Scott Munson
Associate VP & CIO
University of Colorado System
Scott Munson is the AVP and CIO at the University of Colorado System, consisting of 4 campuses, with a total budget of over $4B. He leads University Information Services (UIS), an IT unit made up of over 150 talented team members supporting CU-wide solutions. Prior to CU, Scott was an executive in Accenture's global consulting group.
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Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
Accenture gave me opportunities to excel at leading teams while providing incredible solutions to our customers. After years of incredible opportunities and mentors in the private sector, I moved into Higher Education. For the last 15 years, I've accepted increased responsibility while making a positive impact on current and future generations through technology.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
The inverted pyramid - some may know it as "servant leadership." At the end of the day, my position is to enable the success of my team and my customers.
With disruption being a key theme of the past year, where do you see your role as a CIO going in the next 1-2 years?
The pandemic accelerated the CIO role to be much broader than IT strategy and operations. Technology is foundational for all areas of business from HR to the general ledger to supply chain issues. The CIO must understand and enable the business at a speed and scale never seen before.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in the role as a CIO?
Be relentless in listening. As you move up in the organization, getting honest feedback becomes more difficult. It’s up to you to create an open and sharing environment, else the team and the company will suffer.
Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself.
- My wife and I had the incredible opportunity to live in Australia our first year of marriage.
- The majority of my exercise comes from keeping up with our 4 boys.
- I may be a below average mechanic, but I love working with my hands.
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