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I'm a senior software engineering executive with more than 20 years experience in leading…
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Fritz Hesse shared thisIn this edition of CTO Watercooler, I explore a simple analogy that has shaped my thinking for years: "Don't Pave the Cow Path." As AI accelerates the pace of change, the challenge for today's CTO isn't simply modernizing existing systems; it's knowing when to rethink the path entirely. This article looks at why adaptability has become a core architectural principle and shares three practical questions I use to separate lasting technology decisions from short-lived trends.
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Fritz Hesse shared thisJoin us!Fritz Hesse shared thisWe're hiring for a first line sales manager to lead our North America New Business GRC team. The role is remote and an awesome opportunity for someone interested in sales management at a fast growing company - Riskonnect has more than tripled in the last four years. Please reach out if interested!
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Fritz Hesse shared thisIt's hard to believe we're already halfway through the year. For our leadership team, that means it's time for our annual planning session, a welcome opportunity to pause, reflect on the last six months, and prepare for what's ahead. Being together in person was great. The ability to speak openly and without interruption can't be replicated by online meetings or collaboration tools. Sharing the same space and giving one another our full attention builds trust, builds relationships, and leads to better conversations, better decisions, and clearer action. We used this time to focus on priorities in the "important but not urgent" quadrant, areas that often get pushed aside during the normal pace of work. Topics ranged from the "3 Ps" (AI in Practice, Platform, and Product) to alignment with Product Management, operations, and, of course, the essentials: budgets, KPIs, and OKRs that keep us on track. Ironically, in a week filled with discussions about AI, one of our biggest priorities was reinforcing our "Spark," one of the Riskonnect, Inc. core values. We spent time discussing leadership development, employee engagement, and how we continue building a culture where people thrive. AI will continue to change how we work, but culture, trust, and leadership are still built person to person. Most of the sessions were facilitated by members of the team. Nearly everyone led a session and shared pre-work beforehand. That gave us time to think independently beforehand, which translated into energetic and productive conversations when we came together. For our R&D team, we also had a great session with Jim Wetekamp discussing business priorities and how we, as R&D, can best support them. One spontaneous addition to the agenda turned out to be a group favorite: "What's Your Brand?" We gave one another candid feedback, then used AI as a thought partner to turn those observations into a personal brand profile for each leader. It was motivating to hear others see us, and it also helped build greater self-awareness. Kudos Tom Zosh to make this happen! The in-person camaraderie continued with a dose of fun alongside the hard work and deep thinking. We also enjoyed a baseball game and an escape room, both welcome breaks from the meeting room. Returning to the daily routine is never easy, but time together leaves us more aligned, energized, and prepared for what's next. Those few days pay dividends for months afterward. Every year I'm reminded that planning isn't really about building a better roadmap. It's about building stronger alignment and trust. The roadmap is simply the result. Thank you to everyone for the preparation, thoughtful discussions, and willingness to challenge one another. That's what made these few days so valuable. Ashutosh Joshi, CSM, Doug Gregory, Gaurav Tandon, Matt Sharpe, Michael Hamann, Poornima Raj, Sal Arminio, Sukith Nanayakkara, Tom Zosh, Vince Homer, Will Simpson #RiskUnderOneRoof
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Fritz Hesse shared thisGreat evening at Doc B's (great place!) in Austin's Domain with new friends and partners from Informatica, now part of Salesforce! It was a pleasure spending time with Ramkumar Varadarajulu, Sugi Narayana, and Sriram S. , along with Will Simpson from Riskonnect, Inc.. One of the advantages of having so many technology leaders based in Austin is the opportunity to build relationships face-to-face. We had a great discussion about Riskonnect's analytics and AI journey, how Customer Success can help accelerate outcomes, and where AI is taking our industry. One comment from the evening has stayed with me: "We're all becoming builders again." After years of focusing much of our energy on integrating, configuring, and maintaining increasingly complex technology stacks, AI is giving many of us the opportunity to create, experiment, and innovate in new ways. There is something energizing about returning to that builder's mindset. Thanks for a great evening and an even better conversation. Looking forward to continuing the journey together. #Leadership #AI #Partnership #CustomerSuccess #Innovation #Austin
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Fritz Hesse shared thisOne of the most rewarding parts of being a CTO is building a team of people who can shape the future, not just maintain the present. We're looking for a Principal Data Architect to help lead the next chapter of our analytics, AI, and data platform strategy at Riskonnect, Inc.. This isn't a traditional data architecture role focused solely on databases or integrations. We're looking for someone who can help define the architecture that powers modern analytics, trusted business intelligence, and the foundation for AI across multiple enterprise products. If you enjoy solving complex architectural problems, influencing engineering teams, and building platforms that scale, I'd love to hear from you—or if someone comes to mind, I'd appreciate a referral. Apply here: https://lnkd.in/g_SXtUv8 #Hiring #DataArchitecture #Analytics #AI #TechnologyLeadership #Architecture #RiskUnderOneRoof
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Fritz Hesse posted thisOne of the more interesting AI announcements from June wasn't a new foundation model or benchmark. It was SpaceX's acquisition of Cursor. At first glance, the acquisition seems almost orthogonal. Why would a company known for rockets and satellites acquire an AI coding platform? Perhaps the better question is whether software engineering itself has become a strategic capability. If AI changes how software is designed, built, and maintained, then owning part of that engineering workflow becomes far more than a productivity play—it becomes part of the engineering infrastructure. That, to me, is the bigger story. Over the past few years, we've largely viewed AI coding assistants as tools to help developers write code faster. Increasingly, I think we're seeing a shift toward AI becoming embedded in the way engineering organizations operate. Cursor isn't valuable simply because it helps generate code. It's valuable because it sits inside the daily workflow where software is designed, reviewed, tested, and evolved. That's where context accumulates, institutional knowledge grows, and engineering practices take shape. For technology leaders, I think the conversation is also changing. The question is becoming less "Which AI model should we use?" and more "Where should AI become embedded in the way our organization works?" Whether you're building rockets, enterprise software, healthcare platforms, or financial systems, software has become central to competitive advantage. If AI transforms how software is created, then controlling that workflow may become one of the most strategic assets an organization can own. What do you think? Is the next competitive battleground in AI going to be models, compute, workflows...or something else?
