How the CIO Role Is Changing: Hiring, AI, and Leading Transformation | Kirby Miner

On this episode of Building People, Companies, and Careers, AccruePartners host Amy Pack sits down with Kirby Miner, Chief Information Officer at Camco Manufacturing. Kirby has spent more than three decades leading technology transformations across manufacturing, distribution, retail, and private equity-backed companies, and one of his defining career moments came when he was pulled out of IT to run a manufacturing plant and use the ERP system his own team had implemented. He shares why companies often hire technology talent too narrowly, why process usually matters more than software, and why he believes AI only pays off when it is built on clean data and sound processes.

• Companies often hire technology talent too narrowly, when business acumen, character, and communication matter as much as experience with a specific platform.

• In most transformations, the problem is not the software but the processes around it, including offline workarounds and legacy habits.

• The strongest technology team members make the news rather than report it, bringing a recommendation when a project stalls.

• Asking candidates for both their superpower and their kryptonite reveals whether they have the self-awareness to grow.

• A CIO is responsible for every technology decision in the business, whether that responsibility is direct or indirect.

• AI only improves outcomes when it is built on clean data and sound processes, which is why a crawl, walk, run approach works best.

• The next generation of CIOs may come from the business side, so aspiring technology leaders should broaden beyond their technical lane.

Amy: Today we're joined by Kirby Miner, Chief Information Officer at Camco Manufacturing. Kirby recently stepped into the CIO seat after years of leading technology teams at other organizations. Welcome, Kirby.

Kirby: Thanks, Amy. It's a pleasure to be here, and it's good to see you again.

Amy: For listeners who aren't familiar with you, tell us your story and a little about your journey as a CIO.

Kirby: Growing up, I actually wanted to be a tax attorney. At 17, that was the plan. But I got into computers, and I found that I got into the right profession at the right time. I've spent about 35 years in technology, leading both large and smaller organizations, and 20 of those years have really been in transformation.

I'm a transformation specialist. I come in as a CIO to companies that have really good bones but need some muscle put on the technology, better alignment with the business, and an organization built to move the business ahead. I did that at Trex and then moved into bigger opportunities like Sunbelt Rentals. For the last seven years or so, I've worked with small to mid-cap, privately owned companies that were acquired by private equity.

Now I've joined Camco Manufacturing. For listeners who aren't familiar, Camco manufactures accessories and aftermarket parts for the RV, camping, and boating industries, including a lot of waste management and water management products. It's a great team. My first three weeks are in the books, and I'm excited to see what our CEO, Chris Metz, is going to do with this company and the growth potential we have

Amy: You've seen a lot, participated in a lot, and transformed a lot. What are some defining moments that have shaped how you operate as a technology leader today?

Kirby: I'll start with something that isn't exactly a moment, and that's timing. I think I have a generational advantage. When I started in technology, the PC was just arriving. I was a developer working with mainframes. There was no internet, no AI, no data warehouse. As technology grew, we grew with it.

Because of that, people of my generation could go both wide and deep. Young people coming out today often have to pick a specific discipline within IT.

Amy: A lane.

Kirby: Right, which we didn't have to do. My biggest actual moment came after I managed my first big organization in industrial gas at Harsco Corporation. Someone pulled me out of IT and said, "You're going to run operations for the business in Mobile, Alabama." It was one of the most challenging jobs I ever had, and one of the best.

It was a cryogenic plant, and we had implemented an ERP system there about a year and a half earlier. Suddenly I was using the software I had helped put in place, and I found the gaps. There were things I missed and things I didn't understand about what actually happened on the plant floor, in logistics, and in procurement. That was an aha moment and one of my first big wins.

It also allowed me to really get my hands dirty in manufacturing and learn it. Now when I walk into a manufacturing plant, distribution center, or logistics operation, I can cut through what's true and what isn't and understand the process a lot better.

Amy: You've also worked across a variety of industries, including manufacturing and distribution. Do you feel that has played in your favor?

Kirby: Yes. I've worked in retail with Sunbelt and Arby's Restaurant Group, in medical manufacturing, and even in financial services, which was a little outside my lane. Most of those roles have been turnarounds, so there's a common theme.

Retail is different from manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution, but infrastructure is infrastructure. What you really have to do is understand the business. That variety has forced me to learn each business instead of walking in and assuming I know how it works.

Amy: You're three weeks into the job, and you're a transformation leader. How do you go about evaluating the technology team and environment you've inherited?

