Bytes of Experience : CIOs Unplugged

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Higher ed IT isn’t just about technology—it’s about leadership, strategy, and navigating the unique challenges of institutional culture. And we’ve seen it all. Two retired Canadian Higher Ed CIOs—and CUCCIO CIO of the Year winners—Bo Wandschneider and Dana Sanderson—bring decades of experience tackling technology, governance, and innovation in Canadian universities. In Bytes of Experience: CIOs Unplugged, they cut through the noise to discuss real challenges, real solutions, and the realities of IT leadership. Expect deep insights, candid discussions, and plenty of humor—because IT isn’t always glamorous, but it’s always interesting. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or new to the field, join them for an unfiltered look at the digital evolution of higher ed IT.

Episodes

Tuesday Oct 14, 2025

S01-E07 -The CISO Tightrope: Balancing Boards, CIOs, and Campus Culture

Tuesday Oct 14, 2025

Episode 7 welcomes CISO Isaac Straley to explore the evolving role of the CISO in higher education — from reporting lines and key relationships with CIOs, presidents, and budget offices to the human impact of breaches.

Bo and Dana discuss practical leadership lessons, collaborative security models like CANSOC, and how security programs should enable research and campus life rather than simply impose controls.

Key takeaways: prioritize people, translate technical controls into institutional outcomes, and build trust across campus to manage risk effectively.

Isaac Straley | LinkedIn

CanSSOC

Tuesday Oct 14, 2025

S01-E06 Where IT Nightmares Become Leadership Legends—And Sometimes, Laughs. Part 2 - BETA

Tuesday Oct 14, 2025

In part two of their storytelling arc, Bo and Dana unpack the leadership lessons behind their most memorable IT projects. From trust-building in crisis to the art of triage and communication, they explore what it really takes to steer technology through chaos. With reflections on collaboration, resilience, and the occasional comic relief, this episode turns hard-won experience into practical wisdom for anyone leading tech in higher ed.

Tuesday Oct 14, 2025

S01-E05 Where IT Nightmares Become Leadership Legends—And Sometimes, Laughs. Part 1 - BETA

Tuesday Oct 14, 2025

In this episode Bo and Dana share unfiltered stories of major IT challenges and wins from their careers in higher education — from a risky Office 365 migration and a campus-wide ERP rollout (Project Beacon) to building a Data Resource Center and a resilient campus network through COVID and Hurricane Fiona.

They highlight practical leadership lessons: communication and trust, listening to stakeholders, turning skeptics into allies, and focusing on student experience and process maturity. Expect candid insights on change management, collaboration across IT, libraries and research, and how persistence and transparency pay off.

Tuesday Oct 14, 2025

S01-E04 CIO Tightrope - When Innovation Meets Tradition: Navigating Cultural Conflict - Part 2 - BETA

Tuesday Oct 14, 2025

In this episode of Bytes of Experience, Bo and Dana explore the cultural conflicts CIOs face in higher education—resistance to change, shared governance versus agility, misaligned priorities, reporting structures, security and innovation tensions, and uneven digital literacy.

They share examples from campus life, discuss strategies for turning conflict into opportunity through cultural change and storytelling, and present a day‑in‑the‑life profile of Dr. Abby Lee, a CIO balancing diplomacy, strategy, and rapid context switching.

Tuesday Oct 14, 2025

S01-E03 CIO Tightrope: Balancing Tech Strategy and Campus Culture - Part 1 - BETA

Tuesday Oct 14, 2025

Bo Wandschneider and Dana Sanderson discuss the modern CIO’s challenges in higher education, exploring five themes: translation between tech and stakeholders, navigating institutional culture and shared governance, strategic influence beyond IT, emotional intelligence in leadership, and metrics, wins, and accountability.

This is Part 1 of the episode series, highlighting storytelling, digital moments, building partnerships, trust during crises, and how to communicate wins; Part 2 will follow to cover cultural conflicts and a day-in-the-life CIO story.

Tuesday Oct 14, 2025

S01-E02 From Mainframes to the Cloud: Higher Ed IT Unfiltered - BETA

Tuesday Oct 14, 2025

Two recently retired CIOs, Bo Wandschneider and Dana Sanderson, reflect on decades of higher education IT evolution. They trace the journey from punch cards and mainframes to cloud platforms, discuss the tension between centralized and decentralized IT, and share lessons about culture, governance, funding, and strategic planning.

The episode also tackles pressing pressure points—security, privacy, accessibility, sustainability, and the impact of AI—while offering leadership takeaways about perseverance, listening, and collaborative strategy.

Tuesday Oct 14, 2025

S01-E01 -Unfiltered CIOs: People, Power & Campus Tech - BETA

Tuesday Oct 14, 2025

In the pilot episode of Bytes of Experience, retired higher-ed CIOs Bo Wandschneider and Dana Sanderson introduce themselves and share the journeys that brought them into university IT leadership. They reflect on pivotal career moments, the shift from technical expert to people-centered leader, and the evolving scope and pressures of the CIO role.

