How a CIO Sold Her CEO’s Vision
The boss was convinced neural net technology would be the answer to his company's problems. The CIO proved it.
Wed, May 23, 2007
CIO — In 2001, I was hired as vice president of technology services at JEA. I was working for a technology-savvy CEO. So great was his passion for IT that he was convinced it would be a key catalyst to JEA becoming the best utility service provider in the nation. I had landed most CIOs' dream job.
I felt invincible. I started to dream big. As I listened to my boss describe his priorities for IT and its partnership with the business, I could barely contain my excitement. However, once I left his presence, the magnitude of my responsibility seemed overwhelming. I prepared to roll up my sleeves rather than dream my way through the next few years.
I focused on the organization chart for the IT department, which had been designed by consultants. I had been appointed as the result of a corporate realignment that included changes in the organization's structure, its philosophy and its management team. The intent was to create a flatter, leaner organization and enable quicker decision making. Although I was told I would have some flexibility with the org chart, some things were not negotiable: specifically, a position for an artificial neural net specialist.
My boss's interest in neural net technology went deep. He had done much reading on the subject, and he believed this technology could help eliminate many of our inefficiencies. He was ready for implementation.
Forget that the business's dissatisfaction with IT was so complete that one user boldly lamented "Outsource IT!" on his customer feedback survey. And disregard that for my eight VP peers, deploying neural net technology wasn't even on their top-10 lists. This was the top performance priority for me. So I made it happen.
Learn the Territory
My first step was to hire Michael Eaton to head the neural net project. As an electrical engineer with an understanding of the utility business, Eaton had the right technology and business skills, and an insatiable curiosity about IT. Equally important, he had the fortitude to accept a mission in which there were few believers.
Eaton spent nine months learning about our business in order to understand its greatest areas of need and to determine where neural net technologies could help. At the same time, he investigated best-of-breed neural net software vendors, as well as which companies were actively using the technology.
He compiled a comprehensive list of possible projects for JEA. Then we spent many days dissecting each component of the puzzle: solutions, vendors and deployment sites to visit. We played prosecutor, defense counsel, judge and jury on each combination we considered.
