JENNIFER KROLIKOWSKI
CEO at Plan Z
Can you please provide a little introduction about yourself
I live in Los Angeles with my husband and 16-year-old twins. I recently left my position as CIO for Space Systems Command (the acquisition organization for the Space Force) and am starting my own company, Plan Z.
What has your journey to your position been like? What path have you taken?
I am an engineer by trade and served in the Air Force and Space Force, most notably as a program manager on high-tech programs. I held VP-equivalent and CEO-equivalent positions on programs that involved IT and software. It was because of the successes there and my experience in cyber that propelled me to becoming the first CIO for Space Systems Command, the acquisition organization for the USSF.
Has it always been your vision to reach the position you’re at? Was your current role part of your vision to become a tech leader?
Ever since I was 6, I knew I wanted to be involved with science and tech in some way - it's been a long-time passion of mine. Combining that with my desire to fix programs that were failing, it made sense to try to match and adopt tech to reach outcomes people wanted to achieve and become successful. And while I didn't envision becoming a CIO at first, I truly appreciate the role and impact they have to be change agents for an organization and am honored I was able to serve in that capacity for Space System Command.
How do you see the role of the technology leader evolving over the next 5 years?
As the tech revolution is solidly in the digital world (vs the industrial age), there are still a lot of people who are slow to adopt new tech, given the amount of legacy that is out there. The tech leaders will have to help educate/advocate for that adoption. Additionally, people are unwilling to allocate resources to make that adoption happen. The tech leader must own that reality and devise ways to expand within those constraints smartly and successfully to build that trust and bring folks along.
What skills do you think leaders of the future will need in order to thrive?
Flexibility; ability to quickly see when something isn't working and course correct appropriately without falling into the sunk cost fallacy; recognize most problems tend to be people based, not tech based, and address accordingly.
How do you keep current with new skills, technologies and personal development?
Read whatever I can get my hands on - usually, a quick snippet that I then google to dive deeper to answer questions I have; go to events where folks are sharing ideas or engage in tech discussions/debates.
What do you see as the next leap in technology that will impact your business or industry in particular?
The military will need to be able to adapt quickly and process lots of disparate data sources in order to make command and control decisions faster than an opponent. This concept is not new (read Clausewitz or Sun Tsu), but the shear volume and layers of data we have today can't be processed by humans in any timely fashion. We tend to focus more on data generation and building sensors than the data exploitation needed to make effective decisions. Tech that addresses that will be the leap.
Is there anything in particular that you would still like to achieve in your career or what is the next step on your journey?
I still want to help people achieve their outcomes to be successful and fix programs or companies that are struggling. I am a doer - I roll up my sleeves and work, not just talk about it. That is what I intended to do with my new company, Plan Z, be an active participant with my customers and help bring their strategic goals into a tactical reality.
A big thank you to Jennifer Krolikowski from Plan Z for sharing her journey to date.
If you would like to gain more perspective from Tech Leaders and CIOs you can read some of our other interviews here.
