Category: Digital Trailblazers
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IT Service Operations Is Ready For Its AI Moment
Legacy ITSM platforms hinder employees in mid-market businesses, causing delays in issue resolution. Embracing AI can significantly enhance IT service operations by simplifying processes, providing insights, and improving employee experiences. AI-driven ITSM platforms facilitate faster responses and enable employee self-service capabilities, making them crucial for modern organizations.
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Twenty-Five Years Later: My 9/11 Story
In this reflective account, Isaac Sacolick recounts his experience during the 9/11 attacks, blending personal narrative with professional urgency. He details his journey to a merger meeting, interrupted by news of the World Trade Center collapse. Amidst confusion and panic, thoughts of colleagues and loved ones surface, revealing the day’s profound impact on his life.
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How Citizen Developers Should Respond to Allegations They Are Shadow IT
The role of low/no-code development can be significant in advancing a digital transformation strategy. It highlights the need for governance and best practices to prevent the perception of citizen development as shadow IT. Key strategies include defining building disciplines, prioritizing integrations, implementing security standards, documenting data assets, and controlling AI experimentation.
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Technology Selections in the AI Era: 7 Criteria to Evaluate a Vendor’s Ecosystem
Organizations struggle with technology selection in the AI era, often facing integration issues or overanalyzing criteria. Misjudging value and risk can lead to AI debt. Evaluating technology must focus on value, risk, and ecosystem, considering factors like data portability, integration capabilities, community sentiment, and leadership accessibility to ensure long-term success.
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Should Citizen Developers Vibe Code — or Vibe No-Code?
Are vibe coding tools appropriate for citizen developer – or is what they really need a vibe no-code experience. The choice requires a review of governance models, company culture, and developer skills. Examples of effective implementations, like Quickbase, are showcased, advocating for a careful evaluation of vibe no-coding for empowering developers.
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3 Leadership Skills AI Rewrote — and 2 That Didn’t Exist Five Years Ago
The discussion at Coffee With Digital Trailblazers emphasized the need for mid-career leaders to reskill, focusing on leadership skills tailored for the AI era. Essential skills identified include change management, critical thinking, data governance, and AI agent orchestration, highlighting how AI reshapes leadership roles and enhances business value.
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AI is Only Reshaping Business. It’s Not Digital Transformation. Yet.
There’s a disconnect between AI’s potential and its actual impact on digital transformation in businesses. Although AI is enhancing operations and customer support, it falls short of driving comprehensive transformation. CIOs face challenges in implementing AI for growth due to executive consensus, risk assessment concerns, and the focus on short-term ROI over long-term strategy.
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Is AI Putting Your Leadership Job at Risk—or Opening Your Biggest Career Opportunity?
Reflecting on pivotal moments in careers and current industry shifts affecting Digital Trailblazers. Key factors include advancements in AI, a significant decline in VC funding, rising unemployment, and CEO turnover. These changes create uncertainties, impacting job security and prompting many to pursue entrepreneurship amidst challenging market conditions.
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Why Your Chaotic AI Experiments Aren’t Producing Business Value
Organizations are grappling with AI strategy implementation, torn between extensive experimentation and focused deployment. A McKinsey report highlights that only a small percentage of companies scale AI effectively, with larger enterprises leading. The StarCIO Vision Statement Template offers a streamlined method for evaluating AI initiatives, supporting growth while minimizing risks and complexity.
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AI Agents Transforming? Not Yet. Here is What CIOs Must Lead Now
While we are in the genAI era, many organizations have not achieved AI-driven transformation. Most AI agents drive efficiencies and are reshaping businesses, but not transforming their customer experiences. IT departments must evolve their practices to leverage AI effectively. Without significant changes in leadership, culture, and agile practices, businesses will be slow to achieve true…
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My Top 2025 Books: Reads on Transformation, AI, and Mental Health
Isaac Sacolick reflects on his top 2025 books, highlighting reading experience on transformation, AI, and mental health. Books cover change management, scaling businesses, manufacturing, and AI leadership.
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Resilient Reflections: A Candid Year of Loss, AI Insights, and Amazing Digital Trailblazers
As 2025 concludes, Isaac Sacolick reflects on personal challenges and achievements. Highlights include 150 episodes of Coffee With Digital Trailblazers, a successful LinkedIn course on digital transformation, and over 90 published articles. Plans for 2026 include personal trips and new thought leadership topics.