You've Been Heard

You've Been Heard
  • 4.9 (51)
  • Technology
  • Updated Weekly

Having a seat at the table. Nice. Being heard? Nicer. For decades, IT leaders have been the backbone of defensible business growth, solving problems that could cripple a business often before anyone noticed. We know this world. The late nights. The firefights. The impossible deadlines that somehow got met. IT Professionals don’t just fix. They fortify. They’re the frontline heroes fighting an improbable battle thriving where others break, armed with a resilience the strongest military leaders consider simply another day safeguarding the world. When things get rough, you’re indispensable. When everything’s humming like a well-oiled Tesla, you’re the hidden engine of progress, often asked to do the extraordinary. And one of the toughest parts? Being hunted by short-term sales reps chasing quotas, pushing shiny solutions they “know” you need… but you know you don’t. What if you could work with those who have sat in your seat, been precisely where you are? You can. That’s right: We’ve been there. Negotiating partnerships, being pitched by vendors across the table, and standing on the frontlines of IT. That’s why we built a platform where IT leaders are amplified, not sidelined. Not just “another platform.” In fact, three in one. A triple-threat to the industry norm. Doing to IT what the iPhone did to the Blackberry redefining the game (and expectations) forever. And to be clear, we refuse to be part of the “Hype Cycle” and inflated expectations. Which is why we’ve perfected a proven model that elevates you, the IT leader. Just ask our clients. The first piece? A podcast, not just a show. A platform where IT pros share hard-earned truths, not corporate scripts. The second piece? A community where peers (real ones) have sophisticated conversations—without vendors lurking in the corner. The final component? An advisory with only one agenda: your performance and sanity, so you make smarter vetted choices without the sales circus. Think of us as your backstage pass to whoever you need to meet to eliminate headaches and accelerate resolutions. The kind of exclusive pass that gains you access to our ecosystem with $1.2 billion in buying power. When we knock, the door’s already unlocked. And here’s the kicker: We make vendors fund your success. What about vendor-neutrality? If we were any more neutral, we’d be beige. Our triple-threat model doesn’t just transform how we do business. It transforms the impact you have on a day-to-day basis and on a year-over-year basis. It’s how you balance innovation with stability. Where you not only have a seat at the table, but get invited to speak. And be listened to. And there’s one final point that makes everything work: We don’t disappear when you need us. Ever. We stay. We escalate. We stand with you. We are anti-spin. Anti-transactional. Pro-IT leader. Your resilience is our resilience. Because when IT leaders rise… so does everything else. Welcome to the platform. Welcome to the movement. Join the next wave of IT leadership. Welcome to You’ve Been Heard. *****DISCLAIMER***** All views, opinions, and statements made by guests on this show do not represent the beliefs of the host Phil Howard, or any entity whatsoever with which the show has been, is now, or will be affiliated. Any statements, views, random thoughts, or opinions expressed by the hosts and guests do not necessarily reflect the personal beliefs (could easily be misconstrued) and are not the official policy/position of our company, agency, podcast, and affiliated partners. Finally, because human beings are characteristically prone to flaws and mistakes, we warn all listeners to think critically for yourself and seek true knowledge before taking action upon anything.