The hosts explain the podcast’s purpose: candid, unfiltered conversations about IT strategy, governance, AI, financial challenges in higher education, and practical lessons for CIOs, IT teams, and institutional leaders—inviting listeners to learn, contribute topics, and stay connected to the community.

Glen Hicks | LinkedIn

Rewired not Retired Rewired Not Retired by Glen Hicks on Apple Books

🎧 Episodes for release

S01-E01 -Unfiltered CIOs: People, Power & Campus Tech - BETA

S01-E02 From Mainframes to the Cloud: Higher Ed IT Unfiltered - BETA

S01-E03 CIO Tightrope: Balancing Tech Strategy and Campus Culture - Part 1 - BETA

S01-E04 CIO Tightrope: When Innovation Meets Tradition: Navigating Cultural Conflict - Part 2 - BETA

S01-E05 Where IT Nightmares Become Leadership Legends—And Sometimes, Laughs. Part 1 - BETA

S01-E06 Where IT Nightmares Become Leadership Legends—And Sometimes, Laughs. Part 2 - BETA

S01-E07 - Guest Isaac Straley - The CISO Tightrope: Balancing Boards, CIOs, and Campus Culture

🎧 Future Episodes

(Working titles)

IT Is Something You Do With People, Not To People

→ Guest Keith McWhirter, former Director of Experiential Partnerships & Programs, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University

Cutting Ourselves Short: IT Strategy and the Budget Crisis

→ Guest - Gayleen Gray, CTO, McMaster University

Beyond the Server Room: Leadership, Accountability and the CIO’s Seat at the Table

→ Guest - Board Director and private sector Chief Operating Officer

Stronger Together: A CanSSOC Conversation

→ Guest - Isaac Straley, founding member and national leader in shared cybersecurity

Solving Big Problems: Process, Leadership, and the Next Chapter

- Guest - Gary Doucette - Acadia University

Agency isn't just for AI: Leadership in the age of possibility

Guest - Donna Kidwell - CIO University of Toronto

Benchmarking for change: Uniforum and the University if Alberat Model

Guest - Brian Stewart, CIO SFU (former Director Service Excellence Transformation UofA)

Please send us your ideas for future episodes:

feedback@BytesofExerience.ca

Bo Wandschneider - Co Host

Bo Wandschneider is a nationally respected leader in higher education IT, known for driving innovation, resilience, and strategic transformation. As the recently retired CIO of the University of Toronto, Bo led one of Canada’s largest higher ed IT organizations through pivotal change—including the rapid shift to virtual learning and remote operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. His leadership fostered agility, cohesion, and a deep culture of service during a time of disruption.

In 2024, Bo was named CUCCIO CIO of the Year, recognizing his outstanding contributions to the sector and his role in shaping the future of digital infrastructure in Canadian higher education.

Bo’s influence reaches across Canada through his work on cybersecurity initiatives like ORION ON-CHEC and CANARIE’s CanSSOC, where he was a founding member. He’s also held senior roles at Queen’s University and the University of Guelph, and is a trusted collaborator among CIOs nationwide—championing shared solutions and sector-wide progress.

Renowned for building high-performing teams and empowering others, Bo leads with a collaborative ethos and a commitment to cultural transformation. He creates environments where innovation thrives, people feel valued, and institutions evolve to meet the future. His work is rooted in partnership—connecting organizations to achieve more together than they could alone.

Dana Sanderson - Co Host

Dana Sanderson recently retired as Chief Information Officer at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), where he spent over a decade leading transformative initiatives that modernized the university’s technology landscape. A UPEI alumnus with an MBA from the University of Ottawa, Dana spearheaded UPEI’s first enterprise-wide ERP implementation, overhauled campus network infrastructure, and championed digital solutions that enhanced the student experience and supported institutional sustainability. Earlier in his career, Dana worked for J.D. Irving, Limited in a number of IT leadership roles.

With more than 20 years of IT leadership experience at J.D. Irving, Limited, Dana has a strong reputation as a strategic leader and “bridge-builder” between business needs and technology solutions. He actively represented the interests of UPEI as well as the Atlantic region through his board and member contributions to NBPEIECN, NREN, DRAC, and CUCCIO. His contributions to the Canadian higher education IT community were recognized with the 2023 CUCCIO Community Award, and he was a finalist for the 2019 ITAC Canadian CIO of the Year Award.

🎙️ Credits & Acknowledgments

We’re grateful to the many tools and voices that help bring Bytes of Experience to life:

Recording & Editing: All episodes are recorded using Audacity, lightly cleaned and compressed before export as MP3 files.
Publishing Platform: We publish through Podbean, using Podbean AI to enhance audio clarity and consistency.
Transcripts: Auto-generated by Podbean AI and presented as-is, with minimal post-editing.
Music: Our theme and interlude music are sourced from Pixabay and The Grand Project, under royalty-free licenses.
Voiceover: The introduction voiceover is provided by Kimberly Colburn.
Visuals: Podcast images and graphics are created using Copilot.
Feedback & Questions: Reach us anytime at feedback@bytesofexperience.ca.
LinkedIn: Follow our updates and behind-the-scenes insights on LinkedIn.