“I think industry can be more creative and bold in proposing solutions. I believe it’s the tendency to want to play it safe because you don’t want to get out ahead of your customers,” Casey Coleman, client executive vice president at AT&T and former CIO at the General Services Administration, told Federal News Radio’s Women of Washington radio show. “Think about the political, operational, economic, and technical costs of any decision.”

Coleman calls this particular way of evaluating risk — the “POET” model.

“The cloud, when combined with mobility solutions and big data analytics, cybersecurity, all of these things, are joining together to really change the way we interact with technology and get our work done,” Coleman told hosts Gigi Schumm and Aileen Black.

During the show, Coleman also gives advice to young women embarking on careers in the IT industry.

“Take a chance, and don’t be afraid of getting out there with less than 100 percent preparation,” she said. “Because if you wait until you’re fully prepared, that day will never come.”

Coleman also shares what it was like growing up in rural Texas, how she got started working in Washington, and how things have changed now that she’s back in the private sector.

Coleman says while working at GSA the “spotlight was on me,” but now that she’s at AT&T, it’s not as much. Something Coleman say she’s happy about.

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