CIO Robin Johansen to leave Beca before yearend

Robin Johansen is leaving as Beca CIO after 13 years, and will be doing consultancy work from his new base in Nelson.

Johansen will be with the engineering company until the end of November, after which he will be working on a range of ICT projects as an independent consultant and company director

Johansen was a finalist in the 2013 CIO of the Year and is a member of CIO New Zealand’s editorial advisory board.

The judges noted Johansen’s “track record of achievements and his contribution to the IT industry”.

Recruit and retain the smartest people you can find.Robin Johansen

“He gives his time and expertise willingly across the sector and is a well-respected CIO,” wrote the judges, as they pointed out his other activities, including being director of two software related businesses and mentoring other ICT professionals.

Asked for a key advice that worked for him as a CIO, he says, “Recruit and retain the smartest people you can find.”

“Recruitment is the easy part,” he says. “Retention requires attention to further developing each one as an individual.”

He recalls that when judges for the CIO of the Year asked him a similar question his response was, “What is the most important thing? It is the people! It is the people! It is the people!”

“He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!”

“It is far from original, but oh so true.”

Johansen says the interim CIO will be Dr Thomas Hyde, Group Director, Delivery Strategy, a long- term Beca employee who has worked with him during almost his entire term as CIO.

Johansen leads a 50-member IS team at Beca, which ranks number 44 in CIO100, the annual report on the ICT using organisations in New Zealand, with 5000 screens.

Prior to Beca, Johansen was Deputy Secretary of Defence.

Related:Team spirit: Beca CIO Robin Johansen started divisions that are now working on major contracts for the engineering firm.

Essential partnerships: Line of business executives are now making more technology decisions – with or without IT’s imprimatur.