Zac Streelman joins The Cyber Business Podcast at a pivotal moment in his career: day 15 as the new CIO of Allegacy Federal Credit Union. Despite being new to the role, Zac brings a deep and varied background that uniquely equips him to navigate Allegacy's transformation. From his early days building PCs with Cyrix 686 chips to roles in education, manufacturing, and logistics, Zac’s unconventional career path taught him to value both technical mastery and emotional intelligence.

Zac shares a compelling origin story—marked by both the dot-com boom and bust—and candidly discusses how a humbling interview experience reshaped his approach to leadership. He outlines "The Essentials," his four-part framework for evaluating job candidates, which prioritizes integrity, passion, ambition, and humility. For Zac, technical skills can be taught; values cannot.

He also offers a nuanced view on the rise of AI, predicting a future shift from software engineers to prompt engineers, and highlighting how credit unions must rethink data governance and cyber strategy to fully leverage AI's potential. For Zac, the power of AI isn't just in what it can automate, but in how it challenges organizations to lead with foresight, protect data, and cultivate the right human capital.