Michael Issaev
Chief Technology Officer
Patient News
Michael Issaev is a senior IT executive with experience in leading technology teams in various industries at companies ranging from start-ups to large international corporations. Throughout his career, Michael has been successful with digital technology transformation, realigning IT with business strategies, completing major expansion and system implementation projects, and introducing modern technologies and methodologies, such as AI, agile, cloud, business intelligence, mobile, and social networking.
Michael’s expertise spans many industry sectors, including healthcare, travel, supply chain, retail, manufacturing, SaaS, financial services, and marketing.
Currently, Michael is the CTO at Patient News, a leading healthcare marketing company.
Learn more about leaders in the Toronto CIO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
My background is in software development. I was always interested not in pure technology only, but in the ways it can help businesses increase revenue, reduce cost, or improve customer service. This enabled me to move towards management and executive roles.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Respect. I strongly believe that it’s crucial to respect your team members, peers, and managers for the expertise they bring, the opinions they present, and the effort they put in.
With disruption being a key theme of recent years, where do you see the CIO role going in the next 1-2 years?
I believe that the CIO role will become more and more embedded in the business, with CIOs taking active roles in overseeing some non-technical functions within organizations.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out as a CIO?
Learn from your peers. Join CIO associations, such as Evanta.
Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself.
- I love playing soccer.
- I was a sergeant in the army.
- Despite being afraid of heights, I challenged myself and went skydiving once.
What is the value of participating in an Evanta community?
There are many advantages. One of them is the ability to discuss your challenges with peers and get their perspectives.
Evanta Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
by CIOs, for CIOs
Join the conversation with peers in your local CIO community.