CTO Confessions Brought to you by IT Labs

An episode which can be described simply as ‘enlightening’, TC Gill engages in a captivating conversation with Andrei Lopatenko, the VP of Engineering at Zillow, as they explore the critical elements of cultivating a culture of innovation and continuous learning in the realm of tech leadership. Andre shares his journey from an individual contributor to a tech leader, emphasizing the importance of mentorship and embracing challenges. Drawing from his experiences at Google, he highlights the significance of transparent communication, fearlessness, and open-mindedness in promoting innovation. Andre discusses how he brings these learnings to Zillow, aligning team missions with the company's strategy. Key takeaways: - Fearlessness and Openness Culture - Foster a culture that embraces fearlessness and openness, encouraging transparency, open communication, and learning from failures for enhanced innovation and team performance. - Continuous Alignment with Company Mission - Regularly align team missions, visions, and strategies with the overall company mission to focus on high-impact initiatives and drive effective contributions to the organization's growth. - Embrace Continuous Self-Development - Commit to continuous self-development as a tech leader or CTO to stay updated with industry trends, improve skills, and inspire teams for sustained success. Our Guest: Andrei Lopatenko LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lopatenko/ Website: https://www.zillow.com/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

In this captivating episode, TC Gill engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Nick Peddy, the Chief Technology Officer at CLEAR, exploring the dynamic realm of technology leadership and the intriguing biometric security industry. With a wealth of experience and wisdom, Nick delves into the essence of servant leadership, stressing the significance of trust, open communication, and cultivating team growth. Amidst the challenges of company growth and compliance, Nick shares valuable advice on optimizing the hiring process, encouraging tech leaders to embrace challenging roles for personal growth. This episode is a true gem, empowering tech leaders to view software engineering as an art and inspiring teams to thrive in the ever-evolving tech landscape. Key takeaways: - Embrace Challenges & Growth Opportunities - Tech leaders should fearlessly take on challenging roles to foster personal and professional growth, driving innovation and discovering new solutions. - Foster Trust & Open Communication - Cultivate a culture of trust and open communication within the team to encourage collaboration, idea-sharing, and support. - Prioritize Face-to-Face Connections - Recognize the value of in-person interactions, even in remote work environments, as they enhance creativity, team dynamics, and meaningful connections. Our Guest: Nick Peddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickpeddy/ Website: https://www.clearme.com/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Join us in this exciting episode as we sit down with Andrew Philips, the CTO of Skyscanner, a leading player in the online travel search and comparison market. Discover how Skyscanner goes beyond the traditional flight search experience, aiming to inspire travelers, as well as Andrew shedding light on the challenges of scaling the business and maintaining efficiency with a lean team. Furthermore, you can also learn about his journey in the world of tech – from his beginnings all the way to today, coupled with everything he’s learned, and his advice worth its weight in gold! Key takeaways from the podcast are: - Grant autonomy with boundaries - empower your teams to make decisions within their expertise while setting clear guidelines to maintain alignment. - Streamline processes for efficiency - optimize workflows, remove bottlenecks, and automate tasks to maximize productivity and drive business growth. - Leverage AI practically - focus on practical applications of AI to bring tangible benefits to your products or services, like Skyscanner's use of AI to enhance user experiences and provide personalized recommendations. Our Guest: Andrew Phillips LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjhp/ Website: https://www.skyscanner.net/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

“Imagine a world where people of all ages and walks of life, have access to similar knowledge, resources, and can gain new insights and skills, where everyone who wants to get an education is able to access and complete their degrees.” - this is one thing that the guest on this episode, Michelle Lee, CTO at ITHAKA, said during the episode, and it’s just one of the many gems she dropped in our short but incredible conversation we had around her life, her work, and her journey in the world of tech! Key takeaways from the podcast are: - A customer-centric approach is essential for effective technology leadership, emphasizing the importance of understanding and meeting the needs of users to drive innovation and achieve long-term success. - Embracing failure as a learning opportunity: Learning from failures and mistakes is crucial for personal and professional growth, and it's something that you need to embrace throughout your entrepreneurial journey. - The significance of passion and purpose: Pursuing a venture driven by a genuine passion for making a positive impact in the world can be a driving force for success. Our Guest: Michelle Lee LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellelee1/ Website: https://www.ithaka.org/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

