Deep Dive: Tony Spinelli, CIO at Urban One Inc.

Tony Spinelli has dedicated over 25 years to advancing digital technology and cybersecurity as a transformational Digital Tech Executive for some of the world’s most critical companies. He has been instrumental in developing next-generation digital technology, pioneering cloud and developing the corresponding cloud security and enhancing cybersecurity capabilities.

From a budding interest in technology during college to pioneering the first cybersecurity practice at Ernst and Young, his path is a testament to vision and determination.

Currently, Tony is the CIO/CTO for Urban One, Inc , he is also a Professor at George Washington University and a faculty member of the National Association of Corporate Directors. He serves on the boards of Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Peapack Gladstone Bank, providing strategic insights into digital transformation and cybersecurity.

Walk us through your career path. How did you decide to pursue a career in technology, and how did you get to where you are now?

I always wanted to do something in technology. So, when I graduated college, I joined Ernst and Young as one of my first core roles in technology, going in as a consultant on the tech side in support of client engagements. I came aboard in 1996, and they offered me a few opportunities in different cities. Growing up in the Midwest, I wanted to move to a different part of the country, so I decided to join up in Phoenix and support clients in multiple industries across the Pacific Southwest from San Francisco to Los Angeles and east to Denver including Phoenix. 

When I joined EY, told me they had this new practice starting, it was called “Information Security”. They really didn’t know anybody else doing it and thought in the future it could be something interesting. They also said they potentially had six other people starting the practice, two of them being George Kurtz and Stuart McClure who have led both CrowdStrike and Cylance respectively. So, the three of us started the cybersecurity practice, the first in the world, and set out mostly to securely bring major corporations onto the Internet. 

Years later, my first role as a Chief Information Security Officer was with First Data Corporation, back when the CISO role was still relatively new. At the time, First Data was the largest payment processor in the world, connecting merchants, companies, and the government. I have always been super proud of taking on such a big role in securing what was at the time, about 8 billion transactions a month in merchant capability. I was working under a CIO, so I got to really experience a lot of those CIO challenges like, “What are the risks? How do we implement technologies? How do we do it thoughtfully?”

While I was working at First Data, I got a call from a recruiter from Equifax in Atlanta saying, “Hey, look, we’ve heard about what you’re doing. We know you’re connected to every merchant and every bank. We have a similar situation here at Equifax. We’re looking for our first Chief Security Officer role reporting to the CIO. Would you be interested in this opportunity?” I accepted the job and 30 days later, moved to Atlanta. So yeah, that was pretty crazy considering we just bought our first home in Washington DC about 45 days before that.

At Equifax, we developed technology and cybersecurity systems that were focused on leading-edge and new technologies. So much so that we patented multiple technologies in networking and cybersecurity. For example, we built the world’s first data loss prevention system that eliminated false positives from incidents. Given the types of technologies we were patenting including encryption we found applicability to government agencies looking at what we were doing on our cyber build-out; so much so that I was asked to join the National Security Agency (NSA) Directors Advisory Board.

Appointed to the NSA Board of Advisors in 2004, I spent 18 years tackling the biggest challenges in cybersecurity, digital systems, and cloud technologies seeing things not many people get to see, which I believe has helped me see around corners in various roles both in technology and cybersecurity.

I think the reason people have really reached out to me as a true digital, cloud, and cybersecurity pioneer for this industry is because I have that kind of understanding of businesses, technology, and using and patenting technology for better use and betterment of business systems. Being able to see things from that third lens of being involved with some of the challenges from a nation-state perspective, has given me insights, visibility, and the ability to craft solutions that allow businesses to achieve outsized business growth from the digital capabilities we’ve implemented.

Can you tell us about some of the initiatives you are proud of at Urban One and other major accomplishments at other points in your career?

In my opinion, the ability to recognize accomplishments you’re proud of comes from making a significant impact on the foundation of technology and cybersecurity. One of my proudest accomplishments is certainly starting one of the world’s first cybersecurity practices with Ernst and Young. 

I was in the right place at the right time to be one of the first in cybersecurity and to do any of these things. Then to have that view for 20 years has given me the ability to see around corners and what’s coming next.

As for initiatives, it’s primarily about digital and cloud pioneering deployment while focusing on cybersecurity as the enablement technology, but overall, it’s about technology/digital transformation. It wasn’t just about moving to the cloud or doing great things in cyber; it was about prioritizing accuracy over speed and focusing on a foundation of simplicity. 

Today, we at Urban One are ahead in the entertainment and media company industry, as we have become fully cloud native. We have almost nothing on-premises anymore and have pretty much completed that transformation. We couldn’t do it the first two or three years I was here because we just didn’t have the capability to do those things but over time we were able to acquire the talent and shift not only the team but the entire company to think cloud first.

Looking ahead, what disruptive technology or trend do you see impacting your organization and the industry?

Obviously, the use of big data and AI has been much talked about, right? What’s interesting to me is the use of these tools from an entertainment media perspective. For example, we acquire viewers’ preferences and we can use big data and AI to be very predictive about their patterns of behavior and translate them to marketing opportunities. 