  1. 2d ago

    461- Just Because It's Old Doesn't Make It Wrong w/Jeremy Mayfield

    Jeremy Mayfield, Director of IT at National Sugar Marketing Cooperative, took the company from a legacy on-premise ERP to a fully SaaS platform in under 12 months, against a 14-month board approval, after a year of defining requirements and a vendor hit list that ended with "now you have to show us." He explains why an organization that can't tell you its requirements isn't ready for change, and why he thinks that 18 months from now IT leaders will be talking about what he calls the death of the data center. Jeremy Mayfield came out of school as a fresh engineer and fell into IT back when it was called MIS. As the only IT person at his first company, he taught himself everything, from Cat5 cables and phone-system punch-down blocks to databases, and at one point he was a SQL expert. A leader tapped him early, and he has spent most of his 30 years in IT in leadership while staying hands-on. In 1997 he ran a 3 meg internet link over a 17-mile wireless hop and negotiated free internet by letting the provider use the company's silo as a hop. At a global company of more than 90,000 people, he was a program owner for voice over IP and landline optimization across 1,600 North American locations, work that saved about $11 million in copper. Today National Sugar, which distributes sugar to companies across the US, runs completely serverless and fully SaaS, with a zero trust framework in place of VPNs. Its new ERP went live on May 1 in under 12 months, against a 14-month board approval, and finished well under the approved budget. It started with a year of defining requirements, including visits to the co-op's members and to 3PLs. A roughly 90-page RFP went to about 10 vendors, Tier 1 and Tier 2, with a hit list every one of them had to answer: anyone who couldn't come back with "here's how we'll do it" was disqualified, and the finalists heard "now you have to show us." Jeremy wanted a vanilla, canned app, which he sums up as configuration over customization, and he phased the rollout to keep scope creep out. National Sugar was formed from one of the co-op's members about 15 or 16 years ago, and that member was still running all of its IT, ERP hosting included, when Jeremy was hired and told, "your task is to modernize us." His first day on the job was the cutover from the member's Microsoft 365 tenant to National Sugar's own. He took a cautious approach to AI through the ERP project and the stabilization after go-live. Now, with shadow AI already in use across the company, he puts security first and has asked the CFO to realign the budget for business licenses the company can administer and secure. Asked what IT leaders will be talking about in 18 months, he picks the death of the data center, with data spread out like an atom, "all over the place but no place at the same time." Key takeaways: Nail down your requirements before you shop. If the organization can't tell you what they are, it isn't ready for change; Build a hit list around what only your business needs, like FDA and USDA requirements and lot traceability for a food grade business, and disqualify any vendor that can't answer with "here's how we'll do it."; Make vendors show you before they get time with your leadership team; Choose configuration over customization: a vanilla app, with pre-built connectors for what sits around it; Phase the rollout, with the high-value, high-impact pieces first, and keep scope creep out; Budget a stabilization period after go-live. He planned about six months before turning to AI. Chapters: 00:00 Cold open: not ready for change 00:43 Meet Jeremy Mayfield: the only IT person, self-taught 03:17 Still hands-on: a 17-mile wireless hop and $11 million in copper 11:54 Completely serverless, with zero trust instead of VPNs 13:57 SOC 2 and configuration over customization 18:32 Pre-built connectors, and an ERP live in under 12 months 20:59 How the co-op works, and a year of requirements 27:06 The hit list and "now show us" 30:37 Five ERP chan...

    461- Just Because It's Old Doesn't Make It Wrong w/Jeremy Mayfield

  2. 4d ago

    460- Seat at the Table, Still the IT Guy w/Brian Ledbetter

    Veteran CIO and US Air Force veteran Brian Ledbetter on why IT leaders who earn a seat at the table can still be seen as the person who fixed the printer. He walks through the six pillars of his LEAD IT framework and explains why developers who hammered out code all day will end up managing AI agents. Earlier in his career, at a small company, one of its leaders called Brian Ledbetter his CIO. Another called him his IT director. A third called him his IT guy. Brian, a veteran CIO and US Air Force veteran, says the title matters far less than how the organization sees you, and that perception is hardest to shift when you came up through the help desk at the same company. He walks through LEAD IT, the framework he built from lessons he learned the hard way: Lead, Elevate, Align, Deliver, Innovate and Transform. Former guest Bruce Otte joins to press on delegation, which brings out Brian's three-foot hole story and his test for who is ready to own an outcome. Later, Brian argues that whoever makes a technology decision should share the accountability when it fails. He explains how to answer a technical question and turn it straight to business impact, and why every AI conversation should start with the outcome. Asked what IT leaders will be talking about in 18 months, he picks the guardrails needed to tame AI, and he says companies are already hiring agent managers. Key takeaways: Answer the technical question, then turn it to business impact before anyone else speaks; Before handing someone an outcome, check whether they see the work around the task; Once you delegate, stay close and available without hovering. Delegation is not abdication; Whoever makes a technology decision should share the accountability when it fails; Start every AI request with the outcome you want. Pick the tool after that. Chapters: 00:00 Cold open: CIO, IT director or IT guy 00:43 Meet Brian Ledbetter, from the Air Force to a wall of certifications 03:59 Three titles for one job, and the printer problem 08:08 Where LEAD IT came from, and why Lead comes first 14:57 Letting go of the work, and leaving the code behind 18:12 Bruce Otte's questions on delegation, and owning the outcome 21:50 The three-foot hole guy 25:15 Building confidence, and room to fail 33:27 Peer groups, and who owns the decision 39:52 Speak the business, step zero and shared accountability 44:58 Governance is rules, and AI starts at the end 50:30 The 18-month prediction: developers, AI and agent managers

