“I’ve been handed complex Excel spreadsheets that somebody’s wife was making for months and months,” says Helen Knight. “Then they’re like, ‘Now that we’ve built this tool to solve this problem you didn’t even know about, we want you to own it as IT.’”
This was before vibe coding.
Knight has spent decades observing how employees bypass the IT department whenever the necessary tools are unavailable. As the founder and president of Helen Knight Nonprofit shelters, and various social service agencies throughout North America with their technology modernization efforts.
Jennifer Hutton operates within a significantly different professional landscape. She serves as the vice-president of information technology and risk, as well as the chief privacy officer, for the Dartmouth, Nova Scotia-based Steele Auto Group.
Both women are finalists for the 2026 CanadianCIO Awards, an event presented by the CIO Association of Canada. Hutton and Knight are competing for the Fawn Annan Memorial Award, with the winner set to be revealed on Oct. 1 in Toronto. Digital Journal serves as the national media partner for the CIO Association of Canada.
