Humans of Tech

When Success Becomes Purpose with George Finney

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2536528/fan_mail/new] Success starts as one thing - a number, a milestone, maybe even the ability to afford a massage every month and somewhere along the way, it becomes something deeper. In this episode, we sit down with George Finney, CISO at the University of Texas System, bestselling author, and Co-Chair of the Cloud Security Alliance, to talk about purpose, leadership, and how our definition of success changes over time. George shares how success evolved from financial stability to making a difference in a way only he could. From lessons inspired by Man’s Search for Meaning to a former student who chose IT because of his cybersecurity course, this conversation is a reminder that impact doesn’t always have to be massive to be meaningful. Sometimes purpose is one person. One conversation. One moment that changes a path. Ready for more human-centered stories from the leaders shaping our digital world? Subscribe to Humans of Tech on your favorite platform and check out our merch store here: https://humansoftech.axomo.com

How A State CIO Builds Culture, Mentors Leaders, And Keeps Learning with Tim Galuzzi

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2536528/fan_mail/new] Ever wonder what it actually takes to keep government technology human, fast, and trustworthy? We sit with Nevada’s CIO, Timothy Galluzi, for a raw, no-prep conversation that moves from school drop-offs and Vegas trips to the real mechanics of growth, leadership, and culture in public sector IT. No scripts, no do-overs—just a candid look at how a state leader stays curious, builds teams, and keeps learning. Tim shares how he treats discomfort as a signal for opportunity rather than a trigger for imposter syndrome. We talk about iterative self-improvement, staying close enough to the work to tinker and build, and the mindset shifts that help leaders adapt as technology and citizen needs change. You’ll hear how his team stands up a Leadership Academy to fix a common problem—promoting great individual contributors without teaching them to manage—and how a simple book club makes shared language and values stick. The current read, Begin with We, anchors principles like doing the right thing always and building integrity into daily habits. We also dive into mentorship and trust. Tim’s deputies were once his supervisors, and now they operate as peers. That evolution shows how role changes can strengthen culture when respect runs both ways. Along the way, we tackle lifelong learning, public sector innovation, and practical ways to create psychological safety while shipping reliable systems.  🎧 If you care about human-centered design, government CIO strategy, leadership development, and turning discomfort into growth, this conversation hits home.  Ready for more human-centered stories from the leaders shaping our digital world? Subscribe to Humans of Tech on your favorite platform and check out our merch store here: https://humansoftech.axomo.com [https://humansoftech.axomo.com/]

Inside the Networks That Can’t Fail: Live Sports, Risk, and Reward with Seth Lane

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2536528/fan_mail/new] Seth, VP of Network Infrastructure at Major League Soccer, lives at the intersection of sports, scale, and systems that absolutely cannot fail. When millions are watching a live match, every replay, stat, and stream depends on networks most fans never see — and Seth is the one making sure they hold. In this conversation, we pull back the curtain on the invisible infrastructure behind the beautiful game. From stadium Wi-Fi and league data centers to IP-based broadcast pipelines, Seth breaks down how modern networks deliver reliability at global scale — and what it really takes to keep live sports online when there’s zero margin for error. Seth’s career path is as dynamic as the environments he’s supported: hands-on engineering in New York finance, founding and selling a VAR, jumping to an OEM during a rocket-ship growth phase, and ultimately running networks for both MLB and Major League Soccer. Along the way, he embraced a three-to-five-year rhythm — arrive, assess, fix, move on — a mindset that fuels growth without burning out. We get practical, too. Seth shares why LinkedIn recommendations are portable credibility, how technologists can pair deep expertise with clear storytelling in sales, and why mentoring becomes the most rewarding leadership skill on the “back nine” of your career. The conversation also explores how broadcast is converging on IP and Ethernet, mirroring the shift from PBXs to VoIP. COVID accelerated remote production from “nice-to-have” to table stakes, reshaping how content is created and distributed. We debate what good outreach really looks like from the buyer’s seat and tie it back to a core StoryBrand truth: the customer is the hero — the brand is the guide.  🎧 If you care about sports technology, network reliability, career reinvention, or building real relationships in a digital world, this episode delivers grounded insights and memorable stories. Ready for more human-centered stories from the leaders shaping our digital world? Subscribe to Humans of Tech on your favorite platform and check out our merch store here: https://humansoftech.axomo.com [https://humansoftech.axomo.com/]

Consent Isn’t a Checkbox: Privacy, Power, and Your Digital Self with Pegah Parsi

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2536528/fan_mail/new] A flawless-looking LinkedIn photo sparks a much bigger conversation about consent, control, and the digital doubles that follow us everywhere. In this episode, we sit down with Pegah K Parsi, JD, MBA [https://www.linkedin.com/in/pegahparsi/] Chief Privacy Officer at UC San Diego, to unpack why privacy is a fundamental right — and how that belief quietly shapes our everyday decisions online and at work. Pegah introduces a deceptively simple framework with outsized impact: privacy across body, space, and data. From medical choices and physical boundaries to algorithms curating our feeds, she reframes privacy as the right to decide who gets access to what, for which purpose, and for how long. That lens turns scattered anxieties about filters, tagging, and creepy ads into one clear question: how do we reclaim control of our digital identity without opting out of modern life? We also get practical about building real connection in remote and hybrid teams. Think agenda-free coffee chats, meetings that start with genuine check-ins, and yes — the occasional unannounced phone call just to say hello. The conversation doesn’t dodge the gray areas either: personalization versus manipulation, research benefits versus surveillance risks, and the ethics of editing or posting images of others on professional platforms. If you’ve ever wondered why your phone feels like it’s reading your mind — or debated whether touching up a colleague’s photo crosses a line — this episode gives you language, principles, and habits you can use immediately. Expect a grounded take on data brokers, consent that’s more than a checkbox, and small rituals that make digital work feel human again. Ready for more human-centered stories from the leaders shaping our digital world? Subscribe to Humans of Tech on your favorite platform and check out our merch store here: https://humansoftech.axomo.com [https://humansoftech.axomo.com/]

Leading with Insight: How Psychology and Communication Shape Enterprise Security with Blake Hodges

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2536528/fan_mail/new] Blake Hodges, Deputy CISO at Albemarle, brings a rare blend of military discipline, enterprise leadership, and disarming honesty to the world of cybersecurity. His path from Army cyber operations to consulting, defense, a global nonprofit, and now one of the world’s leading lithium manufacturers gives him a vantage point few technologists ever experience. In this conversation, Blake pulls back the curtain on what he’s learned across those worlds: why the most expensive tool won’t fix a broken culture, how communication and emotional intelligence beat complexity every time, and what really determines whether a system becomes beloved… or quietly sabotaged. He also shares a line that lingers: only IT and drug dealers call their customers “users.” It’s funny with a sting — a reminder that adoption starts with humanity, not hardware. We explore everything from the lithium supply chain powering modern batteries to the shifting expectations of today’s technologists, who now need sales acumen, stakeholder fluency, and the confidence to explain value without hiding behind jargon. Blake’s perspective on where AI is headed — and why IT may soon function as “HR for AI” — offers a grounded roadmap for the next decade of transformation. 🎧 Tune in for a thoughtful, practical conversation about culture, communication, and why technology only works when people do. Ready for more human-centered stories from the leaders shaping our digital world? Subscribe to Humans of Tech on your favorite platform and check out our merch store here: https://humansoftech.axomo.com [https://humansoftech.axomo.com/]