#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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🎥 Upcoming Live Podcast Tours

1. 2026 IGNITE Powered by Info-Tech LIVE - Austin, TX - Sept. 17th-18th

If you’re an IT leader in Austin, Houston, or nearby, Info-Tech’s got complimentary tickets with your name on them (just DM me I’ll be there). IGNITE is getting past the AI hype and into the real questions CIOs are wrestling with: how to get your people actually using AI, what the shift from “employee in the loop” to “employee on the loop” looks like, and how to budget when the costs keep moving up.

→ Ready to join the conversation in person? Email joe@techtables.com

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways you can connect with TechTables:

1. 📬 The TechTables Newsletter

Thanks for reading TechTables! Get early access to new episodes, insights, upcoming events, and more — straight to your inbox.

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2. 🤝 Are you a local government CIO who wants to become a better leader?

Check out our high-trust, vendor-free peer group built for local government CIOs tackling real challenges, honest conversations, and an authentic desire to become a better leader — our next retreat is November 4th-6th in Austin, TX!

Learn more → https://techtables.com/communities-local-government

3. 🤝 The Better Together Series

The narrative-driven series bringing together industry partners and public sector CXOs. Discover the compelling stories that unfold when we stop working in silos and start building together.

»»» Email joe@techtables.com to learn more.