We kicked off 2025 with our CIO for Good Summit in New York City. The summit is the second of its kind, following in the heels of Cloud for Good’s successful inaugural CIO for Good Summit held in 2024 in San Francisco. The one-day summit was an opportunity for visionary CIOs and senior technology executives in the impact ecosystem to gather, learn, and exchange ideas, insights, and expertise on shaping the future of the nonprofit and education industries.
If you weren’t on site for the action, here are my top highlights from the Summit.
Curiosity in the Age of AI: History, Fiction, and Beyond - Learning About AI from a NASA Technology Expert
At the event’s first session, CTO, Applied AI Expert, and Presidential Innovation Fellow at NASA James Villarrubia delivered an engaging keynote “Curiosity in the Age of AI: History, Fiction, and Beyond,” which dove into the depth of Generative AI, what it is, how it works, what it can do, its opportunities and benefits, and its challenges. Villarrubia’s keynote offered a thought-provoking exploration of AI strategy and future scenarios, and he drew unexpected insights from figures like Sun Tzu and Isaac Asimov, pop culture, and forgotten stories that have helped shape the future of AI.
“James gave a wonderful presentation,” one CIO for Good Summit attendee shared, “It made me think of AI from a bigger picture and how that relates to the people I work with.”
Ryan Blake, our Sales Engineer Director, told me that “the session by James was enlightening, a bit nerdy and fun. He made the conversation relatable to the audience for the entirety of the presentation. You kept just wanting to learn and listen, while waiting to see his next pop culture reference, data insight, or where we’re experiencing something in real life.”
A Salesforce Fireside Chat on Unlocking the Future of Impact: Harnessing Technology for Change
Following Villarrubia’s keynote, Cloud for Good’s VP of Sales Bryan Gould and Salesforce VP and GM of Education Kelly Kitchen held a fireside chat, “Unlocking the Future of Impact: Harnessing Technology for Change”, which explored how technology and learning about the past play pivotal roles in shaping the transformation of the Impact sector for a better future. This Salesforce-focused engaging discussion also dove into the latest innovations in the Industry Clouds and the Education Cloud and Nonprofit Cloud specifically. In addition, it was an opportunity to learn firsthand how Salesforce’s cutting-edge solutions have revolutionized how nonprofits and educational institutions maximize their mission-driven work. During the discussion, Kitchen, whose focus is in higher education, shared how the impact sector utilizes technology to innovate and leverage a strong, grounded strategy with data, and get smarter with leveraging their data and technology and data to innovate. One memorable piece of thought leader advice that Kitchen posed to the summit attendees was, “Don’t let data get in the way of doing good,” in order to realize the value and benefit of incredible technologies.
Demystifying Data Cloud and an Agentforce Session and Demo
Cloud for Good’s Sales Solution Engineer Director, Ryan Blake was joined by Bob McCormick, VP of Information Services at Chicago’s DePaul University, on a session that dove deeper into how technology helps harness data for greater impact. During this session, Blake and McCormick shared how Data Cloud can unify customer data to deliver more personalized and seamless experiences, explored real-world use cases like fundraising, student success, and direct response, and some actionable insights on how to build a compelling case for investing in this transformative technology. It was also an opportunity to learn how Data Cloud can drive efficiency, deepen engagement, and elevate organizations’ success.
After the discussion, Blake returned to lead a session and demo of Salesforce’s Agentforce platform. The session, “Ready, Set, Agentforce”, was a chance for attendees to take the insights gained during the summit so far and brainstorm with one another on how to apply Agentforce’s AI agent technology within their own organizations. Blake presented on the Agentforce landscape, what it is, and how those in the impact sector seek to use it. Additional collaborative discussions and practical exercises during the session offered attendees the chance to gain clear insights into how Agentforce can elevate their workflows, enhance their impact, and position their organizations for success in a rapidly evolving technology landscape. To wrap up the session, Blake gave a live demo of Agentforce to show the impact and power an Agentforce AI agent can have on an organization. You can watch a video recording of the webinar Blake held here:
Panel Discussion: Technology for Good: How Visionary CIOs are Shaping the Future of Nonprofits and Education
To wrap up the CIO for Good Summit, Cloud for Good’s Director of Sales, Tim Love, was joined by Alan Murray, Chief Digital and Technology Officer of Teach For America, and Wesley Esser, Chief Information Officer of MIT’s Sloan School of Management for a panel on the practical use of data, AI, and how they balance innovation with stability within their organizations. The panel was a dynamic conversation that explored the transformative role technology plays in driving business operations, navigating the delicate balance between pioneering innovation and maintaining stability, and offering a forward-looking perspective on top strategies for the future. During the conversation, Esser shared about the role data plays at MIT and the steps he and his team are taking to build a robust data management strategy and prepare for the future of work, while Murray talked about the best ways he advises organizations can unlock their data to provide new impact and revenue streams from Teach For America’s own digital transformation journey. The two CIOS also spoke on the way AI is shaping their roles and how to ensure safety in using AI as nonprofit and higher education changemakers.
Takeaways
The CIO for Good Summit in New York City successfully demonstrated why it is so important for technology leaders to come together and share their insights. Individuals were engaged and there was a great level of thought leadership across Summit attendees, not just from the presenters and speakers. When asked in a post-event survey about their ability to use the information they gained from the Summit immediately, in 2-6 months, or 7-12 months, here is what attendees who completed our post-event survey shared:
In addition, all of the speakers and presenters had a compelling story to tell—all from various perspectives—and it seemed everyone had someone who they could relate to at the event. Bringing together visionary leaders from both nonprofit and higher education leaders facilitates opportunities for learning valuable lessons from one another that can help us all move forward. With the success of our CIO for Good Summit in New York City, Cloud for Good plans to continue hosting future summits and events so that CIOs and senior technology leaders can share best practices, learn from one another, and stay at the forefront of innovation, technology, and how to use technology to innovate for good.
If you enjoyed our CIO for Good Summit in New York City or are interested in joining us for a future summit, I invite you to save the date for the next CIO for Good Summit event taking place in Washington, DC, and submit a request to be invited below.
