About

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I’m Drew D. Saur. For over thirty years, I have managed complex software engineering and information technology endeavors through applied rhetorical theory, creating and strengthening relationships between engineers and their customers by focusing on aspects of empathy and trust. I find agile approaches (like Scrum) to be the ideal complement to this approach.

From 1995–2010, I was best known as the founder of The Mac Orchard, which was a widely-cited source for Macintosh Internet application software.

I have been fortunate to spend more than half of my professional life serving as a CTO or CIO, where I have cultivated the philosophies and approaches you will read about on these pages. Currently, I am the CIO for an incredible organization called The Palmer Family of Companies, which includes G&C Foods in Syracuse, NY; Palmer Food Services in Rochester, NY; and Palmer’s Direct To You Market in Rochester, NY.

I am also a regular guest lecturer at a few colleges in upstate New York, including the Rochester Institute of Technology, where I serve as Adjunct Faculty within the Software Engineering Department as time permits, and where I serve on the Software Engineering Industry Advisory Board.

I serve as Programs Co-Chair for the Western New York Chapter of the Society for Information Management.

I am dedicated to the people of my town of Mendon, NY, and currently serve as President of two of its most vital volunteer organizations: The Honeoye Falls-Town of Mendon Historical Society and The Mendon Foundation.

Oh, yes, and I love music. Wherever possible, I will provide a music reference to go with a post. Just look for the 🎹.

The site itself

The Progressive CIO is not about any one person. It is about an idea…the idea of a technology leader who looks beyond what is merely expected of a technologist today, and who seeks to look more broadly at the potential for her or his role to be one of significant human leadership.

In July 2020, I opened our journey by suggesting that, for technology leaders to be successful, they have to think deeply about people before technology. My experience has shown me that the following values are the most germane to leadership success:

Vulnerability • Humility • Empathy • Patience • Compassion • Curiosity • Commitment • Willingness

In the months and years to come, I hope other leaders will join me in a global discussion about how we can reshape technology leadership through more deliberate consideration of values like these.

Regular posts appear in the blog. Because I do not wish to maintain a WordPress comment feed (or force you to have yet another set of credentials), the public is encouraged to discuss blog posts on twitter.com/theprogcio or linkedin.com/company/theprogcio, where blog posts will be announced.