Gaetano Mazzuca’s career path hasn’t followed the typical arc of an IT leader.
Before becoming the CIO of the City of Red Deer, he started in the arts, cutting his teeth at the Banff Centre as an artist-in-residence. But even then, he was already drawn to the digital world — building databases, managing web systems, and recognizing the power of technology as a platform for change.
That unconventional background shaped the way he approaches IT leadership today. While many CIOs focus on structure, governance, and efficiency, Mazzuca champions creativity as a necessary skill in the digital space.
A creative approach to solving complex problems
Mazzuca believes IT leaders need to think beyond traditional frameworks. He points out that IT often relies on rigid systems, saying, “We systematize a lot of our thinking in IT. So we have these very strong controls and these mechanisms, and that’s all absolutely as it should be.”
While structure is necessary, he argues that it shouldn’t come at the expense of creative problem-solving.
“We create solutions that are very linear,” he says. “But what we forget sometimes is the need for that lateral thinking that sort of we used to call it outside the box. But even inside the box, we need to see differently and see how we can actually work differently.”
That mindset has led to innovative problem-solving throughout his career.
Working in Alberta, he and his team once proposed using pigeons for air monitoring — a cost-effective alternative to expensive mobile units. His focus moves beyond deploying technology to broadening the conversation around it, engaging communities, and rethinking how digital solutions intersect with human needs.
This perspective is especially critical in the public sector, where IT doesn’t just serve the bottom line — it tackles complex societal challenges.
“You’re there to answer problems that are unbelievably hard to answer,” Mazzuca says. “What do we do with homelessness? How do we actually make a more efficient factory?”
Rethinking the role of the CIO
Mazzuca also challenges the conventional role of the CIO. While IT departments have long been seen as the “department of no,” he argues that CIOs should be key drivers of innovation.
“It’s our job to be innovative and creative as IT leaders,” he says. “I think it’s something of a skill and a portfolio that we need to take on as seriously as cybersecurity, data management, AI, and all the other pieces.”
That means shifting how organizations think about digital transformation. Rather than seeing IT as a service function, he sees it as a partner in shaping business strategy. He also emphasizes the need for CIOs to engage in digital ethics, especially as AI and data-driven decision-making accelerate.
Why creativity is essential for the future of IT
For Mazzuca, bringing creativity back into IT leadership moved beyond a personal philosophy — he says it’s a necessity for the future. He argues that many IT teams have lost their creative edge as the industry has become more focused on security, compliance, and structured governance.
“We need to make sure we’re hiring creative people,” he says. “We’re not just hiring the people that do great jobs in making sure those audit trails are there, and those controls are there, but we need to make sure we’re hiring the creative people to see outside those controls and where we can actually extend and grow.”
That’s why Mazzuca believes organizations should invest in innovation management. Building structured processes that encourage creative thinking.
He has spent over 15 years running creativity seminars and helping IT professionals reframe their approach to problem-solving.
“First of all, everyone is creative,” he says. “We actually literally have it taught out of us in the K-to–12 system. You take someone that’s in those early grades of one to three, and then the creative abilities take this huge slope, so by the time you’re in Grade 12, it’s been well pressed out of you.”
But Mazzuca doesn’t believe creativity is gone. It’s just been buried under rigid structures and risk-averse cultures.
He sees an opportunity for IT leaders to reclaim and embed creativity into their organizations, not as an afterthought, but as a strategic advantage. Doing so, he argues, will be critical in navigating the next era of digital transformation.
At the CIO Association of Canada’s upcoming Peer Forum conference in May, Mazzuca will be sharing insights on how IT leaders can rebuild creativity in their organizations. He’ll discuss why innovation management needs to be a core part of IT strategy, how digital transformation is evolving, and why CIOs need to engage more deeply with business and social issues.
This article was created with the assistance of AI. Learn more about our AI ethics policy here.
