Spotlight on Mark Bryant

As chief information officer, Mark is responsible for the strategic and innovative advancement of information technology (IT) within the PCL family of companies. Mark has over three decades of IT expertise, having served in the financial services, software, manufacturing, and AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) industries.

He is a recipient of numerous awards over the last decade including being named one of ENR's Top 25 Newsmakers in 2018, and in 2019, Canadian CIO of the year for the private sector category, by the Information Technology Association of Canada.

Mark received his business administration accreditation from Sheridan College in Ontario and earned additional credentials related to e-commerce from the Ivey School of Business in London, Ontario. He completed his executive MBA at Boston University.

A fun fact about Mark, he is a 6th generation Canadian and has a strong love for Labrador retrievers who are key to absorbing any stress the work environment may throw at him.

Learn more about the Calgary CIO community here.
 

Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.

I always walked a fine line of a love for technology married to a strong desire for creating innovative solutions that would drive successful business results.  Leveraging technology to help turn those business goals into a reality was something that I was always passionate about and enabled me to keep one foot in tech, and the other inside the business.  Ultimately, mid-career I landed my first CIO role 19 years ago with MMM Group, and today have the privilege of being in that role for PCL.
 

What is one of your guiding leadership principles?

One of the keys for me has been to ensure you surround yourself with great people.  And when you have those great people, ensure you empower them and give them the autonomy to execute and thrive.  Importantly, also be there to pick them up if they fall.  Everything is a team effort to drive success.
 

What is the greatest challenge CIOs face today, and how are you addressing it?

One of the biggest challenges today for CIOs is the continuous pace of rapid change of technology (think AI, Robotics, Security), and having the resources, tools and business acceptance to embrace those changes that will ultimately impact the employee base and your ability to compete in the industry you operate in. The pace is moving faster today than it ever has. 
 

What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CIO?

I think the key to success for anyone starting out in a C-level role is broken down into a few key things:

1. Listen.
2. Observe.
3. Ask questions with curiosity.
4. Build relationships.
5. Cleary understand what the business challenges are.
6. Formulate a plan with understanding and acceptance.
7. Go for bite sized quick wins, and get feedback on the results. 
8. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
    

How do you measure success as a leader?

One word: TRUST, married to strong relationships.  If you have gained the trust of your organization to execute you can then focus on the key things that enable a team to achieve higher greatness.  Specifically, growing your people, and accelerating your team to greater heights.  Whether that be training, new technologies or services that enhance the business, none of this happens without trust and relationships.
 

What is the value of being a member of Gartner C-level Communities?

Being a member of the community is great for building peer relationships with other C-Level executives in the same or differing industries, offering the ability to learn new things, share outcomes and collaborate on new ideas or offerings that may not be apparent in your own organization.  This extends to the vendor communities that support needed solutions to make business outcomes a reality.
 

Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.