Mark Dunkerley, VP of Enterprise Technology Services and CISO at Coca-Cola Bottlers Sales and Services, sits down with host Bradd Busick to talk through the invisible costs that quietly erode IT budgets: cloud sprawl, unused tools, lingering AI pilots, and emerging token-based AI pricing…not to mention the persistent drain of legacy and technical debt. Mark and Bradd also discuss why the most successful modern CIO and CISO roles are shelving their egos to converge around shared risk ownership, business continuity, and data-driven communication with executives and boards.

But it’s not all sharing-is-caring sunshine and rainbows: they also dig into why rapid technology changes are making long-range budgeting difficult (and by long-range, they mean longer than 6 months); why relational capital built between IT leaders and the business is essential for project funding, and fast due diligence; and why the process side of AI ROI still needs a lot of work to show potential, while user productivity tools are already showing faster value returns - IF adoption is properly managed, that is.

Mark’s key advice that we all can get behind? Businesses need to shift from reactive to proactive governance…and now is finally the time to share the load of accountability beyond the CIO and CISO.

Highlights:

6:38 What is hidden spend, and why does it seem to be getting worse?

10:10 How are you supposed to budget in these hyper-agile times?

14:28 What’s the real ROI on AI?

18:00 What’s the biggest mistake tech leaders are making when it comes to hidden costs?

Links:

Park Place Technologies: https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/

The Savvy CIO podcast page: https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/the-savvy-cio/

Bradd Busick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbusick/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParkPlaceTech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/park-place-technologies/

X: https://www.linkedin.com/company/park-place-technologies/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/parkplacetechnologies

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parkplacetechnologies/

Article: https://www.ccbss.com/mark-dunkerley-recognized-as-2026-oncon-icon-awards-top-100-winner/

Host Bradd Busick welcomes Omdia analyst Roy Illsley onto The Savvy CIO to get the data-informed skinny on the sunk costs that bleed out AI initiatives - and you might be surprised to hear that it’s not necessarily the pilots, consultants, or even the platforms themselves.

Roy pulls back the curtain on some of the more insidious costs of AI: poor utilization, lack of monitoring or proper measuring, and underestimations of token economics. He explains that being AI ready doesn’t just mean that your infrastructure can support the physical tech demand - it also needs to include organization-wide upskilling, strong data and security protocols, and clear governance led by accountable leadership.

In the balancing act of innovation versus risk, AI makes it easier than ever for anyone in your organization to accidentally expose corporate data through public models, creating all new challenges in compliance and competitive threats - and with decades of experience under his belt and vast amounts of data at his fingertips, Roy’s seen all the mistakes that can be made with his own eyes. While there’s no “Roy-AI” yet, at least in this episode you can get answers to some of the biggest questions facing CIOs today: if the real value of AI comes from productivity gains, what kind of process, role, and model redesign needs to make it happen - and how can you manage all these rapid changes AND keep your budget, job, and sanity?

Highlights:

5:24 What does “being AI ready” actually mean?

9:45 What are the real hidden costs of AI?

16:39 Horror stories from the front lines of AI adoption

19:08 What does a company have to do differently to make their AI buildouts worth the cost?

Links:

Park Place Technologies: https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/

The Savvy CIO podcast page: https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/the-savvy-cio/

Bradd Busick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbusick/

Roy Illsley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/royillsley/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParkPlaceTech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/park-place-technologies/

X: https://www.linkedin.com/company/park-place-technologies/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/parkplacetechnologies

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parkplacetechnologies/

Report: https://omdia.tech.informa.com/om142916/the-ai-data-readiness-mandate

AI Readiness Tool: https://omdia.tech.informa.com/-/media/tech/omdia/brochures/ai/ai-readiness-tool-user-guide-040821.pdf?rev=305bff37956a465db04f08ae0634e646&hash=34F6FCB58AFBEAB33F08DCB000D74F40

Skylar Roebuck, CTO of Solvd and self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur with the receipts to back it up, sits down with host Bradd Busick to talk about what he calls the “last mile” of AI engineering: making ambition align with infrastructure reality. They bite into one of the toughest questions facing industry right now to get to the bottom of why AI proof-of-concepts that seem to work perfectly as a demo crash and burn when they’re rolled out at scale.

Skylar explains that the problem most people run into with AI is treating it like a tech project, when in reality successful integration relies on organizational change efforts to embed the “how” into the “what”. They discuss the need to weave agents across all business units into the very fabric of the way things get done, how weak infrastructure and unclear value beyond cost-cutting contribute to the all-too-common story of AI buildouts failing, and why slow movers are facing an existential risk - while fast movers are contending with an ever-increasing demand for agility.

Tune in to hear Skylar’s recommendations on why keeping a diversified AI portfolio is the best option for quick wins, steady bets, and game-changing ideas that go beyond “random acts of AI”.

Highlights:

6:06 How many AI buildouts are really failing?

13:40 What does AI actually cost?

16:30 What’s at risk if you’re slow to the ball on AI?

21:24 How can you make your AI buildout successful?

Links:

Park Place Technologies: https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/

The Savvy CIO podcast page: https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/the-savvy-cio/

Bradd Busick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbusick/

Skylar Roebuck: https://www.linkedin.com/company/solvdinc/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParkPlaceTech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/park-place-technologies/

X: https://www.linkedin.com/company/park-place-technologies/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/parkplacetechnologies

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parkplacetechnologies/

Solvd: https://solvd.com/

Solvd press release: https://solvd.com/news/new-ai-research-solvd/