The Heller Report: AI-powered Transformation at ConocoPhillips is Fueling the Future

How do you get an oil giant to innovate with AI? In this interview with Martha Heller, ConocoPhillips Chief Digital and Information Officer Pragati Mathur discusses how her teams work with key business partners across the company to analyze use cases – from optimizing oil production to improving demand forecasting – and understand how their AI applications tie into strategic goals. “It's a Silicon Valley venture capital model—the idea gets funding or not, based on the value of the use case,” Mathur says, in this article in CIO.com.

The tight market for chief security officers means these risk management leaders can command salaries surpassing $700,000, reports CSOonline. Jason Henninger, managing director at Heller, tells the magazine that finding great CSO candidates often starts with government and military professionals. “Folks that come from those disciplines or foundations tend to have a strong external network that really helps them stay on top of external threats and bad actors,” Henninger says.

Change is a business constant, and IT leaders need to know how to manage people whether they accept, resist, or reject the adjustments necessary for the business to advance, writes Larry Bonfante, a veteran IT executive and founder of CIO Bench Coach. “Getting people to see the value of the change and eliciting their personal support and investment are critical to our success,” he writes.

If all goes as scheduled, some Japanese telecom users will get their 4G and 5G service from airborne cell-towers flying 20 kilometers above the Earth, IEEE Spectrum reported. Tokyo-based Softbank Corp. plans to provide service using a lighter-than-air solar-powered airship – picture a blimp-sized silver bullet – in addition to unmanned aerial vehicles. “The mobile phone doesn’t know the difference between our platform and a tower,” says Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, CEO of airship maker Sceye, based in Moriarty, N.M.