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In this episode of Technical Debt: Design, Risk, and Beyond, we look at technical debt from a place it’s rarely discussed - the CEO’s desk.
My guest is David Cruz, Founder & CEO of Elmaextro, certified business coach, and thought leader in governance, resilience, and information risk. David’s journey spans operational leadership during major crises, advisory work with CEOs and leadership teams, and years spent translating information risk into strategic and architectural consequences.
We explore a core idea that challenges common assumptions: technical debt often doesn’t start with bad code or poor tooling. It starts with leadership blind spots: unclear decision rights, postponed decisions, fragmented ownership, and a tendency to frame information risk as "an IT problem".
In our conversation, we unpack how decision debt accumulates at the executive level and quietly hardens into architectural fragility. David explains why "risk-informed" leadership is not about being cautious, but about clearly defining a risk profile, making tradeoffs explicit, and aligning systems to what truly matters for the business. We discuss why consensus can become a liability, how dashboards often obscure rather than clarify risk, and why resilience depends more on disciplined leadership practices than on complex frameworks.
David also shares practical guidance for non-technical CEOs: how to govern digital and information risk without jargon, why technology leaders must communicate in business terms, and how a simple one-page briefing can replace dozens of confusing reports.
The episode closes with a powerful leadership question every executive should ask themselves: What is the most sensitive information in my organisation, where does it live, who has access to it, and why?
This conversation is for CEOs, founders, CTOs, and architects who want to understand technical debt not just as a technical issue, but as a leadership and governance challenge with long-term consequences.
You can learn more about David’s work at Elmaextro.com.
Check David's free ebook - The CEO's 7 Steps Playbook.
Use a coupon to get a free access to David's course: 29DQ3A2
Reach us @ LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxim-silaev
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-nikita-golovko
