The Heller Report: November Roundup of New C-Suite Tech Appointments

Publix Super Markets promoted Laurie Douglas, senior vice president and CIO, to executive vice president and chief information and digital officer; building products distributor ABC Supply elevated Larry Sullivan, vice president of software, data and digital transformation, to CIO; Alaska Airlines named Amaresh Siva, most recently CVS Health chief digital and technology officer for health care delivery, to the newly created role of chief information technology officer; Jackson National Life Insurance Company appointed Dean Hosfield, most recently COO for Knighthead Life, senior vice president and CIO.

Veteran CIO Larry Bonfante has watched talented IT leaders chase the CIO role for the title and learn they need a skills upgrade. Cultivating high performance among many. Managing relationships. Telling the IT story. “CIO jobs aren’t easy. But if you do them for the right reasons, the legacy you might leave behind is one of corporate and personal growth, and the people you led will remember the impact you had,” he writes.

Last summer, did you wonder where exactly “Odysseus” (played by Matt Damon) was sailing in the blockbuster movie? Or where the Netflix drama “East of Eden” takes place? These and more are among the maps plotted by Aires Loutsaris, a marketing professional who explains that his passion project Reading Maps “came out of a nagging thought that every story has happened somewhere.” Using the OpenStreetMap application, Loutsaris charted the heroes’ journeys of famous books and films to create animated trips across land and sea, by rail, car and foot, with satellite, topographical, and watercolor themes available.

Heller was recently retained to recruit a Director of Information Technology for Lipari Foods, a leading independent distributor built around global and specialty foods. With a customer-first mindset, Lipari Foods services customers across 32 states bringing the world’s most craveable flavors to shelf with an end-to-end approach that combines exclusive and owned brands, retail services, innovative tools, and dependable delivery across 10 categories including deli, bakery, frozen/dairy, specialty grocery, international specialty, meat/seafood, packaging, confections, foodservice/prepared foods, and convenience. For this role, we identified Christina Agar, who most recently served as Senior Information Technology Business Relationship Manager for Tennant Company. Agar holds a B.S. from Arizona State University. Congratulations, Christina!