Technovation with Peter High (CIO, CTO, CDO, CXO Interviews)

Metis Strategy
  • 4.8 (74)
  • Technology
  • Updated Semiweekly

Twice-weekly conversations with top executives and thought leaders at the intersection of business, technology, and innovation. Each episode of Technovation explores the technology trends that are transforming business, and the leaders driving digital change inside their organizations. Produced by Metis Strategy and hosted by firm President Peter High, Technovation is the premier podcast for IT and technology professionals with the largest collection of interviews with elite CIOs, CTOs, and CDOs.

  1. 3h ago

    Lior Susan on Why Now Is the Time to Build Industrial Giants

    The next generation of technology giants may not be built in software. They may be built in factories. In this episode of Technoventure, Peter High speaks with Lior Susan, Founder and Managing Partner of Eclipse, about why AI, robotics, and industrial innovation are transforming the economics of American manufacturing. Lior explains Eclipse’s five-forces framework for building industrial companies and why physical industries represent a significant opportunity for venture capital. They explore: How AI and robotics enable competitive domestic manufacturing Why industrial startups need operating expertise beyond capital The infrastructure opportunities emerging from AI’s energy and compute demands Why humanoid robotics may be getting ahead of practical applications How policy and national security are shaping industrial investment Listen to discover why Lior believes this is an extraordinary moment to build companies in the physical world.

  2. 1d ago

    How Mastercard Stopped $13B in Fraud With Real-Time AI

    Mastercard processes billions of transactions, and fraud doesn’t wait for rules-based systems to catch up. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Nirav Mehta, Chief Technology Officer at Mastercard Services, about how the company uses AI to score transactions in the milliseconds between a card tap and approval, and what it takes to build that kind of infrastructure at scale. Nirav leads engineering, analytics, and decisioning for Mastercard’s $14B Services business, which spans fraud prevention, threat intelligence, data commercialization, and emerging agentic commerce. He explains how Decision Intelligence Pro prevented roughly $13B in fraud in 2026 alone before the holiday season, why the company treats data unification as a use-case-first problem rather than an architecture mandate, and how agentic commerce today resembles the early web, competing standards, good intent, unresolved identity questions. He also makes the case that senior technology leaders need to stay hands-on, not just well-read. Key Highlights: Decision Intelligence Pro stopped approximately $13 billion in fraud in 2026 year-to-date by applying AI models in the milliseconds between card tap and transaction approval Mastercard’s Data Commercialization Platform reduced location-data staleness from 8-10 weeks to hours and cut processing time from multiple weeks to under 10 minutes Agentic commerce is still in early-standards chaos, Mehta compares it to the web in its first years, and Mastercard’s bet is that its payments trust transfers directly to machine-to-machine contexts GenAI is compressing engineering team size: a two-person pod plus ten AI agents is already viable for smaller programs, and the scarce skill is now systems thinking, not coding ability Mehta makes the case for hands-on experimentation over passive learning, logging 1-1.5 hours of personal vibe coding daily since December 2025 This episode is sponsored by Tines. Freedom to build. Complete security. No compromises. Learn more at tines.io

  3. 4d ago

    From Demos to Deployments: How U.S. Bank Is Industrializing AI

    Proving AI works was never the hard part. The hard part is industrializing it. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Dilip Venkatachari, Chief Information and Technology Officer at U.S. Bank, about what it actually takes to move from scattered AI experiments to a common platform with reusable components and measurable outcomes. Drawing from eight years leading technology at one of the country’s largest banks, Venkatachari explains how U.S. Bank treats model risk management and regulatory requirements as design parameters rather than obstacles, why the real technical challenge is plumbing rather than models, and how an internal AI marketplace uses social incentives to drive reuse without mandating it. Key Highlights: Why industrialization, not proof-of-concept, is the defining AI challenge for large enterprises How U.S. Bank treats regulatory requirements as design inputs rather than blockers to AI deployment Why the best AI system creates no value if people don’t change their workflows How an internal AI marketplace and citation-style reuse incentives prevent redundant technology stacks Why AI is emerging as an unexpected solution to the COBOL skills retirement crisis How frontier model companies are shifting from LLM providers to enterprise deployment partners This episode is sponsored by Tines. This episode is presented by Tines: Freedom to build. Complete security. No compromises. Learn more at tines.io

