You've Been Heard

Having a seat at the table. Nice. Being heard? Nicer. For decades, IT leaders have been the backbone of defensible business growth, solving problems that could cripple a business often before anyone noticed.We know this world.The late nights. The firefights.The impossible deadlines that somehow got met.IT Professionals don’t just fix.They fortify.They’re the frontline heroes fighting an improbable battlethriving where others break,armed with a resilience the strongest military leaders consider simply another day safeguarding the world.When things get rough, you’re indispensable.When everything’s humming like a well-oiled Tesla, you’re the hidden engine of progress, often asked to do the extraordinary.And one of the toughest parts? Being hunted by short-term sales reps chasing quotas, pushing shiny solutions they “know” you need… but you know you don’t.What if you could work with those who have sat in your seat, been precisely where you are? You can.That’s right

You've Been Heard is a technology podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 450 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts You've Been Heard, a technology show with 450 episodes published.

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  Episode #446

  446- Why IT Leaders Should Not Lead With No w/Bret Henning

  Aug 13, 202634 min

  Bret Henning started college as a music major and entered technology through a trade school and a computer operator job. He handled backups, printers, support, and disk drives before moving into programming and application work. Building systems for accounting, payroll, inventory, and manufacturing gave him an education in how a business runs. Bret traces the shift from computers as an after-the-fact record to computers as the place where work happens. He recalls how Y2K made technology’s place in the business harder to ignore and describes an early web sales interface that turned month-end reports into current information people could act on during the month. The conversation then turns to shadow AI. Bret explains why an immediate no can drive employees around IT instead of changing their behavior. His approach starts with questions, listening, and a clear explanation of risk. IT still has to offer an option that meets the employee’s need. He also shares why he hires teachable people with customer service experience, how empathy affects vendor and employee relationships, and why trust starts before a difficult business conversation.

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  Episode #445

  445- How CIOs Build Teams That Scale w/Brian Laird

  Aug 11, 202648 min

  Brian Laird's career has taken him through tech support, networking, security, software development, enterprise architecture, consulting, and the CIO seat. In this conversation with Doug Camin, he looks back on the week his former company sent thousands of employees home during COVID. Some customer service agents had no internet at home, so staff lined up at Verizon stores to buy hotspots three or five at a time. Early planning gave the company something to work from when the situation changed fast. Today, Brian is CIO at Bahler Group, a group of construction companies with manufacturing, supply chain, and field operations. His team is replacing a twenty-year-old Excel sales tool, connecting data across operating companies, and building systems that can support more revenue without adding staff at the old rate. He explains how family ownership changes the pace of decisions, why leaders need to understand the rhythm of the business, and how clear decision criteria help teams act with confidence. Brian also walks through Bahler Group's AI strategy. AI-assisted development helps the team build faster. Department copilots make operational data easier to query. Purpose-built copilots check estimates, contracts, and material takeoffs for details that may have been missed. Brian keeps people in the decision loop while the team learns where the AI can be trusted. He closes with four rules for team decisions and a direct challenge to rising IT leaders: learn how the business works and prove the value your work creates.

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  Episode #444

  444 - The Leadership Shift That Makes IT Scale w/Demetrios Xarhoulakos

  Aug 6, 202646 min

  Demetrios Xarhoulakos began his career producing CAD drawings and became the person colleagues called when technology stopped cooperating. That curiosity eventually led him into application support, global team management, cloud migration, and technology leadership for an international engineering business. In this conversation with host Mike Kelley, Demetrios explains why solving every problem personally limits a leader's reach. He shares how he trained support teams to handle specialized tickets, connected technical groups that had been operating in silos, and aligned IT priorities with organic growth and acquisitions. The discussion also covers follow-the-sun licensing, vendor scorecards, unused contract value, role fit on lean teams, and the difficult decisions that come with people leadership. Demetrios closes with a practical look at governed AI adoption, the support burden behind employee-built applications, and a future where IT spends less time reacting to tickets and more time enabling the business.

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  Episode #443

  443- Learn the Business. Earn the Influence w/Andrew Schutsky

  Jul 30, 202638 min

  Andrew Schutsky took a circuitous path to the CIO seat. Co-ops and help desk work led to management consulting, aerospace and defense, medical devices, supply chain, R&D, procurement, and manufacturing transformation. Each stop gave him another view of how the business experiences technology and measures results. In this conversation with Doug Camin, Andrew explains why IT leaders should study their industry's competitive levers and build real relationships with organizational leaders. He shares the 180 concept for seeing a proposal through the audience's eyes, a direct method for keeping executive presentations relevant, and a mentoring process that turns career goals into accountable action. Andrew also describes how his teams use accessible generative AI tools to prove value in pricing, cost, supplier, freight, and market analysis. He looks ahead to AI-supported customer experiences where faster quotes and warranty responses can create competitive advantage. Throughout the episode, his message stays practical: learn what matters, make the value clear, keep the ask concise, and find peers who will help you follow through.

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  Episode #442

  442- Listen, Understand, Execute: The IT Leadership Edge w/Farhan Zakir

  Jul 28, 202645 min

  Farhan Zakir's path into technology started far from a server room. After leaving medical school in Pakistan, he returned to Orlando, worked across hospitality roles, moved into accounting, and found his opening through ERP implementation for the club industry. In this conversation with Phil Howard, Farhan explains how that operating background became an advantage in IT leadership. He shares practical ways to translate technology into business language, make support interactions feel safe, teach cybersecurity through personal relevance, protect historical data during software migrations, and communicate value to executives. Farhan also explores the service cost of automation, the responsibility to keep learning as AI evolves, and the three-part framework he gives emerging IT professionals: listen, understand, execute.

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