Preparing City Governments for a Digital Future

Craig Poley, Chief Information Officer, City of Arvada

Craig Poley is the Chief Information Officer for the City of Arvada. He brings extensive private-sector and public-sector technology leadership experience to lead modernization, cybersecurity and enterprise transformation initiatives that support secure, efficient city services. Poley has built a reputation for aligning technology strategy with business outcomes while strengthening cybersecurity and operational resilience. His experience spans infrastructure modernization, cloud adoption, and leading cross-functional teams through complex change initiatives.

In this feature, Poley shares the principles shaping Arvada’s digital transformation, emphasizing trust, collaboration, and pragmatic innovation. His focus on modernization, cybersecurity and people-first leadership illustrates how city technology can remain future-ready while staying grounded in public responsibility.

A Career Shaped by Innovation and Public Service

I spent the early and middle part of my career in the private sector, co-founding healthcare technology companies. One of my proudest achievements was building what became the leading analytics platform for the ambulatory surgery center space, a product originally developed at a desk in my basement. We sold the company in 2015, and as the founder and inventor, I remained for another two years to support the transition.

After nearly 17 years in healthcare, I started looking for a different challenge that still aligned with my expertise. That opportunity came with the City and County of Denver, where I served as Director of Application Management, overseeing all production applications. The role allowed me to apply my experience at scale while finally fulfilling a long-standing desire to contribute to public service.

At the height of the pandemic, I joined the City of Arvada as CIO. I immediately saw opportunities to modernize legacy technologies and workflows. One early priority was replacing Oracle E-Business Suite that was implemented in 1998. After building organizational consensus, we successfully went live with Workday in late 2024. Since then, we have modernized core systems, communications platforms and applications, adopting a modernization lens to help shape Arvada’s future.

Making the Case for Technology Investment in City Government

One of the biggest challenges cities face is that our technology environments evolved in very similar ways, built on the same legacy systems and constraints. I regularly meet with other CIOs across the state, and we often say we could swap cities overnight and face the exact same problems.

While cybersecurity, aging systems and limited budgets are real challenges, the most critical factor is a CIO’s ability to tell the right story. Our business stakeholders think in terms of risk, outcomes and value, not technical detail. Translating complex technology realities into clear business and risk narratives is essential to securing funding and driving meaningful change.

Applying Emerging Technologies for Practical City Outcomes

AI is clearly the most talked-about technology today, but I approach it with healthy skepticism. For me, the key question is where the actual intelligence comes from. What decisions is the system making? And what actions is it truly enabling, versus simply repackaging automation or search? These are questions that need to be answered before AI adoption.

“As new technologies begin to overlap, CIOs have to think ahead. The focus is no longer only on technology, but on keeping data safe, reducing risk and delivering services people can trust.”

In local government, responsible AI use is critical, especially given the mix of public data and protected information we manage. Rather than adopting AI as a solution in search of a problem, we focus on clearly defined workflows and outcomes. We start by identifying inefficiencies, then evaluate whether AI, either natively or through integration, can meaningfully improve them.

Alongside this, our ERP modernization emphasized application rationalization, consolidating overlapping systems into fewer, better-managed platforms. This approach has improved governance, support and security. Looking ahead, cybersecurity is a core city priority, with a strong focus on reducing risk exposure and proactively limiting potential impact.

These efforts reflect how the role of a city CIO is evolving. As applications move from on-premise environments to the cloud, the nature of technology management changes, but the human element does not disappear. The focus shifts from maintaining infrastructure to anticipating future needs.

As emerging technologies like AI, quantum computing and data monetization begin to converge, CIOs must think several steps ahead. The responsibility is no longer just about systems, but about protecting data, managing risk and ensuring secure, reliable service delivery. Ultimately, the role is becoming more strategic, balancing innovation with trust and public responsibility.

A Lesson for Aspiring Public-Sector Technology Leader

If there is one thing I have learned, it is that success in public sector IT does not start with technology. It starts much closer to home. You can have bold ideas and access to emerging tools, but if the foundation is weak, execution will always fall short. Paying attention to industry trends matters, but paying attention to your people matters more.

When teams are aligned, trusted, and accountable, momentum follows naturally. I invest heavily in building those relationships. When the next challenge arrives, collaboration is not forced, because it is already there.

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Healthcare

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Oracle