as we can
without blowing that budget way up?
308
00:15:52,600 –> 00:15:53,880
I appreciate that feedback.
309
00:15:53,880 –> 00:15:55,800
Thank you so much for sharing,
and thank you so much,
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00:15:55,800 –> 00:15:57,240
Annette, for being here on the show today.
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00:15:57,240 –> 00:15:59,040
We truly appreciate it.
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00:15:59,040 –> 00:16:01,080
Thank you for having me. This is fun.
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00:16:01,080 –> 00:16:02,200
It was a wonderful.
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00:16:02,200 –> 00:16:03,600
And if you’re interested in watching this
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00:16:03,600 –> 00:16:05,960
or other videos, head on over to cio.com.
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00:16:05,960 –> 00:16:07,560
/ca. Thanks again.

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