    460- Seat at the Table, Still the IT Guy w/Brian Ledbetter

  3. Oct 1

    459- Make the Approved Path Fast Enough w/Brandon Muncy

    Everyone's using ChatGPT on their own to save 30 minutes a day, and nobody will wait six weeks for a review, so Brandon Muncy, Director of Information Technology at PepperPointe Partnerships, wants to make the approved path fast enough that a shortcut isn't tempting. After building the dental service organization's in-house IT team from a fully outsourced start, he explains why onboarding broke even when everyone did their job and why he expects the next 18 months to be about identity and permissions for AI agents. Brandon Muncy's path into IT leadership wasn't a straight line. After an engineering degree he went into retail management at Verizon and AT&T to pick up the business side, then moved into research computing at the university. From 2018 to about 2021 he was the Linux person on a 10-node cluster, hundreds of VMs, a deep-learning machine and a VDI setup for researchers. PepperPointe, where he now leads IT, is a dental service organization in Lexington, Kentucky with hundreds of practices across a couple of states. When he joined in late 2022, its IT was fully outsourced, with no internal team. He has built a team of about seven people for upwards of 1,500 users. He found out that you don't change the perception by explaining it. Better decks didn't work, because nobody updates a belief based off a slide, so he works one visible win at a time, and onboarding is one of the vehicles. When a new hire starts on Monday and IT finds out Monday, everybody has a bad week, even though everyone involved did their job. Instead of blaming the office, which is busy running a practice, his team went to the office managers and, looking at onboarding from their chair, found a defining step that tells IT sooner. He also describes his real bad day: by 4 o'clock he has been useful maybe 11 times and hasn't moved a single thing forward. On AI, Brandon says that in healthcare it shows up as a governance question before it shows up as a capability question. People using ChatGPT on their own save 30 minutes a day and won't wait six weeks for a review, so he wants an approved path fast enough that a shortcut isn't tempting, even if the first version is half-baked. Only his administrators have access to Copilot, so the team can start working on DLP policies. His 18-month prediction is identity and permissions for non-human actors: if the tool touches patient data, it's a business associate, and he expects an enforcement story. Key takeaways: Make the approved path fast enough that a shortcut isn't tempting, even if the first version is half-baked.; Change how the business sees IT one visible win at a time, because nobody updates a belief based off a slide.; When onboarding breaks, look at the process before you blame the office, then give the office one defining step that tells IT sooner.; Keep Copilot to your administrators so your team can start working on the DLP policies.; Guard your strategic thinking time: a day of being useful 11 times can end with nothing moved forward.; Treat documentation as part of the process, because it loses the prioritization fight every time.

    459- Make the Approved Path Fast Enough w/Brandon Muncy

  4. Sep 29

    458- Stop Turning the Light Off w/John Errington

    John Errington, Director IT/IS at Pengate Handling Systems, tells his teams something they hate to hear: turning the light off every day is the thing to automate, and their time belongs on why the light keeps going off. With more than 27 years in IT, he also explains how he learns a new business from the people with their boots on the ground, and how AI took three to four days of pulling major-incident data together down to a 20-minute process while his problem managers still checked it for accuracy. John Errington fell into IT by accident. A couple of years out of high school he was working in records management at a pharmaceutical company, where knowing how to turn on a computer made him the de facto local IT guy. At GSI Commerce, a Linux shop he joined in 2010, a new leader pulled him into IT leadership "kicking and screaming," and his own light bulb moment came when he got a script put on an alert his team kept clearing by hand. He often uses the light analogy with the teams he manages, and they hate to hear it: the light you turn off every day is the thing to automate, and the value add is fixing the core of the problem. Four weeks into a new job in material handling, he explains how he learns a business he doesn't know yet. It starts with the people with their boots on the ground. Here, that meant ride-alongs with the field service techs, the people who "keep the cash register open." John also gets into how silos breed a not-it mentality on outage calls, and the SWAT team approach John's operations teams used instead: everybody jumps in and stays until they're cleared. John sees AI the way he saw automation, as a tool that needs a human at the decision-making part. In his last job, AI postmortems of recorded major-incident calls took much of three to four days of work down to a 20-minute process, and his problem managers still reviewed all of it for accuracy. Key takeaways: If your team clears the same alert every day, automate it, then spend the time you get back on why it keeps going off.; Learn a new business from the people with their boots on the ground: ride along with them, then take what slows them down to whoever owns that process.; On a major-incident call, have every team report on its own area and stay on until you clear them.; Let AI draft the postmortem from the call recording, and have your problem managers check it for accuracy.

    458- Stop Turning the Light Off w/John Errington

  5. Sep 24

    457- Your IT Roadmap Needs a Top Five w/Teresa Duran

    Technology leaders can contribute to business decisions when they understand what the company is trying to accomplish. Teresa Duran, chief information officer at Tree Top, joins Phil Howard to discuss the questions she asks in her first 90 days, her preference for five current priorities over a rolling five-year project list, and why technology strategy should follow company strategy. She explains how scattered company information limits decisions, how to decide what outside suppliers should build and what internal staff must maintain, and why a quickly built tool using artificial intelligence still needs a support plan. Teresa also recounts a biotech transformation during COVID: as plans changed from a first public stock sale to selling part of the business, her team built software and kept time-sensitive corneal tissue moving. They close on career learning, mentoring future technology leaders, and making technical presentations lead to decisions.