  4. Oct 1

    From Patterns to Prompts: Pawan Verma on AI Across the Pharma Value Chain

    AI is reshaping every stage of pharmaceutical distribution, but only if the organization is built to absorb it. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Pawan Verma, Executive Vice President and Chief Data and Information Officer at Cencora, about leading technology and data strategy at one of the world’s largest healthcare companies ($320B+ in revenue, 5 million pharmaceuticals moving through its network daily). Verma joined Cencora in 2024 after serving as Global CIO at MetLife, with earlier leadership at Foot Locker, Target, and Verizon, a cross-industry arc that shapes how he thinks about patient access, workforce transformation, and what AI can and cannot replace in leadership. Key Highlights: Why “centered-out” change management outperforms both top-down mandates and bottoms-up experimentation How Cencora evaluates AI investments against a four-bucket prioritization model, including long-term sustaining value Where AI is shortening the pharmaceutical chain: virtual clinical cohorts, faster drug discovery, and real-time inventory optimization Why pharmaceutical supply chains demand a different standard of precision than conventional logistics What AI cannot replace: the ability to unlearn, reframe on new emotional data, and hold authentic human connection This episode is sponsored by Tines. This episode is presented by Tines: Freedom to build. Complete security. No compromises. Learn more at tines.io

  5. Sep 28

    Security by Design: How Ally Financial’s CISO Builds Resiliency Into the Cloud

    A digital-only bank can’t afford to retrofit security. Ally Financial builds it in from the start. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Spencer Cremers, Chief Information Security Officer at Ally Financial, about designing security and resiliency into cloud infrastructure by default — and what that requires organizationally. Cremers spent 20+ years at Ally progressing through divisional CIO and engineering roles before becoming CISO, including a stretch as interim Chief Information and Data Officer. That delivery background shapes how he positions security: not as a gatekeeper handing down requirements late in the cycle, but as a design partner embedded from the start. Key Highlights: Why Ally’s cloud environment uses templatized resiliency patterns so application teams inherit security standards automatically How a three-bucket framework separates AI-in-defenses, AI-enabled external threats, and governing Ally’s own AI use What Cremers learned running a three-day, CEO-involved crisis simulation with concurrent threat vectors Why a CISO with a delivery background can dismantle the adversarial dynamic between security and engineering How Cremers managed the interim CIDO role without putting the organization into a holding pattern This episode is sponsored by Tines. Freedom to build. Complete security. No compromises. Learn more at tines.io

  6. Sep 25

    Ross Fubini on Finding the Wave Behind Breakout Startups

    What separates a great founder from a great company? For XYZ Venture Capital Founder and Managing Partner Ross Fubini, execution is only part of the equation. The company also needs to find its “wave.” In this episode of Technoventure, Fubini joins Peter High to unpack the investment philosophy behind XYZ’s bets on founder networks, defense technology, and AI. Drawing on his experience as an engineer, entrepreneur, executive coach, and investor, he explores: Why XYZ built an early thesis around the Palantir talent network What Fubini saw in Anduril before other investors embraced defense technology Why exceptional execution still needs a market “wave” How AI changes software development, defensibility, and venture investing Why forward-deployed engineers are becoming increasingly important Fubini also shares how he personally uses AI to research, challenge investment theses, and sharpen his thinking.

  7. Sep 24

    How Nationwide CTO Michael Carrel Is Building an AI-Ready Workforce

    In this episode of Technovation, Nationwide CTO Michael Carrel joins Peter High to discuss how the company is building an AI-ready workforce while modernizing technology across its insurance and financial services businesses. Carrel explains why Nationwide made everyday AI available to associates across the company and paired access with future-ready learning sprints, manager certifications, and role-specific skill development. He also shares how Nationwide is applying generative and agentic AI across underwriting, claims, software engineering, and other domains while maintaining disciplined governance, trusted data, and human judgment. This episode is presented by Tines — Freedom to build. Complete security. No compromises. Learn more at tines.io

  8. Sep 21

    How Trane Technologies Uses AI to Make Buildings More Autonomous

    What happens when AI moves beyond generating content and starts autonomously optimizing the physical world? In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Riaz Raihan, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of Trane Technologies, about how the company is applying AI, connected equipment, and massive volumes of IoT data to make buildings more autonomous and energy efficient. Riaz explains how BrainBox AI acts as an “autopilot” for complex HVAC systems, continuously making small adjustments to optimize energy use without sacrificing comfort. He also discusses Trane Technologies’ three-pillar AI strategy, responsible data use and cybersecurity, and a future in which smart, resilient buildings coordinate energy consumption, storage, and generation autonomously.   This episode is presented by Tines — Freedom to build. Complete security. No compromises. Learn more at tines.io

See All (300)

4.8
out of 5
74 Ratings

About

Twice-weekly conversations with top executives and thought leaders at the intersection of business, technology, and innovation. Each episode of Technovation explores the technology trends that are transforming business, and the leaders driving digital change inside their organizations. Produced by Metis Strategy and hosted by firm President Peter High, Technovation is the premier podcast for IT and technology professionals with the largest collection of interviews with elite CIOs, CTOs, and CDOs.

Information

You Might Also Like