CIO Unscripted Podcast with Niel Nickolaisen

CIO Unscripted is a podcast for CIOs, CTOs, and senior technology leaders navigating the decisions that come with leading IT.

Each episode gets past the polished talking points and into how technology leaders are actually approaching the job — building strong teams, working with the board, evaluating new technology, managing vendor relationships, setting priorities, and turning strategy into execution.

Guests share what worked, what didn’t, and what they learned along the way. The result is a candid look at technology leadership from people making these decisions every day.

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Episodes

cio unscripted with sarah teofilo

Episode #9 - Sarah Teofilo on Leading IT From the Business Side

Aired On: Aug 7, 2026

Guest: Sarah Teofilo

In this episode, Sarah talks through her unconventional route to the CIO seat at ARUP Laboratories, one of the largest reference labs in the country. She and host Niel Nickolaisen explore what it means to lead technologists without being the most technical person in the room, how ARUP is starting to apply AI to lab and diagnostic workflows, and how her team tries to balance keeping the lights on with making room for innovation. The conversation also touches on team-building, mentorship, and a lesson Sarah keeps coming back to: don't confuse outputs with outcomes.

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cio unscripted with mary wyderski

Episode #8 - Mary Wyderski on People-centric Leadership and Prioritizing AI

Aired On: Jul 31, 2026

Guest: Mary Wyderski

Mary's path into technology started with seven years as an accountant. On today's episode, she joins Niel to talk about how that finance background shaped her into a business-first technology leader, why she thinks building a great team is the most remarkable thing she's ever pulled off, and how she's helping her organization prioritize AI without losing the plate-spinning act of keeping the lights on. It's a conversation about staying calm under pressure, communicating more than you think you need to, and creating an environment where people are genuinely glad to be there.

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cio unscripted with jeff stott

Episode #7 - Jeff Stott on Buy-In and the Replatform That Paid Off

Aired On: Oct 1, 2024

Guest: Jeff Stott

Niel Nickolaisen sits down with Jeff Stott, CIO of Welltower and former CIO of Extra Space Storage, to talk about the technology bet that turned into one of the company's biggest advantages. Jeff spent several years leading a full replatform of Extra Space's systems, a project that ran well past its original timeline before proving its worth in a big way: when the company later acquired a competitor roughly half its size, the new platform let them absorb over a thousand locations in weeks rather than months. The conversation also gets into how Jeff handles organizational change, including a memorable moment during that acquisition when he chose clarity over compromise, and why he's come to believe the best plans are the ones he doesn't try to sell on his own.

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