We often see people going against the odds, achieving the unthinkable, and pushing boundaries, but how often do you see someone making it their life's work and being successful at it? Meet Robert Mannino, CTO of Sanguina – a biotech company that develops tools to help people act on their health through accessible science and technology. Rob sat down with me, as we talked about his struggle with anemia, the work he’s been doing for Sanguina, and his journey in tech – from his early days to today. Key takeaways from the podcast are: - Look around your teams for a solution, before you look for it outside of your company - Exhaust options before you declare something a failure – especially when the outcome is difficult to predict - Learn from the leaders you admire, and you’ll grow in the right direction Our Guest: Robert Mannino LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-mannino-phd-53127155/ Website: https://sanguina.com/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Building, creating, developing – these are all activities all tech leaders simply love. And as leaders, they are skilled at nurturing the flames of others – the flames to build, create, develop, analyze, or simply put, to follow their drive towards creating a better tomorrow. I had the chance to have a good talk with one such leader – Jamie Smith Webb, CTO at Numan, who shared with me his journey to becoming a tech leader, his experience in various industries, and his incredible insights he’s amassed from working with a variety of teams. Key takeaways from the podcast are: - Composing your team is a matter of adaptibility and proper leadership, especially when they are diverse in nature - Knowing how and when to ask for help will help you grow, but also establish relationships - Setting expectations - understanding and aligning expectations is crucial for effective leadership on all levels Our Guest: Jamie Smith Webb LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiesmithwebb/ Website: https://www.numan.com/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Tech leaders are drivers – they inspire people and draw them to ideas, concepts, new projects, and motivate them to be better by getting them to align with their MO and way of thinking – to a healthy extent, that is. I had the chance to talk about all of this with a tech leader who is working with a team diverse in skill – but also in culture, something that requires some serious leadership skills in itself – Krenar Muhidini, Director of Software Development at EML, who sat down with me to share his journey and experience in the world of tech, and hear his advice on leading teams – worth it’s weight in gold. Key takeaways from the podcast are: - user experience can sometimes defy logic, but - listening is the precursor to understanding, and is key to building trust between your teams and achieving goals - in order to achieve high discipline, you need well-defined processes that are easy to follow and understand Our Guest: Krenar Muhidini LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krenarmuhidini/ Website: https://www.emlpayments.com/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Growing to become a tech leader means you’ve had your fair share of attempts to do something, and with that – a fair share of failures that you’ve learned from. But in the end, you’ve grown and have learned how to think like a leader, the importance of your team, and how to keep one eye on the big picture, the great idea. One leader that encapsulates all of this is Mijo Duric, CTO at Creative Car Park, who sat down with me to talk about his journey in the tech world, how he rolls as a leader, and what his experience all these years have taught him. Key takeaways from the podcast are: - Financial stability is the one thing that can give you the true freedom to truly experiment, learn, and grow as a professional and leader; - Hiring and retention is one of the most important aspects of leadership – surround yourself with good people - Work smart, not hard – drowning in your work can keep you from looking at the big picture and learn about the business and essence you’re working for Our Guest: Mijo Duric LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mijoduric/ Website: https://www.creativecarpark.co.uk/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

The road of to becoming a change-maker, a tech leader, is – unlike in many other industries – anything but a straight line. But the traits that all tech leaders share are adaptibility and willingness to learn and grow. Enter Tramale Turner, CTO at TaxBit, who sat down with me to discuss his journey, the things he learned, and how he rolls as a leader! Key takeaways from the podcast are: - Recognizing patterns is the best way to solving problems, as well as finding areas in which you need to improve - Having difficult conversations on how and why something occurred is a good way for everyone to grow together - Adaptive leadership will allow you to get a grasp on things much faster, and also connect with people on a much deeper level Our Guest: Tramale Turner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tramale-turner-31b24a/ Website: https://taxbit.com/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

The tech leaders of today greatly differ from the tech leaders of yesterday – from their scope of work to their mindset, skills, and approach – a lot of things have changed. Basically, what changed was the answer to the question “What does it mean to be a leader?” - and with me here on this episode to help answer that question is David Germain, Group Chief Information Officer, who sat down with me to talk about all things leadership – from his journey through the world of tech, through his approach and perspective, all the way to his insight and experience worth their weight in gold. Key takeaways from the podcast are: - The importance of not letting stereotypes hold you back from achieving your dreams - Never take your eye away from the big picture - As a leader, your skillset must be diverse if you’re to drive people forward Our Guest: David Germain LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidcgermain/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)