Get To Know Legence CIO, Mike Heuer
1. Can you tell us about your journey to becoming the Chief Information Officer at Legence? How has your background and interests helped prepare you for this position?
Growing up, I worked a paper route (earning a whopping $9.80 per week) to save up for my first computer, an Apple IIc. As I witnessed the emerging innovations with technology, I set a goal to be a part of the “revolution” that was going to reshape business operations and the world. I started as a consultant at Accenture’s AI and Imaging Group based in Silicon Valley, which gave me exposure to a breadth of industries, business challenges, personalities, cultures and geographic locations, as I worked in several places in the U.S. and Asia. That experience prioritized rapid analysis, problem solving, teamwork, grit, and perseverance. After 12 years of consulting, moving into a company was a natural (and welcome) progression. I wanted to be on the inside and witness long-term impacts of decisions that consultants rarely see in client-facing duties. In nearly every instance, the companies I joined were looking to build or scale up; it was in these roles where I recognized the necessity for established processes and data driven decisions to drive successful operations (i.e. Enterprise IT). For the last decade, I’ve focused on helping companies make this scale enabling transition to Enterprise IT. I was thrilled for the Legence opportunity as it fit both my background and sustainability interests.
2. What is a valuable lesson you learned throughout your career and how has it molded your day-to-day life on the job?
I’ve learned that when you’re doing hard and innovative work you don’t always reach your desired outcome. In the moment, it can make you feel sad, low or defeated, but I see this as a natural part of tackling hard problems and a chance to learn. It’s a short setback, not a dead end. I try to keep an “always forward” mindset where any outcome–good or bad–can help us succeed. We need to learn from our experiences, but I believe we can make more progress if we don’t dwell unnecessarily on the past and instead focus on how new information can be applied to improve our success in the future.
3. What is your recipe for maintaining smooth IT operations? Is there a secret to getting everyone on the same page and working effectively?
We are accountable and we measure our success. These are two of our core values and essential to our culture of ongoing improvement. We strive for seamless operations, however, there is always potential to improve (simpler, quicker, smarter, etc.). We rely on our processes, but we track and take responsibility for the outcomes. Armed with this information, we adapt to the changing environment.
4. You recently hosted a seminar focusing on responsible uses of AI in the workplace. How do you foresee this technology transforming the workplace?
I believe companies that utilize AI ethically and wisely will become more efficient as it enables them to get insights faster and make better decisions. This generates more growth and value add to the organization. On a personal level, employees can rely on AI to do some of the simple tasks and focus on more challenging and fulfilling work. AI can bring great benefits to companies, but it requires investment, some risk-taking, and a readiness to adapt to a fast-changing and unpredictable technology.
5. Do you have a memorable project or initiative that you’ve been a part of while you’ve been at Legence?
The projects I enjoy the most are those involving change (Process, People and Technology). One that stands out is our ongoing IT transformation journey (which is not finished yet). So far, we have modified almost every process (and introduced some new ones) to help us scale Legence. This journey from individual site-based IT to Enterprise IT brings together the 20+ entities under the Legence umbrella into a unified ecosystem enabling robust collaboration, security, and cost-effective support preparing Legence for the future. Further, it’s been rewarding to see individuals achieve results and grow in ways they didn’t think were possible at the start.
6. Given the recent uptick in demand for data centers and emerging technologies, how do you integrate dynamic shifts in market needs into your IT strategies?
The pace of change is at the fastest it has ever been in my career (perhaps history); however, I also doubt that it will ever be this “slow” again. The days of a CIO or IT organization being purely technologists are gone. Technology has been democratized such that people outside of IT may know more about a specific technology than we do. While the “keep the lights on” activities of physical infrastructure (networks, laptops, mobile devices, storage) and helping our internal customers reach their objectives must continue, we also invest time and energy into identifying our key digital assets of the future and build the base for our organization's advantage.
7. Safety concerns often center around physical situations, what are some ways that employers can ensure a secure IT environment?
Whether it’s malicious hacking or a software update gone wrong, outside influences can bring any business to a halt in a hurry. We work to protect our people and data from hacking or glitches by using multiple security layers with multiple redundancies, checking them regularly, adapting to changing threats and creating a “see something, say something” culture– no different from any other kind of threat. While the objective is to always stay one step ahead, we know that hackers are very skilled, and a breach is likely to happen eventually. We prepare and regularly practice our response protocols to swiftly respond to potential threats and limit the impact should our environment be compromised. In the end, I find it to be a delicate balance. We need strong security, and yet there is the practical side that we are running a business. We strive to make our work “invisible” as much as possible so our world-class employees can do what they do best, delight our customers.
8. Sustainability in the built environment is a priority at Legence. How do you integrate environmentally friendly solutions into your IT operations?
At Legence, we are committed to sustainability in our business, and our IT operations reflect that commitment. We use a unified data center that has advanced cooling and power management technologies to lower energy use and have a smaller carbon footprint than individual data closets. We also purchase energy-efficient hardware and manage the entire lifecycle of data center and employee equipment to ensure sustainability from production to end-of-life re-use and recycling. We know that business computing needs energy, but we are mindful about where we can apply environmentally friendly solutions.
9. With your background in IT, how do you see this technology playing a role in people’s everyday lives?
I believe we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of how artificial intelligence will touch our lives, and I’m both fascinated and hopeful about how AI and other related technologies can be used to improve society and our lives. Take healthcare for example; we still need brilliant scientists, but these technologies can help scientists accelerate the discovery of novel treatments and help better target them to the right patients through the analysis of vast datasets that are available and growing. This could make drug development cheaper and more successful and lead to better and more accessible treatments for everyone.
10. What is your passion outside of work? Do you have any hidden talents?
I enjoy fly fishing in the Sierras when I can get away. Something about the mountain air, the cold rushing water, and focusing on the tension of the line clears my mind in a relaxing way. I always catch-and-release but it’s a satisfying day even if nothing makes its way to my net. Recently, I’ve been intrigued by the challenge of triathlons. While I was comfortable with swimming and cycling, I’ve only recently taken up running (and have a great deal of admiration for people who do so effortlessly and enjoy it). Finally, I’m a life-long Chicago Cubs fan, a loyalty that has taught me heartache as well as resilience and a whole bunch of patience.
