“When you don't have confidence, all you need is a healthy dose of courage”

How do you help people to reach their best? How do you become a true change maker?

In this #LeadershipDeepDive episode Cindy Hoots, Chief Digital Officer and CIO of AstraZeneca talks with Hendrik Deckers about joining the organization at the eve of Covid-19 pandemic and managing change in the most turbulent times. Cindy emphasizes strong ethics across the organization, a critical enabler for rolling out the vaccine at record speed. Cindy also explains the 4 key pillars of AstraZeneca’s 2025 Strategy:

✅ Leading with AI and insights
✅ Accelerating innovation and delivery
✅ Optimizing, not just in IT, but across the company and the entire ecosystem
✅ Becoming an even better place to work

Cindy is a visionary with a clear leadership style, courageous and inspirational, yet grounded and result-oriented. “I learned early in my career that the more we focus on people, the more results we get”, she says. Make sure you watch this insightful interview and absorb all the knowledge from Cindy, the unique digital leader!

Every year CIONET nominates top CxOs as finalists of the European Digital Leader of the Year. Cindy represents UK in the B2B category. Join us on the special edition of #CIONEXT on November 10 at 14:30 CET where we will feature all the finalists of the B2B & B2C categories and announce winners. Register at https://www.cionext.com/

Table of contents:

01:23 | Introduction and Cindy Hoots’ background

04:17 | About AstraZeneca

05:23 | Joining the company right before the pandemic hit

07:06 | AstraZeneca’s values

08:15 | Change maker

11:35 | Leading with AI & insights

12:53 | Accelerating innovation

15:34 | Optimization with technology

16:42 | IT organization

18:38 | Cindy’s role within the organization and the role of CIO

22:24 | Cindy’s management style

26:24 | Cindy’s leadership style

28:52 | MBTI: the Commander

33:42 | Cindy’s core values

36:12 | Important mentors

40:04 | The best & worst moments in life

44:53 | What drives Cindy

45:36 | Personal mantra

46:29 | The most brilliant failure

48:58 | Advice for people starting out

50:33 | The power of networking