  6. Sep 23

    456- AI Still Needs Architects and Developers w/George Hicker

    George Hicker, Vice President of Information Technology (IT) and Business Transformation at Ronnoco Beverage Solutions, joins Mike Kelley to explain what happens when AI lets employees build useful tools in hours. Fast results can hide weak security, missing instructions, unclear ownership, and problems that appear when more people use the tool. George offers a practical response: bring the technology team in early, write down the plan, have experienced developers check the code, test with safe data, limit access, keep backups, and make people responsible for the result. He also explains why skilled software designers and developers become more valuable as AI creates work faster.

  7. Sep 17

    455- Influence Matters More Than Technology w/Jeff Hobbs

    Jeff Hobbs, Director of IT at SV Labs Corporation, joins Mike Kelley to discuss the leadership skills that matter beyond technical expertise. Jeff explains how he uses Copilot to tailor communication for different stakeholders, examine unfamiliar security questions, troubleshoot Intune issues, and help a small team close knowledge gaps. He also discusses the limits: AI output needs review, paid licenses need measures, and easy access to public tools creates data-protection risk. The conversation returns to one idea throughout: technical ability can get a leader noticed, but influence, relationships, and business judgment move the work forward.

  8. Sep 15

    454- Earn Your Seat Beyond Technology w/Scott Holleran

    Scott Holleran, CIO of Altus Fire & Life Safety, joins Phil Howard to discuss what gives technology leaders real influence inside the business. Scott shares lessons from the Army and three private equity-backed technology roles, including why leaders should walk the floor, ride with frontline teams, and map the full process before choosing a system. He explains how to frame difficult requests through cost, time, return, and tradeoffs; why business-specific data expertise belongs close to operations; how clear behavioral scorecards help teams perform; and why AI will strengthen specialists rather than erase the value of expertise.

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4.9
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About

Having a seat at the table. Nice. Being heard? Nicer. For decades, IT leaders have been the backbone of defensible business growth, solving problems that could cripple a business often before anyone noticed. We know this world. The late nights. The firefights. The impossible deadlines that somehow got met. IT Professionals don’t just fix. They fortify. They’re the frontline heroes fighting an improbable battle thriving where others break, armed with a resilience the strongest military leaders consider simply another day safeguarding the world. When things get rough, you’re indispensable. When everything’s humming like a well-oiled Tesla, you’re the hidden engine of progress, often asked to do the extraordinary. And one of the toughest parts? Being hunted by short-term sales reps chasing quotas, pushing shiny solutions they “know” you need… but you know you don’t. What if you could work with those who have sat in your seat, been precisely where you are? You can. That’s right: We’ve been there. Negotiating partnerships, being pitched by vendors across the table, and standing on the frontlines of IT. That’s why we built a platform where IT leaders are amplified, not sidelined. Not just “another platform.” In fact, three in one. A triple-threat to the industry norm. Doing to IT what the iPhone did to the Blackberry redefining the game (and expectations) forever. And to be clear, we refuse to be part of the “Hype Cycle” and inflated expectations. Which is why we’ve perfected a proven model that elevates you, the IT leader. Just ask our clients. The first piece? A podcast, not just a show. A platform where IT pros share hard-earned truths, not corporate scripts. The second piece? A community where peers (real ones) have sophisticated conversations—without vendors lurking in the corner. The final component? An advisory with only one agenda: your performance and sanity, so you make smarter vetted choices without the sales circus. Think of us as your backstage pass to whoever you need to meet to eliminate headaches and accelerate resolutions. The kind of exclusive pass that gains you access to our ecosystem with $1.2 billion in buying power. When we knock, the door’s already unlocked. And here’s the kicker: We make vendors fund your success. What about vendor-neutrality? If we were any more neutral, we’d be beige. Our triple-threat model doesn’t just transform how we do business. It transforms the impact you have on a day-to-day basis and on a year-over-year basis. It’s how you balance innovation with stability. Where you not only have a seat at the table, but get invited to speak. And be listened to. And there’s one final point that makes everything work: We don’t disappear when you need us. Ever. We stay. We escalate. We stand with you. We are anti-spin. Anti-transactional. Pro-IT leader. Your resilience is our resilience. Because when IT leaders rise… so does everything else. Welcome to the platform. Welcome to the movement. Join the next wave of IT leadership. Welcome to You’ve Been Heard. *****DISCLAIMER***** All views, opinions, and statements made by guests on this show do not represent the beliefs of the host Phil Howard, or any entity whatsoever with which the show has been, is now, or will be affiliated. Any statements, views, random thoughts, or opinions expressed by the hosts and guests do not necessarily reflect the personal beliefs (could easily be misconstrued) and are not the official policy/position of our company, agency, podcast, and affiliated partners. Finally, because human beings are characteristically prone to flaws and mistakes, we warn all listeners to think critically for yourself and seek true knowledge before taking action upon anything.

Information

  • Creator
    You've Been Heard
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    465
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 The you've Been Heard podcast. All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    You've Been Heard

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