UnHack with Drex DeFord

March 16: What are healthcare leaders really talking about at HIMSS? Bill Russell sits down with Sarah Richardson and Drex DeFord to share insights from the executive and cybersecurity forums—and the hallway conversations in between. AI dominates the discussion, but not just in clinical care. The hosts highlight the overlooked opportunities in operational workflows, patient outreach, and administrative efficiency. They also confront uncomfortable realities around workforce displacement, escalating infrastructure costs, and whether large technology vendors can maintain their value as AI lowers the barrier to building solutions internally. For CIOs, the challenge is clear: manage today’s operations while preparing for an AI-driven future that’s evolving faster than any roadmap.

Key Points
AI Arms Race in Cybersecurity
Where AI Delivers the Fastest ROI
Workforce Disruption and Leadership Responsibility
Vendor Pricing Pressure and Infrastructure Costs
The Future of Build vs Buy in Healthcare IT

Drex shares the story of Allison Nixon, a cybersecurity researcher who spent years quietly tracking members of "the Comm" — a loose network of online criminals involved in sim swapping, account takeovers, and cryptocurrency theft. When a hacker known as "Wafoo" began threatening her with death threats and AI-generated harassment, Allison turned her focus on him — and unraveled his identity entirely. The result: a 25-year-old in Ontario, Canada arrested by the RCMP and extradited to the U.S. The takeaway? Anonymity online is rarely as solid as criminals believe, and threatening the wrong researcher only accelerates your own exposure
Remember, Stay Paranoid
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March 9, 2026: What happens when well-meaning clinicians use AI tools that no one approved? Bill Russell and Drex Ford are joined by Dr. Holly Urban, Vice President of Business Development at Wolters Kluwer, to unpack a revealing new survey on shadow AI in healthcare. From radiologists sharing PHI over Dropbox to tumor board transcripts sent to unauthorized recipients, the risks are real and growing. With 57% of staff aware of unsanctioned AI use, the question isn't whether shadow AI exists in your health system. It's what you're going to do about it.
Key Points:
01:28 Shadow AI is everywhere (and why it’s familiar)
11:18 Governance in the AI era
18:41 Patients, liability, and the road ahead
Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

A curious engineer in Spain reverse-engineered his robot vacuum to control it with a PlayStation controller, and accidentally gained access to 7,000 vacuums worldwide. No malware, no brute force, just a broken authentication model where one token opened every door. Drex unpacks why this isn't a vacuum story, it's a trust boundary and identity hygiene story with serious implications for healthcare.
Remember, Stay a Little Paranoid
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Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

March 2, 2026: Is the CIO role evolving? Or is it quietly being replaced? Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson dig into the emerging CITO trend, the rise of citizen developers, and what AI-powered platforms like Epic's Agent Factory actually mean for healthcare IT leadership. The CIO of the future isn't a gatekeeper; they're the "architect of safe velocity." With 32 years in the industry, they’re also sounding the alarm on executive burnout in an era where the pace of change never lets up.
Key Points:
03:31 CIO vs CTO explained
07:10 From gatekeeper to “Chief Intelligent Officer.”
18:20 Scaling innovation fast: hackathons and building vs buying
24:18 The human side of hyper-change
Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth
X: This Week Health
LinkedIn: This Week Health
Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer