CIO Leadership Live with Sarah Betadam, CIO, CISO, Novanta
Welcome to CIO Leadership Live. I'm Lee Rennick, executive director of CIO communities for CIO.com. And I'm very excited and honored to introduce Sarah Betadam, CIO and CISO of Novanta. Sarah, could you please introduce yourself and maybe tell us a little about your current role? Thank you so much, Lee. Really appreciate having me on. My name is Sarah Betadam I am a CIO CISO for Novanta I started in Novato about five years ago, and my first mission was to bring scalability for our back office solutions, as well as really bringing the technology to it.
You know, having a digital roadmap to bring the technology up to date and reduce the tech debt, and looking at the ways to making sure that we're growing at scale and, really coming together. So Novanta, as a medical device company and its consist of business units and the way that, we are scaling is through organic growth as well as the acquisition. So one of the, you know, many mission is how do you make sure that that that when you're acquiring company, you're bringing them along and you're integrating them to the, you know, hopefully a good foundational systems. So that kind of started this whole journey coming together. I was in the middle.
I started as a CIO, but then and, and then with the, the cyber, you know, happening keep on happening all the time. cyber events. Then I set up the first group of cyber program, and we are, definitely a long way from that as well. And in fact, we're going to beginning our ISO certification, you know, for 27,001 hopefully soon.
This hashtag, and that has been instrumental. So we started, you know, the crawl walk, run. So you know hopefully we are definitely walking fast. There's always room to run. But we certainly are not you know maybe sprinting but not running a marathon yet.
But it's I have to say that I give the credit to all the team members. And these are the team members within my group. from helped us to infrastructure to application and the software engineers to the entire event. Because without them, the cyber security will be, you know, essentially, you can't do it alone.
It's a team event. Yeah. and a lot of these transformational programs from reporting and API to, you really having a cohesive sales and marketing to ERP? it is everyone just is not in it. you know, only project.
So, I have to say that it's been a it's been a long journey, but it's been a successful journey with a lot of people so really happy to be here and sharing my message with you. Wow. A huge room with a company that has a lot of history, right? So you're absolutely had to juggle a lot of different things. All right, well, I really appreciate you joining us here today, Sara. Thank you so much.
We've developed this series to support the technology leader in their tech and leadership journey. So the first question I ask and I ask everyone this question could you tell it, please tell me a little bit about your own career path, the lessons learned along the way, and any thoughts maybe you want to share about, you know, women listening in who are building their career in technology? So my my career started as a, so from my studies, I started as a computer science, as a bachelor. And then I, continued that as a computer science for my masters. something happened between my master's studies that I was introduced to, and SBI agent, who was, being a guest speaker at my, at my school.
And he introduced forensic analysis, and, so I audited that, that, that, that's class that he had and ended up teaching it, at the beginning, wasn't it? You know, accredited class. And then he ended up teaching it. And what I learned about, you know, how the science and engineering can come together, to be more applicable. And then, being a, you know, less theoretical and and seeing the application of it.
So that's where I, actually switched to computer engineering, mid middle of my, my masters, I end up getting it in computer engineering and specializing in data assurance and forensics. and I think that's where my love to security also began of, of how data is important and data belongs to the owner and how to be protected, especially with, having the other mission of digitalization. So, it's a little bit of, yin and yang in my, in my life, but, but I do, believe in data assurance. Then I and and I started working and I had many, you know, great positions throughout. I worked in many different industries, from biotech to pharma to tech software, companies, and currently in medical device company. but one thing I have, learned that, it's it's never too late to continue learning.
So then I ended up getting my, doctorate in computer and system engineering. and, and I think that that was a, you know, another pivotal, moment for me in making sure that I voiced that to all the women who are listening and who don't like or like going to the computer engineering, it's first of all, it's never too late to learn and pivot. and, and it's, it's not, that difficult that everybody is, you know, trying to make it. I think everyone is smart enough. And if you study hard, I think you could definitely achieve it. We need more women in technology.
my mission is to make sure that I get out there and really encourage and, you know, tell all the women who are working in a different positions or, have, daughters or cousins or nieces who are growing up that, having the exposure to Stem is important now is, is the if the people choose not to go that that's that's not an issue. It just the possibility is there for people to be eager to learn, and be successful in their own merits. so I think that one of the, as I, as I grew through technology and I had many different positions, so never be afraid to change. and it's scary. it's.
I will give you that. It's never an easy thing to, completely shift, but I've done many different jobs. I've been inside of it. I've been outside of it.
I've been in engineering. I've been in, sales organization. so it gives you the outlook of how others perceive technology, or how do you make sure that you're influential and how do you bring other people along? Because in this position, as a CIO or CISO, you don't manage people directly. It's a matrix situation. So you need to be able to bring people along.
You know tell them why and and why and what you're doing. And then make sure that you're able to have those influence assist to to bring them along. now being in a different position definitely helped me to speak their language. So, R&D, speaking their language, they like, someone who could, think about engineers sales same way. So I think that, don't be afraid to change and, and move around in their organization to learn new things.
