Loving Your Career & Leading With Impact Featuring Addie Deinlein

Change is a constant in the tech industry. As businesses grow, adapt, and disrupt the IT landscape, embracing innovation is crucial to staying ahead. To remain relevant and ultimately outpace the competition, companies must be nimble and flexible with their IT projects and hiring strategies. While offshore teams have been a traditional solution for the talent shortage faced by U.S. companies, they often fall short due to high costs, cultural differences, and language barriers. However, a customized nearshore approach, particularly in Guadalajara and throughout Mexico, has proven to be an effective alternative.

The rapid digitization of the workplace has exposed a significant skills gap, leaving many organizations struggling to find employees with the necessary technical expertise to thrive in the digital age. To tackle this challenge head-on, businesses must prioritize upskilling and reskilling their existing workforce.

On this episode of Tech On Tap, we sit down with Darrell Blocker, a seasoned national security expert and ABC News contributor. Darrell’s career spans nearly three decades at the CIA, where he held key roles, including Deputy Director of the Counterterrorism Center and Chief of the Africa Division. His distinguished service earned him the CIA’s Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal.

In this episode of Tech on Tap, we’re joined by Ann Madea, Chief Information Officer at Simmons Bank, a seasoned IT leader with global and community banking experience. From her early days as a programmer to her current role driving innovation as a CIO, Ann has led organizations through transformative change, risk mitigation, and cost reduction.

As we stride into 2025, it’s impossible to ignore a glaring imbalance in the artificial intelligence (AI) workforce. Currently, a staggering 71% of the AI workforce is male, leaving just 29% of these critical roles filled by women. This disparity doesn’t just reflect a diversity issue; it’s a missed opportunity to leverage diverse perspectives and talents in shaping the future of AI.