Sept. 26, 2023

Ep.156 At the Line: How CIOs Handle High-Pressure Situations

Ep.156 At the Line: How CIOs Handle High-Pressure Situations
The Public Sector Show by TechTables
Ep.156 At the Line: How CIOs Handle High-Pressure Situations

Missed out on Houston at Hotel Zaza? Check out our 2023 GovTech Leadership Summit from October 12th to 14th.📚 Check out the full agenda:🌟 Public Sector CXOs, please register here: https://7w4m76wajkb.typeform.com/to/QFmGpjnQ🤝 Vendor partners, please apply here: https://7w4m76wajkb.typeform.com/to/I5bQo0dZThanks for reading TechTables! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.🎥 Video Podcast🔗 Connect with Bert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bert-quarfordt/On this episode of The Public Sector Show by TechTables, we sit down with Bert Quarfordt, Deputy CIO for IT Infrastructure at the City of Houston.Bert shares his journey from a private-sector IT career to public service and discusses the challenges and pressures of managing infrastructure in the public sector. Drawing upon his love of sports, Bert dives into the importance of team dynamics, collaboration, and communication in resolving critical issues, including:🎙️ Bert's 33-year career in IT🎙️ How private and public sectors handle infrastructure outages🎙️ How to develop a presentation mindset🎙️ The value of practice, preparation, and consistency in long-term success🎙️ How to manage emotions and team dynamics during critical projects🎙️ Transforming city infrastructure: Houston’s game-changing projectsAnd more!🤝 And a big thank you to our brand partners who keep this podcast free to the listener:⁠Nagarro⁠ is a leading provider of digital government services, partnering with state, local, and federal clients on their most strategic technology projects across Digital Services, Legacy Modernization, Case Management, Data & AI, Service Desk, Cyber Security, and more.If you want to meet with Nagarro, one of our preferred, trusted brand partners, email me at ⁠joe@techtables.com⁠.⭐️ Leave a ReviewIf you enjoy listening to the podcast, ⁠please leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts⁠ and let us know in your review who you want to see next on the podcast. Thanks!You can also Tweet us on ⁠@thejoetoste⁠ and tell us what lessons you learned from the episode so we can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏🙏🔗 Connect with TechTablesLinkedIn TechTables ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/techtables/⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn - Connect with Joe! ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtoste/⁠⁠⁠Twitter ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/thejoetoste⁠Follow us on Instagram! ⁠https://www.instagram.com/techtablespodcast/⁠Websitehttps://www.techtables.com/Related:Thanks for reading TechTables! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.techtables.com

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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

Left to right: Joe Toste, host of TechTables; Ted Ross, CIO, City of Los Angeles; Richard McHattie, CIO, Maricopa County; and Justin Fair, CIO, City of Garland, at Info-Tech LIVE 2026 (Bellagio, Las Vegas)

 

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