I think that's fantastic. And what a journey you've had. And, you know, you're continuing on that in your dual role in your organization. I mean, hugely inspiring because often you see those two roles very separate. So I love this approach. And, you know, it very much aligns with a lot of the research I look at, which is around women in tech, that they take a journey that's different sometimes than men, and they usually touch all parts of the business.
But then the research shows that having women in these leadership positions actually creates more shareholder and stakeholder value. And maybe to your point, which is really great, is that you're touching on different parts of the business, so you understand it, and you can kind of come into those meetings and speak the language, which is I'm getting the goosebumps right now, which is truly inspiring. So thank you for for sharing that.
so really appreciate it. Okay. So when we last chatted, you talked about developing, implementing and managing the ERP process across the business, which is huge. So as a tech leader that that's a very large remit. You mentioned that it involved everyone from infrastructure, teams to leadership.
so maybe could you share some of the best practices and frameworks, maybe the strategies you use to navigate that process? Thank you. Lee. I just came back from a, leadership conference that you had as well, and I and I shared the, kind of give an update to the the team members there. I think that, ERP touches everyone in their organization from, manufacturing floor to middle management to upper management to executives. And, I'm really, I have to say, it's always great to have the sponsorship of your manager and the CEO. So in this particular journey that I am going through, I have the CEO and CFO who are, right along with me shouldering this, this responsibility and, really empowering me to make sure that we're doing the right things and they're there to advise and help.
that's that's huge. Now, how do you get there? sometimes, so I in this particular case, I'm lucky, because, the time, when I was being hired, there was a desire to make sure that we are advancing and coming as one company, to, to scale, to scale in a larger revenue, larger, business, different business models. So that's honestly the appetite has been there now. But so then if you have the executive leadership, how do you make sure that when you're going down, that you bring them along so our, you know, our set up is based on business units. So we have general manager for each business unit, and, they're the next level to convince that this is the right thing.
And there is definitely, always, you know, as the stats will show, there's, 75% of ERP programs fail. And only 25% are successful. Wow. So what are the ingredients of the 25% then set up the, you know, building blocks for and share it and bring everyone along. So make sure that we're part of that stat, not the 75%.
Yeah. Now if you're a betting person this is pretty lost. Yeah. To win. Yeah. But but the you know, I think one thing that I learned about, you know, Novant leadership and even, you know, the going down, we have a sense of, belonging and courage. so I think every leader needs to have a courage and to take some risk, but calculated risk and always mitigate.
So there is certainly that appetite. Was that appetite always there? No. So when I started this journey in 2020, you know, other than, you know, upper management that I mentioned the appetite wasn't really, you know, everywhere else. so what I did was, it was right. We had workshop right at the time of the covet. and then everybody shut down around March 15th of 2020.
So our workshop was April 1st of 2020. So then we had to cancel everybody's remote, but we didn't stop. And, and that's where we had the workshop. We had to shorten them.
We have 42 people across the globe or from different positions, to come together. What are the business capabilities? What are the our pain points? What is ERP means to know that to. Yeah. so we highlighted all of those many sessions, at least a quarter.
And then we started bringing different vendors and to see which software will work for us. Yeah. moving forward to the integrator and so on, so on. And that's life happened in between 2020 and we are now 2024 and we're kicking it off now.
So it's a long journey. And but what that tells the others is don't ever give up because business is based on economy and based on the business decision. That doesn't mean that ERP or your whatever other initiative that you're doing is not important.
Yeah, it's just business. You have to be able to be flexible to move that business at a different point of business. So it wasn't time in 2020.
Now it's time in 2024. But don't ever give up. So I would that would I would definitely emphasize on that. I think that's great advice. I mean that's great advice to me. It's inspiring me right now. But also I think just the approach that you took, it was like, yeah, you you brought in various parts of the business.
You had something that came up, which was Covid, that none of us really expected. Right? So you had to shift and move, but you sounds like you kept to your principles of what you, you know, we're doing to enhance the business. And like you said, you were flexible in that approach. But this ties in really well to the next question. So every year we released the State of the CIO Report. And I usually ask most leaders this question.
and it concluded that of the 1100 that were were research tech leaders, 79% said the CIO has an educational partnership with the CEO and the board of directors. So you just came back from an educational event, but maybe you could talk a little bit about this. Any advice for that leader out there around, you know, your approach with the CEO and the board and the C-suite? Yes. And I think this might come as a surprise for some of the viewers here. but I would say be honest, and, and tell the whole story, because, you know, if you are trying to, you know, change the story, line, then you forget.
And the next time you meet, you know, so then you're like, all right, but that's not what you told us. So I would say always be honest. in terms of the. So I report to board, for cybersecurity there, the oversight of the cybersecurity roadmap.
and then we have also, you know, audit committee and ESG committee. I think that, you have to build a trust, just like you build a trust with your teams. and how do you build a trust is to have an open, honest relationship.
