Kathleen Hurley

KATHLEEN HURLEY

Chief Information Officer at Madison International Realty

Can you please provide a little introduction about yourself

Ms. Hurley serves as Chief Information Officer with responsibility for Madison’s global IT infrastructure. She ensures that all technology services are delivered, technology-related compliance and business continuity are managed, provides training, and assists with process improvement. She is based in the New York headquarters.

What has your journey to your position been like? What path have you taken?

Kathleen has over 20 years of Information Technology management experience. Prior to joining Madison in 2015, Ms. Hurley served as the Regional Chief Information Officer for CBRE Mid-South. She was responsible for leading the team, delivering support services, defining and delivering on strategic goals, and working closely with the Asset Services teams. She was particularly involved with commercial real estate accounting and process improvement, facilitating KANBAN and ITIL in the organization. Kathleen earned her Masters of Business Administration from the University of Wales and holds various IT certifications, including MCSA, Net+, and CISM. She is a member of ISACA (Information Systems Audit and Control Association) and WITI (Women In Technology International).

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?

Originally, I had no intention of working in technology.  However, I'm very glad my path went this way. Once I began working in this industry, I definitely wanted to work in an international company with an impactful mission and vision, and have been fortunate to work with multiple such organizations.

Have you had a role model or mentor that has helped you on your journey?

I've been very lucky to have more than one mentor.  I've learned from so many people - I won't name them because I will leave someone out, but if I've worked with someone, I've tried to learn from them. There are particular people who've given me a great deal of their time and energy and I'm very, very humbled by that. All I can do is pay that forward.

How do you see the role of the technology leader evolving over the next 5 years?

I think some of the soft skills become even more important, and the capacity to communicate becomes more critical.  We have a growing gap between the technically literate and those who are left behind, which has to be closed to reach an equilibrium in technical representation and evolution.  We need leaders who demonstrate what real ethics, hard work, and representation mean.

What skills do you think leaders of the future will need in order to thrive?

The ability to reach across different aspects of the business - to understand finance, marketing, and HR - is going to be very important.

How do you keep current with new skills, technologies and personal development?

Lots of reading and experimentation.

What do you see as the next leap in technology that will impact your business or industry in particular?

There's going to be an AI-derived security boom, and probably something around processing. 

"There's no substitute for understanding fundamentals."

If you were mentoring a leader of the future, what advice or guidance would you give to help them on their way?

Learn basic programming, and learn networking. Be able to build a computer. There's no substitute for understanding fundamentals.

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 think that my entrepreneurial days may still be ahead of me.  Those endeavors have always been my favorite efforts.

If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

I would like people to walk in less fear and more gratitude.  

A big thank you to Kathleen Hurley from Madison International Realty
 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.