#213: How 3 Texas Women CIOs Orchestrate Change — From TxDOT's 29% Crash-Reducing AI to CapMetro & Austin Breaking Silos

#213: How 3 Texas Women CIOs Orchestrate Change — From TxDOT's 29% Crash-Reducing AI to CapMetro & Austin Breaking Silos [2025 TAGITM Live Podcast Tour]

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Featuring:

Kerrica Laake, Chief Information Officer, City of Austin

Anh Selissen, Chief Information Officer, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)

Tanya Acevedo, Senior Vice President and CIO, CapMetro

Stephanie Weber, Industry Leader, State and Local Government and Higher Ed Appian

What You’ll Learn:

Breaking Silos from the Inside Out — How Kerrica's 33-year climb from city intern to CIO taught her that real transformation starts with asking "why" at every level, and why pairing IT with city executives through Austin's Business Relationship Program rewired decades of entrenched silos.

Triple-Crisis Leadership at TxDOT — How Anh navigated a reorg, COVID, and ransomware attacks while launching crash-predictive AI that spots stranded vehicles before secondary collisions occur — delivering a 29% statewide reduction in secondary crashes across construction zones.

Turning Financial Crisis into Transit Innovation — How Tanya's transparent leadership during a sales tax shortfall inspired cross-training initiatives that birthed $1.75 fully integrated trip planning — allowing CapMetro to directly compete with expensive, unreliable rideshare.

Unified Emergency Response in Action — How Austin's women CIOs orchestrated city, state, and transit agencies in one CTEC center, creating a coordinated crisis response model.

How Appian-Powered Orchestration Connects Human Services End-to-End — Linking housing assistance, food programs, and job services so no resident falls through the cracks.

Why Leading Agencies Choose Process Improvement Over "Efficiency" — How component-driven approaches help departments work smarter with existing systems instead of costly rip-and-replace projects that disrupt operations.

Timestamps

(01:00) 33-Year Orchestration: From City Intern to Silo-Breaking CIO Leadership

(02:00) Breaking Departmental Silos: Business Relationship Program Pairs IT with City Executives

(04:00) Crisis as Catalyst: CapMetro's Transparent Response to Sales Tax Decline

(06:00) Triple Crisis Orchestration: Surviving Reorg + COVID + Ransomware at TxDOT

(13:00) Crash-Reducing AI in Action: 29% Secondary Crash Reduction Through Predictive Analytics

(17:00) Transit Orchestration: $1.75 Multi-Mode Integration That Competes with Uber

(21:00) CTEC Center Model: Orchestrating City, State & Transit for Emergency Response

(24:00) Change Management Strategy: Applying "Weakest Link" Principles Across Organizations

(28:00) AI Orchestration Framework: Ethical Pilot Programs Over Shiny Technology

(32:00) Legacy System Orchestration: Innovation Labs That Modernize While Preserving Function

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