Carrel established his foundation in tech and leadership early. He first fell in love with tech in junior high school when he took a computer science class.

“I love art, I was pretty good at art…and at the same time I’ve always been pretty good at math and science. Anytime you can combine things you are good at with things you love and enjoy…I never even thought about being anywhere other than technology.”

Personal Significance and Success

Carrel also developed his leadership style early. That style is a commitment to the combination of success and significance, and was strongly influenced by the book Halftime by Bob Buford. The book, targeted toward those in their forties or the ‘halftime’ of their lives, brought depth to Carrel’s view of his career and life.

“I want my legacy to be not just helping people be successful, but also helping them reach a level of significance in their life that they want.”

Throughout his career, his roles and the needs of business have changed, and along with the needs of his family. His foundational moments of self discovery remain pivotal in executing his life’s mission and maintaining balance in his life.

“Before you have the right to lead others you need to lead yourself really well,” Carrel said. “I have a personal mission statement. I set goals for myself. I set boundaries.”

He also said that he exercises those tactics and strategies in his personal life then applies those same concepts to business while supporting his team in their personal lives.

“I believe a well balanced person will be a better associate at work.”

An industry veteran, Carrel said he stays excited with work and in the industry as a whole because there’s always something new, fresh, or changing. He also enjoys the significant role technology now plays in business - a change from how it was when he started his career.

“...[It is] strategic for the business, it’s helping deliver competitive advantage, it’s reshaping businesses, new businesses have been created with technology… There is no shortage of opportunities to learn.”

Keeping Humanity a Critical Part of Business and Tech

“I tell people we're all business professionals with technology skills,” Carrel said. “Part of the reason I picked the theme for our CIO Tomorrow event this year is that, you know, you can’t be just the back office technology person. Everyone is expecting CIOs to be the innovators, to be the digital evangelists, to manage enterprise risk…to help shape culture and org change because technology is changing the way we work…when you think about all of these things a CIO has to be involved in…it starts to really open people’s eyes to the role of the CIO. You have to be a good technologist, but those [other roles] are the things that make you a good CIO.”

When discussing the role that CIOs play in shaping culture and work life balance, Carrel said companies have a great tool in AI to reduce toil, but they need to define the types of interactions they always want to be human. For example, at Nationwide there are certain insurance customer interactions they will never automate.

“If you have a death claim…if you have a total loss on your house, we’re gonna wanna talk to you. We’re still humans and in our business, especially when we are about protection, there are things that we want to make sure there is someone who tells you it’s going to be okay…I recommend companies have strong ethical frameworks [with AI and technology] around what you will and will not do.”

AI as a tool is also a significant indicator of future success for college students, he said. The first indicator? Internships. Students should make sure they can compete with experience while learning how to use AI for personal productivity and to engineer systems. Additionally, they should know how to partner with clients to understand when and how to use AI.

CIO Tomorrow: Make Your Path to Leadership

Carrel said there were several ways to get the most out of attending the CIO Tomorrow Conference, including attending the breakout sessions that cover different aspects of the CIO experience. Making connections is also incredibly important.

“Hundreds of the best and brightest technology leaders in Central Ohio are going to be at this event and to me, if you can make three or five connections with people you can learn from…it’s a great opportunity for people to surround themselves and get a broad view on what it means to be a strong technology leader in our region.”

The CIO Tomorrow Conference “Redefining Leadership in a Digital Age” celebrates more than a decade of tech-focused insight and inspiration and takes place August 27th at the Hyatt Regency Columbus Downtown. Register for IT Martini Today, the official pre-party of the CIO Tomorrow conference, taking place on August 26th at the Ohio Brewing Company here: https://itmartinitoday.eventbrite.com.