As Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Wolters Kluwer, Mark Sherwood oversees the overall enterprise technology infrastructure with a focus on advancing their digital DNA, delivering next generation enterprise IT capabilities, transforming their operations with AI, and enhancing the workplace and customer experience. Mark and his team play an instrumental leadership role in driving the company’s overall digital transformation.
Prior to Wolters Kluwer, Mark led Infrastructure and Engineering Services at Microsoft. Before the acquisition by Microsoft, Mark was the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Nuance where he drove the effective use of information technology, security, and hosting to support agility and productivity across Nuance’s business divisions. Prior to joining Nuance, he served as the Vice President of IT at Symantec Corporation and held numerous leadership roles at Cisco Systems.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with CIO Magazine, Mark shared his professional trajectory, highlighting key lessons and experiences that shaped his path in IT leadership, personal hobbies and interests, future plans, words of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Mark. What inspired you to pursue a career in IT, and what were some early challenges you faced?
I was always fascinated by technology and how things worked. I wanted to understand what was inside the box or behind the curtain that allowed things to just “work”. It’s great to see how people, or more precisely our customers, can benefit from technology. If done right, technology can have enormous impact on people’s lives when it matters most. I think my early challenges came down to two things, not having a close enough relationship with the business and realizing we couldn’t just roll out new technology without a full change management process in place. At times, technology professionals can get too focused on the technology itself without recognizing that our goal should be to help the businesses we support to better be able to meet their goals and objectives. And in addition, customers and even society at large, benefits from this. Understanding them helps us to provide the right kind of technology in a way that allows them to leverage it.
What do you love the most about your current role?
I feel very lucky that I get to work alongside so many smart people and so many great leaders. I learn from them every day. Part of what I enjoy about my current role is the ability to partner with so many of our business leaders and to feel like my teams are helping to make a difference in the company. With five divisions, Wolters Kluwer is also a very broad and diversified group, so we get to contribute to a wide range of areas, health, accounting and legal to name a few. That makes it exciting and versatile.
How do you see the role of CIO evolving in the future?
I don’t want to step on any toes here (even my own), but the terms Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer seem very outdated for me. Going forward, I think this role is mainly about two things: Innovation and Business Enablement. I think the title “CIBEO” should be what we all strive for in the future.
The CIO role is already transforming, moving beyond just keeping the corporate machine running in the IT department. CIOs are becoming strategic partners who work closely with other leaders to figure out how tech can help the company grow, innovate and future readiness.
Increasingly, CIOs focus on building strong connections across the company rather than only maintaining tech operations. That’s where our Business Relationship Management (BRM) team comes in. They help to bridge any gaps between IT and other departments to foster understanding and prevent issues like “shadow IT” making processes run smoothly.
Beyond that, the biggest hurdle is often cultural, if unaddressed. Updating the technology can happen quickly but changing established work habits and mindsets can take a lot of time. A significant part of CIO’s role should already involve leading this cultural shift, making sure everyone has a voice in tech decisions. That is not only a challenge but also makes the work more fun and human centric. IT is more about human interaction than ever before.
Looking ahead, CIOs must anticipate emerging tech. AI is already transforming how we do business, particularly with solutions like Agentic AI on the horizon. The CIO’s role now includes anticipating these shifts, positioning the company to capitalize on these new opportunities while managing associated risks.
What role do you think AI plays in enhancing the workplace and customer experience?
AI is a powerful tool, transforming both our internal operations and how we serve customers. For all of us at Wolters Kluwer, it automates tasks and delivers faster insights, freeing up time to focus on meaningful work.
On the customer side, AI is already driving significant value. Half of our products, which are powered by AI, already provide value and this is only increasing. Our customers, especially in healthcare, law and the legal space, need fast, accurate answers. AI helps us deliver this by quickly surfacing the most relevant insights through our solutions, which are enhanced by the decades of data and expertise that Wolters Kluwer brings. This unique blend of AI and human knowledge is key to our success.
Of course, this all heavily depends on a high-quality data, robust governance and a commitment to responsible AI use. We see AI as part of a larger system, and we’re all dedicated to protecting the integrity of our content and maintaining user trust.
What personal or professional philosophies have contributed to your success, and how have you applied these principles in your career?
I have a number of philosophies. Integrity to me is probably #1. I don’t know how anyone can build strong teams without having underlying trust that people will do the right thing. I think leaders need to set and demonstrate that example from the very start. Living up to commitments is another key philosophy. Once you commit to doing something, I feel strongly that you need to do whatever it takes to meet that commitment. Lastly, perhaps, would be treating everyone with respect. My view has always been that we should be allowing everyone to be their authentic selves. We should all respect and value our own differences as it’s what makes us stronger as a combined team. It’s great for me to see my personal philosophies align very well with the company values of Wolters Kluwer, including the Focus on Customer Success, Aiming High and Deliver and Win as a Team.
Is there a particular person you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are?
Well, easy answer here is my wife who has supported me, and all of our family moves and changes, over the years. Same with my two daughters who are grown now and in careers of their own. I have a number of close friends and mentors who seem to know me better than I know myself, and they have also been instrumental in my career journey. I think they all know who they are. One specific person does stand out for me. It was someone I worked for very early in my career. He taught me to focus on the big blocks and not to let everything else get in the way. He was a very casual, but outstanding, people leader. He always let you drift far enough to prove yourself out, but was there to help when you needed someone to reel you back in.
What are some of your passions outside of work? What do you like to do in your time off?
First I’d have to say it’s spending time with my family and travelling. Those who know me well would also likely say my passion for Formula 1 racing is high on the list. I enjoy going to a number of races every year and rarely miss watching them on TV when I’m not able to attend. Fortunately, I’ve found a group of buddies who share the same “sickness”. For me it goes back to the first question: I love the sport partially because of the technology of the cars and the human interactions them. I’m fascinated by having mechanical things performing consistently at such a high level and delivering. Mechanical watches interest me for the same reasons. Other than that, it’s spending time with my family and traveling.
Which technology are you investing in now to prepare for the future?
The easy answer here is “AI”, but I suspect that’s on everyone’s list. I still feel that we are just scratching the surface here in terms of how it will change our professional and personal lives. I also feel that if companies are not jumping in with both feet, they are going to be left behind, or even irrelevant in just a few years. After that, I’d say we are starting to look at quantum computing and how it’s going to turn the cybersecurity world on its head very quickly.
What is your biggest goal? Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
Perhaps working on a Formula 1 pit crew? Likely not, though, as I suspect I’m a bit past the age group they’re looking for. My goal has always been to help drive and support the business, of whatever company I’m with, to be more successful going forward. It’s great to see we are helping our customers delivering meaningful impact when it matters most in people’s lives. I’ve been very fortunate to have worked for a number of different very successful companies. In 5 years from now, I would still like to be involved in helping companies achieve their goals by leveraging the most up-to-date and advanced technologies. I’m not sure if that will still be in a standard CIO capacity or something related, but I will probably never stray too far from the technology aspects of this business. I see a lot of growth potential and fascinating work challenges at Wolters Kluwer and look forward to growing the business and making more impact in the lives of employees and our customers.
What advice would you give to aspiring CIOs or technology leaders?
Trust your teams to do their jobs. If you’re also doing their job, who’s doing your job? As I mentioned before, know what your big focus areas are and make sure you are devoting the appropriate amount of time to them. Don’t get completely consumed by the information wave. Treat it as a fun and informative ride, but don’t let it crush you.