The first arc of the Pega podcast, Bold stories. Future focused., dives into the future of IT. Jo Richardson (Director of Corporate Communications, Pega), talked with industry experts and influencers about how bias, regulation, and teamwork are expanding the IT role across all industries.
Here is a sneak peek into each episode:
Episode 1: Steering the future of IT featuring Elizabeth M. Adams and Joe Weinman
In this episode, Jo chats with Elizabeth M. Adams (Global AI Ethics Advisor) and Joe Weinman (Former SVP at Digital Realty & Author) about how the future of IT is changing, the impacts making these changes, and how organizations can remain relevant during this transition.
Elizabeth’s work focuses on how data bias comes from lack of diversity in data collection, ultimately leading to bad models and results. Businesses are making decisions based on these bad results, and that's dangerous for the future of IT. Elizabeth continues to enable organizations to modernize and overcome these challenges and sees these adoption efforts as the way to succeed in the future.
“...for those companies who are not able to kind of quickly adapt to this digital moment that we’re having, I don’t think that they’ll be around long because that is actually where we are and that’s where we’re going to stay. That's where the jobs are going to be.”
Joe talks about the evolving relationship between humans and machines and how technological advances are already showing how machines can support and even replace humans (ex: self-driving cars and automated transcription machines). Joe’s future of IT is also focused on the importance of digital adoption through bias and ethics regulations. He emphasizes that successful digital transformation doesn’t fall solely on the IT group, this is an enterprise-wide effort.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily up to the IT person, like a developer or an architect or whatever, to figure this stuff out. It’s up to some things that are more in the realm of AI ethics, and legal and regulatory maneuvers.”
Tune in to hear more about the future of IT with Elizabeth and Joe:
JAN 18, 2022 | 23 MINS
CEO Elizabeth M. Adams and author Joe Weinman talk about what the future of IT can (and should) look like. From AI bias to unreliable algorithms and the working harmony between humans and machines, learn what’s most pressing as our IT-enabled future fast approaches.
Episode 2: Are humans at the heart of digital transformation? featuring Alex Andrenacci and Ralph Thompson
This episode features two speakers from EY: Alex Andrenacci (EY Asia-Pacific Technology Transformation and Trusted Intelligence Leader) and Ralph Thompson (EY Associate Partner, Technology Transformation). Alex and Ralph talk a lot about thinking and learning differently in order to drive change as well as the importance of an enriched life both in and out of the workplace.
We, as humans, play many different roles that are defined by who we are as workers, consumers, and unique individuals. Alex describes it best as a balancing act to recognize these different perspectives and utilize them all to drive change:
“I think we need to start learning how to do things differently in order to drive the change that we all want to drive. So, I think it’s this continuous balancing act that I believe we as humans, we as IT professionals, but also we as consumers need to always have.”
Ralph shares the importance of personal enrichment for a successful and tech-driven future. As long as people are passionate about what they do, that energy will positively impact the outcomes of their work, and our collective future:
“There’s got to be personal enrichment. There has to be a passion for growth. And I think that if those are fulfilled, technologically-centered people will experience growth and passion and they’ll contribute more...”
Listen to the full podcast episode:
JAN 25, 2022 | 22 MINS
Join Alex Andrenacci and Ralph Thompson, technology transformation leaders at Ernst & Young, as they discuss what the future of IT looks like from their perspective and how people are at the heart of it all.
Episode 3: Expanding the reach of tech for good featuring Dr. Phil Budden and Lacey Kesler
The future of IT is also about access and localization. Dr. Phil Budden (MIT Senior Lecturer in Tech Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Strategy (TIES) at MIT’s Management School) and Lacey Kesler (Senior Community Education Manager at Webflow) talk with Jo about the importance of accessible technical education and access to these tools to support a variety of different communities. All contributions, big or small, can make a difference.
If all tech is concentrated in major cities, other communities can’t access those benefits and experiences. Dr. Phil Budden talks about how tech impacts our daily lives and shouldn’t be limited to major cities and organizations. The future and success of IT relies on democratization.
“So, making sure that the tech and coding skills are not just sort of bottled up in certain places, but are distributed more evenly around the world. I think this will actually allow people to solve local problems that those in the big cities might not have thought about.”
Lacey also speaks about the value of access to technology via learning opportunities through low-code and no code technologies. Lacey comes from a non-technical background and understands the challenges people endure to try to understand coding and development. People want to learn, but the path is discouraging. Until now:
“...there’s such a demand for people wanting to learn, but they’re not wanting to learn tech in tech terms. [...] There’s a layer of translation there that needs to happen. I think where no code has an opportunity to shine is removing that layer of translation for people and giving them the words to say the vocabulary and helping them ask really good questions to better understand all of this.”
Get the full podcast episode for more details and insights from Dr. Phil Budden and Lacey Kesler:
FEB 1, 2022 | 26 MINS
Innovation is about making the future more advanced, but what advancements are we making to help today’s tech be more accessible? Listen as our expert guests talk about the importance of low-code alternatives, visual development, changing our approach to education, and more.
Episode 4: The steady evolution of government IT featuring Alexis Wichowski
The future of IT also relies on regulations that come from the top – the government. In this episode, Jo talks with Alexis Wichowski (New York City’s Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Innovation) about the status of tech within the public and private sectors of government. Alexis shares how she’s trying to change how these sectors can work together to create better tech solutions. True change and adoption must come from our leaders and decision makers.
“It’s not something that is radical. It’s something that has to come from leadership though. And this is where the people who we elect to put in office really really matter. Because if you have people, even at a deputy level of an agency saying this is important, this is something we have to do – people get busy, things happen...”
Hear more from this episode with Alexis Wichowski:
FEB 8, 2022 | 24 MINS
Technologically speaking, the public sector has room to grow. But according to Alexis Wichowski, deputy CTO for innovation in NYC, innovations are happening. Learn what progress is being made in public sector IT, what progressive government leadership makes possible, and more.
Check out the entire podcast series to hear more stories from industry experts and Pega team members!