Kirby: There's a common theme, and each opportunity has its usual suspects. During the interview process, you learn the culture. Is it family-run? Is it public? You also try to identify the main problems, or at least the big rocks, from the beginning.

The usual suspects are your software architecture, your people and talent, and your processes. Only once in my career have I seen a software platform so far gone that we had to replace it completely, and that was due to a compliance issue in financial services.

Kirby: Most companies are running tier one systems like SAP, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Workday, or Oracle. When I retire, I'm going to write a book called Is It Me or My Software?

Amy: That's a good one.

Kirby: And the answer is, it's you. It's not the software. The questions are whether people are actually using the software, whether they're only using part of it, and whether there are offline processes. That gets you into process, which is the number one thing.

Especially in smaller companies that are trying to mature, there are legacy processes that have stuck around, sometimes from two ERP systems ago. So you have to understand those processes, identify the big rocks, and understand where the company wants to go.

A lot of IT leaders do a good job understand"Is It Me or My Software?" Why Process Comes Before Technologying where they are and where they want to go, but they can't bridge the two. For some reason, bridging that iterative journey between today and tomorrow has been a superpower for me. You prioritize. You're not going to solve world hunger, but you can feed a village at a time.

Then you look at the people and the talent. Many of them are technologists who don't necessarily know how to communicate with the business or don't have strong business acumen. They end up staring across the aisle at the business, and the business is staring back at them. Bridging that gap is the journey.

Amy: Communication is even more important today with technology and AI. AI can do the work for you, but you still have to understand it and explain what it means. Even in our accounting and finance practice, it's table stakes for candidates to understand FP&A, but can they communicate it? That communication component keeps coming up.

Amy: You mentioned talent. When everyone in the market is chasing the same profile, and those profiles change constantly, where do you think companies are getting technology hires wrong?

Kirby: I think the market looks a little too narrowly. Sometimes companies are looking for a hired gun with one specific skill. For example, if I'm hiring a CDL driver, I don't ask whether they drove a Ford, a Volvo, or a Peterbilt.

Amy: True.

Kirby: What we care about is their skill set as a driver, their safety record, and their experience. We get too narrow on the actual technology when hiring for technical roles. There are intangibles that matter. Do they have business acumen? Do they understand what they're doing and why? Do they understand the vision? Character is hard to assess in an interview, but you want people with good character, so you try to uncover what makes each person special. And can they communicate?

The other mistake is that sometimes we hire talented people and then decide exactly what they're going to do and how they're going to do it. We should hire them for their talent and let them put their vision on the work and give their input. Otherwise, you turn them into order takers rather than people who actually drive the business.

Amy: And you're not maximizing what you hired them for or what they could bring.

Amy: The theme of our podcast is building great companies through great people. What do you look for when building technology teams, and how is that different from five years ago?

Kirby: When I'm building or evaluating a team, character is key. Are they going to tell you the bad news along with the good news? Are they going to celebrate their peers' victories or tear them down? 

Character and accountability are number one, because I can have the most talented people in the world, but if they're toxic, it won't work. It won't be a team. It will be a group of individuals.

When I'm building a team, I look for people who make the news, not just report the news. When you hit a roadblock with a business leader or something unexpected comes up, are you bringing a recommendation to bridge that gap? Or are you stopping and just reporting that the project is late? Making news is key to me.

I also look for people who are willing to learn, change, and listen. But I have a responsibility to that team, too. My job is to encourage, model, and mentor. I can't just wait for them to become a team without participating, helping bridge gaps, and picking them up when they fall.

Amy: That's a common theme with other C-suite leaders. Skills are table stakes, like your CDL driver example. It doesn't matter if they drove a Ford or a Volvo. Technology is the table stakes, but interviewing for critical thinking, communication, adaptability, and flexibility is what ensures you're building the team you need.

Amy: Is there anything specific you do in the interview process to make sure you're getting those qualities?

Kirby: I like to be the last interview. If someone will report directly to me, I want to be the first interview and the last. I also want input from my peers, especially if the person will work closely with our chief HR officer or CFO. I want to see whether they'll fit into the culture.

There's a stereotype that IT people are very black and white. I want to know if they can handle the gray areas. I ask what their superpower is and see what they say. Then I always ask what their kryptonite is. If they don't know where their shortcomings are, they may lack self-awareness. I need people who know what they do well and what they don't.

Amy: CIOs carry two jobs at once: keeping systems secure and reliable while helping the business grow. How do you define the role of the technology organization, and how do you balance being a steward with being a true strategic partner?

