Technovation with Peter High (CIO, CTO, CDO, CXO Interviews) Lincoln Financial CIO Jennifer Charters on AI Strategy and Human-Centered Tech
12 snips
Sep 15, 2025 In an engaging conversation with Jennifer Charters, Lincoln Financial's Executive Vice President and CIO, the discussion dives into the company's AI strategy and IT transformation. Jennifer shares insights on creating a 401(k)-style budgeting model for IT that maximizes ROI. She highlights the importance of a model-agnostic AI architecture for agility and outlines use cases in cybersecurity and customer experience. Emphasizing the human side of tech, she advocates for partnership with HR to future-proof skills as AI evolves.
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Structure IT With Verticals And Shared Services
- Organize IT with vertical domain CIOs aligned to business units and horizontal shared-service teams.
- Include an IT governance and operations function for budgeting, PMO, vendor and engagement oversight.
Budget Like A 401(k
- Separate IT spend into operational (OPEX) and investment (CAPEX-like) buckets to see returns clearly.
- Reinvest savings from reduced run-costs into discretionary innovation like AI.
AI Means Workflow Reimagination
- View AI both as an enterprise transformer and as a way to transform IT operations themselves.
- Reimagine end-to-end workflows before inserting AI so you avoid 'random acts of AI.'
