#238: 40 CIOs. 40 Different Missions. How LA County's CIO Holds IT Together — with Info-Tech Research Group
Los Angeles County is the largest county in the U.S. serving over 10 million people across 40+ different departments.
They just passed a $46 billion budget. And their CIO, Peter Loo, has to coordinate with 40 other CIOs to get anything done.
That’s not a technology problem. That’s one of the hardest leadership and governance challenges in all of public sector — and Peter has been doing it for over 30 years because, as he put it, “You can see the impact you make directly in the services being delivered.” That stayed with me. I coach high school basketball for the same reason.
I sat down with Peter and Hannes Scheidegger, Chief Global Services Officer at Info-Tech Research Group, on-site at the 36th floor of The Gas Company Tower in downtown Los Angeles.
Peter and Hannes have been working together since around 2010 — across an EHR implementation at five hospitals, a data center consolidation from 42 facilities down to one T5, a countywide voting system, and more. This is one of the longest, most tested partnerships I’ve seen in public sector. And the lessons transfer far beyond LA.
Guests
Peter Loo, Chief Information Officer, Los Angeles County, CA
Hannes Scheidegger, Chief Global Services Officer, Info-Tech Research Group
Timestamps
(0:00) Peter Loo introduces LA County — 40 departments, 40 CIOs, and a $46 billion budget
(2:00) The EHR origin story — five hospitals, one system, five different implementations
(4:00) What made it succeed — executive commitment, empowered steering committees, and a “not if but how” mindset
(8:00) AI governance lessons — why principles beat prescriptive guidelines, and how LA County worked with GovAI Coalition
(12:00) How Info-Tech engages — blueprints, guided implementations, workshops, and full consulting
(16:00) The data center consolidation — 42 data centers, some were closets, some next to refrigerators
(18:00) How to communicate with executives — the language of value, risk, and constituent services
(22:00) The most contentious meeting of Hannes’ career — CIOs in one room who thought they’d agreed. They hadn’t.
(28:30) “We want you to do what you did for DHS” — the moment that defined the partnership
(33:00) Closing advice — commit to the mission, be patient and persistent, always do it as a “we”
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