North Carolina’s New Chief Information Officer Encourages HPU Students to Make an Impact

HIGH POINT, N.C., Jan. 30, 2025 – Teena Piccione was less than a week into her new job as secretary of the North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) and the state’s chief information officer when she visited High Point University on Jan. 9.

Piccione has served as HPU’s Data Expert in Residence since her previous role as a global transformation and operations executive at Google. She told a large group of business and engineering students gathered inside the Bertram L. Podell Extraordinaire Cinema that they should pursue jobs that allow them to make an impact on a large scale. Jobs in the technology sector provide a great avenue for that, she said.

“You have to be able to translate between the business and technology sides,” Piccione said. “And if you can’t do that, your positions are going to be limited in the future. You have to be able to explain technology in a way that a 12-year-old can understand it, a 92-year-old can understand it and your audience can understand it because they’re not going to have the same classes that you just took.”

Piccione told students that she decided to transition from Google to her new role with the NCDIT to make an impact in the state where she lives, works and plays.

“When I was asked to interview for this position,” Piccione said, “this is where the impact came in and I could say, ‘I’m impacting where I live, work and play, and I’m impacting every single person around me. And my job is to make it easier and effortless for you and to make it fun.”

During her visit to campus, Piccione shared tips with students about how to write a good resume and prepare for a job interview. She also told them about the many ways that companies are collecting data from them, even as they are driving their cars around town.

“Mrs. Piccione’s lecture and discussion with students was an honor to be a part of. Her incredible devotion to having an impact in any and all sizes is both inspiring and eye-opening,” said Mike Hanrahan, a sophomore majoring in finance from Wenonah, New Jersey. “Having time learning from and listening to a leader who is as passionate and supportive for students and those working with her is invaluable. The emphasis on embracing challenges and putting yourself in positions to learn and grow were a great reminder to always be striving to improve yourself for the benefit of others.”

Piccione also shared lessons learned while working for Google because she said people always want to know about her experiences working for the Internet giant. She said she travelled around the world with Google and had offices in Brazil, Germany, India and Switzerland, as well as in North Carolina, New York, California, Colorado and Washington. She also had two offices in Texas — one in Dallas and another in Austin.

Piccione said Google and many other companies are looking at ways to integrate artificial intelligence into what they do and to use AI to become more efficient.

“Now does that mean I’m taking away your job?” Piccione said. “No, because we still have to have the human interaction and we have to be able to say, ‘How can a human give us common sense? How do we make sure it’s right? And how do we make sure it’s good?’”