Kirby: That's probably the toughest question you've asked me so far, and there's no single answer. Looking at the roles I've had, each has been shaped by what the board or CEO thinks the role should be.

Amy: And they're usually not technologists.

Kirby: Right. I've worked with leaders who wanted technology fragmented, leaders who were resistant to change, and leaders who wanted IT to take over everything. Most fall somewhere in between. You have to understand that some technology decisions will be heavily influenced, or even run, by your peers.

For example, I've seen e-commerce led by a chief digital officer within marketing and sales. I've seen payroll and human capital management systems like Workday run by HR. That doesn't remove my responsibility as CIO to lay out an enterprise roadmap for how those systems connect through data and processes. My responsibility is to work with my peers and make sure I'm supporting them.

I can't be hands-off and say, "That's not my job." That will fragment the IT organization and pull the business apart. Whether you have direct responsibility or not, you always have indirect responsibility for all technology, including the manufacturing systems your engineers use.

Amy: I always say everything is technology-enabled. Technology is a thread through the entire organization, so you're working across different leaders to identify what's needed, what needs to change, and what needs to be implemented.

Kirby: Everybody's a technologist today. The younger the executive, the more they've grown up with technology, so they'll have opinions on how they want it to work. My job is to understand that, make sure they feel heard, and help them build a roadmap they can deliver on.

Amy: And there has to be a happy medium. You want to help them advance the business, but not everything they want may be the right technology, so you take a consultative approach.

Kirby: Correct. The smaller the company, the more you need a platform strategy rather than a best-of-breed strategy, so you can move faster. Your role is to make sure the people you're working with understand why you're making that recommendation and what the vision is.

I've seen a lot of growth in myself and my CIO peers. We've had to learn about e-commerce and customer experience, things that weren't even part of the vocabulary when I came out of school.

Amy: Speaking of AI, it's changing how technology teams deliver and how they work. How are you thinking about where it earns its place, whether that's sharper decisions, efficiency, or better service to the business? Everyone wants access to AI and AI bolt-ons.

Kirby: We've been using forms of what I'd call pre-AI, like machine learning, for a while. When I was at Sunbelt Rentals, we had about $12 billion in fleet, and most of it had some type of telematics. We collected that data, and it drove decisions about where equipment was, when we serviced it, and what we would sell.

To me, AI makes those decisions more closed loop and more automatic. But you have to crawl, walk, run. There have been a lot of misfires, and I call them misfires because you learn from them. They happen when people don't understand the data they actually have and don't have good processes around automating it. If you put AI around bad processes, you just become more efficient at getting it wrong.

I believe in AI at the right pace and for the right reasons. Having spent time in financial services, I'm also mindful of personal information and data privacy. Keeping your data sources clean, so you're making decisions from good data, is key. So is protecting your data so it doesn't leave the organization. There's also a lot of shadow IT with AI, where different parts of the business are using it without a clean data set behind their decisions.

Amy: And it's changing fast every day.

Kirby: It's technology, no different than technology has always been. Use it in the right way for the right business purposes. AI is the biggest buzzword I've dealt with in my career. Right now it's the hammer, and everything looks like a nail. But not everything is a nail.

Amy: As you look ahead, how do you see the CIO role continuing to evolve, and what capabilities will define the next generation of technology leaders?

Kirby: If I knew the exact answer, I'd be giving big presentations on it. But I see the future CIO being a non-technologist. I see the role coming from businesspeople who can bridge the gap between business and technology.

With AI and cloud computing, there are things I no longer have to worry about the way I used to, or that I can outsource now when I couldn't before. So I see the role becoming more of a business leader.

Amy: Who surrounds themselves with real technologists.

Kirby: Correct. Technologists who understand the business and know how to talk about it, because the role is about strategy, vision, transformation, and change management. Who knows, maybe AI replaces the CIO someday.

Amy: What advice would you give someone mid-career who aspires to be a CIO, especially since things are changing so fast and you see the role becoming more business-driven?

Kirby: First and foremost, don't keep going deeper in your lane within technology. Come up for air and broaden your horizons across the technology spectrum. If you're a data architect, understand what you're architecting and why, how it fits with the other software platforms, and the business you're in.

If you work in manufacturing, get out from behind your desk and get on the plant floor. Understand what's happening out there. Travel with the salespeople. Understand who you're supporting, and remember you're there to serve, not to be served. Technology is a service organization. We exist because they exist.

The best thing for me was getting out of IT and working in the business. Understand what you do and why you're doing it.

Amy: So you can drive the technology.

