Technovation with Peter High (CIO, CTO, CDO, CXO Interviews)

Before the market is obvious, what gives an investor the conviction to act?

In this episode of Technoventure, Peter High speaks with Shardul Shah, Partner at Index Ventures, about why exceptional founders can matter more than early market signals. Shardul shares lessons from investing in companies including Datadog and Wiz and explains how he evaluates conviction, high agency, and founders who can “hold contradiction with ease.”

They also explore:

How AI is reshaping enterprise software and infrastructure

Why companies born before 2025 need to reinvent themselves

The rise of machine-to-machine cybersecurity

Why enterprise AI adoption begins with culture and risk

How Shardul uses relationships and AI agents to accelerate learning

Moving from reactive operations to predictive AI starts with trusted data.

In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Ajay Waghray, EVP and Chief Information Officer of PG&E, about the technology, data, process, and people transformation behind the company’s shift toward more predictive and proactive operations.

Waghray explains how PG&E combines trusted asset, weather, environmental, sensor, and smart-meter data to support continuous monitoring and AI-driven decision-making. He shares how these capabilities have helped avoid 19 million outage minutes, prevent 28 potential ignitions, and eliminate more than 5,000 emergency response hours.

The conversation also explores PG&E’s three-pillar AI strategy, foundation, democratization, and execution, and why cybersecurity, responsible AI, and standardized processes must advance together.

Listen to the full episode to hear how PG&E is building the foundation for predictive AI at enterprise scale.

This episode is presented by Tines — Freedom to build. Complete security. No compromises. Learn more at tines.io

This episode is also presented by Retool — Build internal software better, with AI. Learn more at retool.com

When AI makes everyone a software builder, who governs what gets built?

In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Thomas Kinsella, Co-Founder and COO of Tines, about the rise of “wild code”: invisible and ungoverned agents, automations, scripts, and workflows spreading across the enterprise. Kinsella explores how CIOs can encourage AI experimentation while creating the visibility, security, and controls required at scale.

Key topics include:

How “wild code” is changing enterprise AI governance

Why governed AI needs a productive “paved path”

When deterministic automation beats AI agents

Where human judgment belongs in intelligent workflows

How workflows can evolve based on real-world decisions

This episode is presented by ElevenLabs — Bringing technology to life. Learn more at elevenlabs.io

This episode is also presented by Retool — Build internal software better, with AI. Learn more at retool.com

AI transformation should start with business value, not technology.

In this episode of Technovation, Peter High speaks with Derrick Pledger, Chief Digital and Information Officer of Maximus, about how he is reimagining work for an AI-driven enterprise. Derrick explains why Maximus defines ROI before launching AI pilots, how the company evaluates whether legacy processes can survive in an agentic world, and why every employee receives AI training.

He also discusses building a failure-friendly innovation culture, bringing Silicon Valley capabilities into government environments, and using technology to improve citizen and mission outcomes.

For CIOs navigating pressure to turn AI investment into measurable results, Derrick offers a clear mandate: start with the value you intend to create.

This episode is presented by ElevenLabs — Bringing technology to life. Learn more at elevenlabs.io

This episode is also presented by Retool — Build internal software better, with AI. Learn more at retool.com

Healthcare doesn’t lack data. The challenge is connecting it.

In this episode of Technovation, Mouli Venkatesan, EVP and Chief Information & Technology Officer of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, joins Peter High to discuss how interoperability, AI, and shared technology foundations can help create a more connected healthcare system.

Mouli explores how the Blue system balances national scale with local delivery, why longitudinal data matters to value-based care, and how BCBSA approaches AI through mindset, “heart set,” tool set, and skill set. He also explains why responsible AI begins with strong data governance and human involvement in clinical decisions.

The conversation also covers AI workforce development, build-buy-partner decisions, process improvement, and leadership through influence across independent organizations.

This episode is presented by ElevenLabs — Bringing technology to life. Learn more at elevenlabs.io

This episode is also presented by Retool — Build internal software better, with AI. Learn more at retool.com