#1 - Alessio Garofalo: From army officer to CTO of a city of the future
An officer in the Italian Army at 18. CIO and CTO of a city that didn't exist yet at 40. Alessio Garofalo's road to the top had no map, and that's exactly why it's worth hearing. Alessio Garofalo: former CIO and CTO of NEOM, Amazon leadership across the UK and Japan, now leading transformation at NATO in Portugal. In this episode: ■ Why he never once hired above his team, and what it cost him ■ The rule he gives every future CTO: get your hands dirty first ■ What people want from a leader, and why it's the same on every continent ■ Why waiting to be offered an opportunity fails 90% of the time Chapters: 00:00 From the Italian Army to NEOM and NATO 03:30 What people want from a leader, on every continent 04:36 Public sector vs private: the same decisions, different drivers 07:12 Robotics, security and the trends worth watching 10:17 The real job of a CTO is not technical 13:25 Three rules for future CTOs (and a bonus one) 16:01 The book: "City by Mistake" 17:27 Alessio's superpower Follow Alessio LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessiogarofalo1985/ Alessio's book "CTO by Mistake": https://www.amazon.com/CTO-Mistake-Survival-Alessio-Garofalo/dp/B0C4MVSHHY Road to CTO. New episode every Wednesday. Hosted by Kuba Lang. Kuba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kubalang/ All platforms: https://roadtocto.com Want to share your road? hello@roadtocto.com
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