Kirby: Yes. And don't be afraid to fail. We all do it. You're going to make mistakes, so fail fast and correct fast. Also, listen to those around you and respect those who came before you. There were reasons they made the decisions they made, so learn from them. Understanding history is valuable.

Amy: Before we move on to rapid fire, is there any other advice you'd like to share about the CIO role or your journey?

Kirby: About 12 years ago, I had an aha moment. I had a picture of what my career should ideally look like. But not everyone is going to be the CIO of Coca-Cola or United Airlines. I was on that path of always moving up, and I realized I wasn't enjoying myself. I was really good at my work in somewhat smaller companies, and small is relative. I was very effective in a $3 to $4 billion company.

Amy: And that's not small, by the way.

Kirby: Correct. But once I realized I should stop chasing the ideal and go for the enjoyment of what I do, it changed my perspective and how I work with my peers. It was humbling, but it was needed. I love what I do because of it. It's fun to solve puzzles. Leverage the talents you have. Understanding what I was really good at, and having fun doing it, mattered more than staying on an imaginary track of what I thought success looked like compared to someone else.

Amy: You do have to love what you do. You're doing it every day, and if you love it, you'll be better at it.

Kirby: I really do. I thought about retiring at one point, and my wife said, "I signed up for breakfast and dinner. You've got to do something for lunch." I love doing what I do, and I love the Charlotte community. It's been a great community for me.

Amy: Charlotte is a special place, and it's becoming more competitive as the area grows and companies move here and expand.

Amy: What was your first real career lesson?

Kirby: It was a hard one. Respect the people you're working with. Early in my career, I ran implementations like a steamroller and rolled over people to get where I wanted to go fast. The projects were successful, but long-term success suffered because of the damaged business relationships. That was a lesson I had to learn.

Amy: What quote are you known for?

Kirby: Movie quotes, mostly from Talladega Nights, Caddyshack, and The Godfather. One of my favorites is from Fletch: "We're with the Underhills," which I use when I'm in a room with a pretty upscale crowd. And from Talladega Nights, "If you're not first, you're last." My son uses a lot of these on the golf course now, too.

Amy: What's your favorite lunch spot?

Kirby: Five Guys. I think it's the best burger with the best fries, and you get peanuts while you wait.

Amy: What's your favorite piece of technology that you can't live without?

Kirby: GPS. It makes my life easier because I know what's going on with traffic while I'm driving. I grew up with maps and the atlas everybody kept in their car, but I use GPS for everything, even golfing. I'm a basic Apple Maps guy. I'm a little old school when it comes to technology. I like inputs, but I still like to process things myself. My kids give me a hard time about what I don't use on my iPhone, but I use what I need.

Amy: No need to overcomplicate things. Last one: who was your best boss?

Kirby: I've had a great mentor in Ron Kaplan, and I worked for him three times when he was CEO. Probably the best leader I've ever worked for is Brendan Horgan at Sunbelt Rentals. He's a phenomenal business leader. He was collaborative and kind, and I always felt heard.

Amy: Kirby, it's been a pleasure to reconnect. Thank you for coming to the office and sharing your perspective on technology, the journey of the CIO, and what the future of the role might look like.

Kirby: It's always great to rekindle relationships. I returned to Charlotte a couple of years ago, but I first met you back in 2013 when I was in Virginia. You've been a great business partner throughout, whether I was working with you or around you. You and Patty have built a great business and a great brand, and I'm thrilled to be part of it.

Amy: Thank you. I always say it takes two to tango. We can only do our jobs well if our clients participate and communicate with us, so thank you for being a great partner.

What do CIOs look for when hiring technology talent? 

Kirby Miner looks beyond experience with a specific platform. He prioritizes business acumen, character, accountability, communication, and self-awareness, along with the ability to recommend solutions when challenges come up.

What is the biggest mistake companies make when hiring tech talent? 

According to Kirby, companies often search too narrowly for one technical skill. They also limit new hires by deciding exactly how they should work instead of drawing on the perspective they were hired to bring.

How should companies approach AI adoption? 

Kirby recommends a crawl, walk, run approach. Clean data, sound processes, and strong data protection should be in place before AI is used to automate decisions.

How is the CIO role changing? 

Kirby expects future CIOs to come increasingly from the business side, with a focus on strategy, transformation, and change management, supported by strong technologists.

How can mid-career technology professionals prepare to become a CIO? 

Broaden beyond a single specialty, learn the business firsthand, view technology as a service to the business, and be willing to fail fast and correct fast.