Everyone has their concerns about AI, but in my opinion, if the technology doesn’t somewhat scare you, it’s probably not a massive innovation.

Remember when the internet was introduced? It was a scary place, and the web was sometimes avoided. Remember cloud? No one would move to the cloud because everybody said it was insecure, and even today companies are unsure how to make the transition.

It’s the exact same thing that we’re going through. Hopefully, we will use AI and big data for good, creating new jobs and industries based on positive implementation. 

And maybe that’s a hope, but I think it’s reality.

What do you think about the current state of IT talent that’s available? And what strategies are you using to find and develop that talent?

It’s challenging for any enterprise today as there is a scarcity of strong and highly technical resources in digital and cloud today, and it seems everyone is seeking the same roles. We want to find people who have the technical know-how, which is hard enough but also have an ownership mentality and entrepreneurship that solidly fit into our culture.

One of the strategies that has worked best for us is leveraging our personal networks. I’ve brought in people from my past teams, but we’ve also recruited externally. Our success has largely come from going outside our immediate circles and tapping into our personal networks. 

We’ve done a lot of work with AWS for continued learning, encouraging our team to create their own training plans each year. This training has been crucial for us, as it makes our team members more valuable and supported.

We prioritize creating a strong culture by holding offsite events and taking the entire tech and engineering team out of the office setting for cross-functional team presentations where we have leaders in one expertise training those who haven’t had the same exposure. This approach not only builds camaraderie but also creates a cross-platform team environment where the knowledge gathered within our sub-teams is shared with the rest of the tech and engineering community. 

What advice would you give someone aspiring to be a CIO, based on your experiences and your background?

Don’t skip steps.

Everybody wants to get there fast, but if you get there fast, you’re probably going to exit fast.

In technology, the role of the CIO has become very broad and there are many different things you’re expected to do. The advice I’ve often given those in the role is that until you’ve been in each one of the leadership roles under a CIO, don’t arrive too quickly, try to get exposure to the roles you’ve not had the benefit of working in.

In fact, I have purposefully had my direct reports swap roles for six months just so they could learn the nuances and the challenges of each other’s roles.

Accuracy over speed, especially in technology areas like cloud, digital, and development as rework will significantly impact any benefits from moving too fast. Be pioneering and be visionary. Do things nobody’s ever done before. All those things take time. I’ve seen it. 

Who would you say has been the biggest influence on your career path, either in school or in a previous role? And why?

My favorite leader to work for that helped me get from where I was to where I am now, is from when I was at Equifax, a gentleman named Kent Mast. Working closely with Kent transformed my professional outlook. 

At the time, I had 70 or 80 people working under me, but I still wanted to roll my sleeves up, do much of the work, and dive deep into the details. Kent looked at me and said, Look, once you become above an SVP, none of this stuff gets you anywhere. You need to focus on being a great leader of people, putting them in positions to succeed, bringing in great talent, and staying in that visionary role. 

That advice helped me be that next-level leader where I stopped trying to grow as a leader from the things I could do and I could be successful at and instead focused on being part of the success of leading others. I turned it into How can I make other people successful? How can I put people in positions to succeed? 

How do you decompress from the challenges of being a CIO? What do you like to do for fun?

With two boys in high school at the same time, it’s been nonstop everything. They’re heavily into sports, especially football, so every day is a picking up kids from school, going to football games, going to practice – it’s so fun!

I mean, literally, I would be taking meetings at the football field during COVID when nobody was going in for work at all, just being on the phone for hours, watching these guys play. It was and still is the best time of my life as I love being a Dad.

Are there any books that you recommend, that you give to others, or that have shaped you as a leader?

The book I always go back to is What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith. I was given that book by Kent and wow, that hit home – It helped me understand and be that next-level leader and grow into larger roles. 

My main takeaway from What Got You Here Won’t Get You There is that you should hire great people, the best in the world, better than yourself. If you can recruit top talent and let them guide you, it will make you better and help you achieve your strategy and vision. 

I’m one person and I have ideas but having seven or eight direct reports who excel in their roles allows me to also rely on their expertise. I let them tell me what we should do and how to achieve it. I provide the resources and let them execute. This is one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned. 

Anything else you’d like to add before we wrap up?

I think the best way to wrap up is with a story.

Throughout my entire career, I was always running at a million miles an hour, sometimes too much. I worked Saturdays, checked in on Sundays, and even went into the office because I loved what I was doing. However, this pace eventually takes its toll on you and your family and you have to have more balance.

One of the best things I ever did, and the scariest thing I’ve ever done, was just deciding to take six months away from working in 2017 and betting on myself that I would be better for it. It was probably one of my top decisions, with my wife’s encouragement, to do what was best for our family. I took six months off, had no plans, and it was absolutely amazing. 

Looking back, this time off led me to some of the most meaningful opportunities of my career. It led to both of my Board of Director roles as I could take time to focus on areas outside of a day-to-day job. It then led to both of my CIO roles of which I’ve been exceedingly grateful.

It’s okay to feel uncomfortable with the unknown, but it’s crucial not to let fear hold you back from taking the necessary steps to take care of yourself and embrace change. You might just find yourself in the place you’ve always wanted to be.