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Fritz Hesse shared thisLooking forward to this!Fritz Hesse shared thisWill the Fast and Furious win the race? Or does Slow and Steady still have the last word? AI is moving quickly, but the real test for leaders is not speed alone. It is judgment. Knowing when to move fast, when to stay deliberate, and how to build something that lasts. At #ZinnovConfluence 2026, global leaders come together to share the ideas, bets, and decisions shaping the next wave of enterprise growth. The race is on. The real question is who is building to win. Register now → https://lnkd.in/eXaQE5zh Cameron Clayton, Arrive, Fritz Hesse, Riskonnect, Inc., David Thompson, Karthik Srinivasan, Nitika Goel (She/Her), Denny Joseph, Prashant Keshri, Prasanna Rao, Saima S., Mahin Gauhar #leadership #definetomorrow
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Fritz Hesse shared thisRecently, our team in Mangaluru moved into their newly renovated office. While I was sad that I couldn't be there for the grand opening, I was excited to see the photos and hear how much the team enjoyed celebrating this milestone. Riskonnect, Inc. first established its presence in Mangaluru in 2014, and after celebrating the office's 10-year anniversary in 2024, we began planning a space that better reflects where we are today. More than 50 planning meetings later, it's fantastic to see that vision become a reality. I've had the opportunity to visit our Mangaluru office many times over the past four years. The building may look different today, but what has always stood out to me is the team. Their enthusiasm, professionalism, and commitment to our culture of innovation have made Mangaluru a foundational part of our global engineering organization. The new office creates an environment that matches the talent inside it -- a modern, collaborative space where our teams can continue to build great products together. Congratulations to everyone in Mangaluru on this exciting milestone, and thank you to Riskonnect Services Pvt, Ltd. (India) along with many hard working project leaders and "MOET" for the many months of work behind the scenes to make this project a reality. I can't wait to visit and see it in person. #Riskonnect #Mangaluru #Engineering #Innovation #GlobalTeam #EmployeeExperience
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Fritz Hesse shared thisAs the risk landscape continues to evolve, effective business continuity planning remains a critical capability for organizations everywhere. Honored to see Riskonnect, Inc. recognized in this space, and grateful to the teams and customers who continue to push us forward.Fritz Hesse shared thisRiskonnect is thrilled to share that we've won BCM Planning Software of the Year at the 2026 Business Continuity Awards, hosted by CIRMagazine, in London! This recognition reflects the dedication of our team and the trust our customers place in us every day to help them plan for and navigate disruption with confidence. Congratulations to all of this year's nominees and winners! #BusinessContinuity #RiskUnderOneRoof
Fritz Hesse replied to a comment
1w
Akshay Sharma Thx. I think it's always an "and" — you have to solve both. But if I had to pick the bigger constraint, I'd probably say the second. Executive alignment can be difficult, but at least you can work toward an explicit decision. Managing the transition is harder because so much of the complexity is unknown until you're in it. You have to keep the old path working while building the new one, without creating a whole new generation of technical debt along the way.
That's also why I think adaptability matters so much — you can't architect the transition assuming you know everything up front.
Fritz Hesse replied to a comment
1w
Thanks, Amit. I agree, with one nuance. I'd argue software engineering has always been a strategic capability for technology companies. What's changing is how that capability is created and sustained. AI has the potential to reshape engineering workflows in much the same way cloud computing reshaped infrastructure a decade ago.