So, so that's how you start because it's, you know, so then when things are tough and you going back to the board or the CEO, then they know that, you know, you're trying to do something about it. and they have your back because then they know that you will tell them the whole picture, not half a picture or one quarter each day. Yeah. So I think that, you know, treat them just like anyone else, that you're building a relationship throughout the company or throughout your personal life. You start from the foundation as building the trust and relationship with them.
And by that being transparent and honest. and, we didn't have this one plan, but I just thought I'd ask you this question because I spoke to somebody, a CIO from, major insurance company in the US when we were at one of our events and she was saying, like, also, there's a kind of responsibility now at the board level around having maybe someone on the board that understands technology a little bit better, that you can really hunker down with to have those conversations that maybe bring that honesty to the table as a leader and you're telling them about it, but you've got somebody on that in that space that kind of understands what you're working with. Is that something that you've experienced or you would recommend? Absolutely.
And, I'm lucky to have two. yeah. And board. Yeah.
that, you know, and others are trying as well. So they are trying to really be that advisor. I definitely recommend, someone with, you know, either technology background or interested in technology to learn to. Yeah. That background. Yeah. and, and I and I've seen, now in particular when it comes to the cyber, there's a lot of, you know, recommendations for people who have cyber background to get on the board.
Yeah. You know, to advise speed advisory for the board and for the company. Yeah, I appreciate that. Thanks for letting me ask that extra question. All right. So we're you know, obviously in this phase this year of learning how all our leaders are using gen AI to build productivity and value at their businesses. And that's what I'm hearing mainly that this year has been about internal productivity.
You know, with Gen AI, as mentioned earlier, you hold a dual remit as both the CIO and the CISO at Novant. so maybe could you talk a little bit about because we don't talk a lot about this in a lot of my conversations, but could you talk about security and AI and perhaps your approach to that? Are there any tips on strategies for those listening in? First of all, sponsoring AI for me. So it's always it's helpful as well. So we are focusing on productivity.
And I think that the, the innovation set up is just you need to balance that with, with also the risk that comes along with it. because I think, for example, you've seen that I can emulate is it really Sarah sitting here or is an image. Right, speaking, you know, right in here? I could assure your audience that this is actually me.
but, but with, the risk, and how do you mitigate against that? It's it's it's moving very rapidly. And I have to tell you that from the innovation perspective. I'm excited, from the security, I'm less excited about it because how do you now come up with a way of defending against, the different vectors that are coming through? I this is new.
This is new, a lot of cyber, professionals. I went to a conference this summer and we were all, trying to come up with, ways to how do we mitigate, there is, red team AI concept, and it's going like, to see how the companies are able to defend themselves. there's different approaches of authenticity and, where the data are going and where they're coming, you know, are they being used for outsiders? so there's a lot of risk from the data from the, from the the copyrighted information, from the perspective, emulating our CEO, to, to, have a different point of view, which is really not our CEO. this is this is becoming, it's definitely top of mind.
Do I have, you know, fabulous solution for it? No. no one else does. But this is, there's ways to kind of minimize it. but I would say, just like if you ask any CTO, are you ever going to be hacked? And if they say no, that's to me is not reasonable. It's just when you're going to when it's going to happen and how you're going to deal with it. And I think that we're all working on how we're going to deal with it.
Yeah. No, I think that's great advice. I remember a few a year or so ago, I interviewed a, CIO. They were hacked and she said the biggest turning point when we talk about that board leadership question, she said, you know, the biggest turning point was it was a Sunday. She was having her coffee.
She found out the board was saying, well, just get us back on line. And she said, I can't it it's not going to happen. You know, she talks very openly about it because she said, I want to educate others. Like you said, it's the planning. It's the building, those building blocks that you need, you know, for your defense around it and, you know, then continuing to learn and and making sure that your board and others are educated on what could happen.
Right? Yes. Yes, absolutely. And, these are the topics that if they're not, public, you can't really speak about. But, I would doubt that.
And no one has been hacked. Yeah, yeah. So it's just to what degree and, and and I think that how you are measured is based on how fast you can recover. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Great. Great advice. Thank you for that feedback I appreciate it. And thank you so much, Sarah, for joining me here today.
I truly appreciate it. Thank you. Lee. very, very much. and I mean, it's been a it's been a pleasure. Hopefully, I was able to, definitely, emphasize on women and tech and, you know, I, I would love to have conversation with whoever hears this message. Is that, yes. It is hard.
we all had our difficulties, but, one way to deal with it is to, you know, try harder, but, but different ways of going, and, pivoting from it. but, you know, try not to give up. It is our times that offer it. But, just know that you're not alone.
there's a lot of women leaders across the nation and and internationally as well, that deal with the similar situations. and, and I think with a lot of, situations. And so there's a lot of training that others are going through that it's helping, educating others for the, the value that we bring as women in tech. So, I would say it's only going to get better. and please don't be discouraged and just keep on going because the, the, you know, the world is ours. So, we could conquer whatever we want to.
Fantastic inspiring advice. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I appreciate so oh, it's been a pleasure.
And for anyone that, listening to this, episode, we'll have it posted at cio.com as well as, through our social media channels. Thanks again.
2024-11-11 15:31
