About the AI CIO
As AI becomes a critical part of enterprise infrastructure, senior IT leaders face the critical challenge of strategically integrating artificial intelligence to drive innovation and maintain a competitive edge.
AI CIO is essential reading for for CIOs navigating this complex terrain. This weekly newsletter, penned by enterprise IT veteran John M. Willis, cuts through the hype to deliver focused, actionable intelligence on AI strategy.
Willis’ leverages his extensive 35+ years of experience, including his pivotal role in the DevOps movement and emerging tech experience at Dell, Exxon, Chef, Red Hat, Docker, and MongoDB.
As a vendor and IT leader he provides uniquely insightful perspectives.
AI CIO coverrs crucial topics like navigating the risks of "Shadow AI" and technical debt , understanding the transformative power of AI in cybersecurity , and making informed decisions about AI technology providers.
For CIOs seeking to move beyond theoretical discussions and implement practical AI strategies, AI CIO offers a concise, curated, and compelling resource to stay ahead in the age of artificial intelligence.
The Author, John M. Willis
Meet our expert contributors
John M. Willis is a veteran IT executive and a foundational figure in the DevOps movement, with over four decades of experience in systems management, cloud computing, and enterprise transformation.
Early Career and Entrepreneurship
Willis began his career at Exxon Corporation in the early 1980s, working on mainframe systems and contributing to the deployment of one of the first commercial Cray supercomputers. He later founded Gulf Breeze Software, an IBM business partner recognized for its expertise in Tivoli technology deployment. Throughout his career, Willis has authored seven IBM Redbooks on enterprise systems management and founded over ten startups, including Chain Bridge Systems.
DevOps Leadership
Willis is considered one of the founders of the DevOps movement. He was the only American attendee at the first DevOpsDays event in Ghent and co-organized the first U.S.-based DevOpsDays. He played a pivotal role in bringing DevOps concepts to a broader audience by convincing O’Reilly Media to add a DevOps track to its Velocity conference in 2010.
At Chef (formerly Opscode), Willis served as VP of Training & Services, where he formalized training, evangelism, and professional services functions. He later joined Enstratius as VP of Solutions, which was acquired by Dell, and then co-founded SocketPlane , focusing on software-defined networking for containers; this company was acquired by Docker, where he became Director of Ecosystem Development.
Publications and Thought Leadership
Willis co-authored "The DevOps Handbook" alongside Gene Kim, Jez Humble, and Patrick Debois, providing a comprehensive guide to implementing DevOps practices. He also co-authored "Beyond the Phoenix Project" with Gene Kim, exploring the broader implications of DevOps in IT organizations.
His recent work includes "Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge," which examines the application of W. Edwards Deming's principles to modern IT and DevOps practices. Willis is currently working on a new book, "The Operational History of Generative AI," reflecting his ongoing interest in the intersection of AI and IT operations.