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Fritz Hesse liked thisGreat couple of days in Atlanta with our global sales leadership team. It’s exciting to see the alignment, collaboration, and momentum across the business. Looking forward to helping turn our plans into action and continuing to invest in the success of our sales organization. Thanks to everyone for the great discussions.Fritz Hesse liked thisSpent the last two days in Atlanta with Riskonnect’s new global sales leadership team — first time together in person, working through what growth looks like for us going forward. Excited about who’s in the room and what’s ahead. Eric Zoref James Leathem Bryan Seitz Gemma Buckley Charles Longridge James Braddock Cole Outz
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Fritz Hesse liked thisFritz Hesse liked thisEight cohorts. Every six weeks. Here's what I keep hearing that I don't see discussed publicly. 1. Everyone now understands the models have been commoditized. The interesting question is what to do about it. Differentiation comes from proprietary data, contextual memory, and workflow entrenchment. That part is settled. It comes up in the first twenty minutes of every session. But last year's capability commoditizes fast. The frontier doesn't; it gets rebuilt on the newest and most expensive compute every cycle. And frontier pricing isn't cost-plus. It's a strategic decision, made by someone else, in the middle of a land grab. You cannot build a P&L on today's token price. And if you price your product cost-plus on an input you don't control, you're passing along someone else's pricing strategy. Here's the question almost nobody has answered: what share of your AI workload genuinely requires the frontier model? A company where that's 10% and one where it's 80% face completely different exposure. Most have never measured it, because upgrading is the default. Portability across models is worth paying for even when it doesn't always pencil out right away. It's what lets you move down-tier deliberately instead of upgrading by accident. 2. For those beginning the journey: start with your easiest use case, not your most enticing one. Many pilots open with high cost, complex workflows, because that's where the ROI is most intoxicating. It's also where your odds are worst, especially if you are early in the journey. The teams getting real traction did the opposite. They picked something ridiculously simple, and iterated upon it once they had validated learning from outcome based metrics. 3. Companies that spent a decade deliberately not monitoring employees are reversing course. I have mixed feelings about this one. I'm talking about organizations that genuinely believe in empowering their people, and that manage to outcomes rather than activity. Now they're building instrumentation that picks up signals from employee activity: token economics, security risks like prompt injection, and where teams need upskilling. The reasons are legitimate. That's what makes it hard. Even with the best of intentions, this can erode the trust equation. Anyone going down this path needs to communicate intent exceptionally well, and authentically. The thread through all three: capability is arriving faster than the discipline to measure it. #AIStrategy
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Fritz Hesse liked thisFritz Hesse liked thisMeet our analysts driving customer success Riskonnect, Inc. 💪 They all started with #RiskonnectIndia as interns, focusing on assignments and honing their skills. They have grown into full-time analysts who take ownership of complex client requirements, translate raw technical data into actionable insights, and design impactful solutions. Swipe through to meet the team and learn about their journeys from Interns to Insiders. 👉 💫 Explore #LifeAtRiskonnect here: https://lnkd.in/deiS57B8 #RKCareers #InnovationHub #CustomerSuccess
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Fritz Hesse liked thisFritz Hesse liked thisThe Konnect APAC 2026 Customer Conference is back this year! Mark your calendar and get ready for two days of big ideas, great conversations, and meaningful connections, all under one roof. Stay tuned and keep an eye on your inbox for more details, including speaker announcements, the agenda, and registration. Sydney, we'll see you in November! #KonnectAPACConference #Sydney #RiskUnderOneRoof
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Fritz Hesse liked thisFritz Hesse liked thisIn Atlanta this week syncing up with the leadership team on H2. Genuinely excited about what we’re building and where we’re heading. If you’re a risk or resilience leader in EMEA, or you happen to be in Atlanta this week, shoot me a message, always happy to connect! #Riskonnect #EMEA
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Fritz Hesse liked thisFritz Hesse liked thisI'm excited to share that I've earned the Agentblazer Innovator Badge! 🎉 This milestone reflects my commitment to exploring the potential of AI agents, building practical solutions, and continuously learning in this rapidly evolving space. Throughout this journey, I've gained valuable insights into designing intelligent workflows, solving real-world problems, and applying AI to create meaningful impact. I'm looking forward to building on these skills and exploring what's next. A big thank you to everyone who has shared knowledge, provided guidance, and supported my learning along the way. Here's to continuous learning, innovation, and creating with AI! 🚀 #Agentblazer #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation #Learning #ProfessionalDevelopment #Salesforce #AIAgents #Tech
Experience & Education
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Riskonnect, Inc.
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Chapter President, Other
Trinity University Alumni Association
- 23 years
Education
Patents
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System and method for customized application package building and installation
Issued US 5,950,010
A system for building and installing custom application packages in a distributed computing environment that includes a server computer and a client computer coupled through a network. The server computer includes a storage media subsystem, a build subsystem, and a server package storage, all of which are coupled together. The client computer includes a storage media subsystem, an installation subsystem, and a local application package storage, all of which are coupled together. Application…
A system for building and installing custom application packages in a distributed computing environment that includes a server computer and a client computer coupled through a network. The server computer includes a storage media subsystem, a build subsystem, and a server package storage, all of which are coupled together. The client computer includes a storage media subsystem, an installation subsystem, and a local application package storage, all of which are coupled together. Application packages are created through the build subsystem by bundling one or more application modules and/or application executables together using and then storing the application packages in the server package storage. The application packages are then installed through the installation subsystem on the client computer in the local application storage. The present invention also includes a method for building and installing custom application packages on a client computer.
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