Meet the transformational CIOs who are currently leading their businesses into the digital future.
Explore their most important initiatives, leadership goals, and how they see their roles evolving in the near future.
This time, in CIO Insights, we feature Thomas Kudsk Jensen, CDIO, Aleris.
AI in healthcare is not just IT – it’s business development and better healthcare
CDIO Thomas Kudsk Jensen and his team are shaping how AI transforms healthcare and leading a gamechanger in the digital healthcare journey, which has also taught him a great deal about his own leadership.
When starting at Aleris’, it was clear for Thomas Kudsk Jensen, from the beginning that his role was not primarily about building new systems – but about understanding how the business works, and how technology can help it develop in the right pace:
“When I started, it was clear to me that my most important task was to understand the business. And it is complex: healthcare is full of integration points, codes and requirements – we have to be able to offer digital solutions to private payers, deliver flexible and digitally enabled services to insurance companies, and at the same time connect to the different systems in the regions.”
He entered healthcare with experience from industries where IT was at the very core, and where everything was built in-house. The transition required a different approach:
“Here the challenges are different: to identify where the systems were creating problems, and how we could prioritise correctly. First, it was about clarifying who decided what and changing the culture where anyone could put forward requests. It was necessary to create structure and figure out what was genuinely important for the business.”
Three pillars quickly became guiding points: efficiency, data security, and a strong digital offering:
“These were big questions to tackle – but I am fortunate to have a CEO and colleagues in the leadership team that placed trust in me and our team, and not least extremely skilled employees.”
AI-adoption is very much about courage: about daring to try it out
This is why Aleris was able to move quickly on technological opportunities that could develop the business:
“At Aleris we went down the AI path early. We have invested in a new platform, and we are implementing it in the mental health area, for instance by enabling the recording of a conversation between clinician and patient and then having it automatically documented in a template format. As a clinician – let’s say a psychiatrist – you typically work from fixed templates. If the conversation follows such a structure, the system can automatically link what the patient says and what the clinician asks about to the right fields in the record. At the same time, the AI assistant helps with flexibility: you can, for example, ask it to put more emphasis on medication or downplay family history. A bit like playing with wording in ChatGPT, you can do the same with the medical note before approving it and transferring it into the electronic medical record– and it continuously improves learning the clinician’s style over time. And we use a language model trained specifically in Danish medical language.”
For Thomas, AI is not a project for technology’s sake, but a way of creating space in a pressured clinical everyday life:
“At Aleris we face a major journey in our mental health area – psychology and psychiatry – where we have activities and employees spread all over the country. AI-adoption is very much about courage: about daring to try it out. Once people are convinced, things move quickly. But if they are not convinced, progress is very slow. We have a lot of patients, and to make room for even more patients, we need to free up time. That is why I see AI work as business development, not just IT. It is about transforming the clinical work and the processes that support it.”
“Once a clinic manager points in a digital direction, others follow”
As Denmark’s largest private healthcare provider, Thomas sees a particular responsibility:
“Aleris has a responsibility to take the lead – not with small, isolated pilot projects, but with institutionalisation and full-scale implementation. To succeed, it requires a strong business case. And even though we will never hit bullseye, even partial gains will be game changing for healthcare.”
For Thomas, it is not the technology itself that is the greatest challenge:
“The biggest challenge is not trust in the tools – experience shows that as long as we are open and transparent, patients feel safe. The real challenge is in change-management: altering workflows in a daily practice where clinicians are already very busy. It must be simple and convenient, otherwise it won’t succeed. But on the other hand: once a clinic manager points in a digital direction, others follow. That authority makes it easier to implement new solutions, if you do it properly.”
The implementation of AI in clinical workflows is closely linked to the underlying IT infrastructure, which makes cloud strategy a key consideration for the organisation. Cloud, for Thomas, is not a question of either/or, but of controlling the details:
“I have no problem going the cloud route – quite the opposite. But it requires that we have full control of what lies behind it. That is why I work very actively with our data processing agreements. I must be able to stand by the solutions we choose, and that is not only about technology, but also about governance and compliance.”
We need the right tools – but culture plays the biggest role
Equally high on Thomas’ agenda is cybersecurity, which is more relevant than ever:
“I actually think cyber security is the most interesting area right now. AI is exciting and revolutionary, but cyber is crucial, because operations and security are inseparable. If we have problems with security, then we also have problems with operations – it’s that simple. That is why we have spent a lot of energy understanding what security means for Aleris. And it means a lot, so yes, we need the right tools – but culture plays the biggest role. Today we have a security culture where employees call and ask if they can open an email if they are in doubt. We train awareness with exercises and programs, and it works. Recently, we prevented a major phishing attack because employees reacted quickly and we shut it down before any damage was done. This is everyday reality now, so attentive employees are the best defence.”
My compass is set towards Integrity, decency and execution
Thomas participates in the digital conversation across municipalities, regions and organisations, whether it concerns cyber security or IT solutions:
“I believe, generally, that we need much more collaboration across the healthcare system. We lack common standards, better knowledge sharing, and greater transparency and coordination about which vendors and solutions we use. When we talk about the health in our country, we should stand together more on common frameworks and ensure secure operations.”
That eye for the whole is closely connected with how Thomas sees his own responsibility as a leader:
“If I were to put words to my leadership values, there are three things my compass is set towards: integrity, decency and execution. Integrity, because I must always be able to look myself in the mirror – I would rather say no to something that could be career-advancing than compromise on that. Decency, because I believe you can treat other people with respect without being naive. And execution, because I am fundamentally driven by getting things done. I deliver – also when it is hard.”
I had overlooked everything leadership really is
For Thomas, however, a turning point in his leadership came when he had to face himself in the mirror:
“I was given leadership responsibility very early in my work life. No one had really told me what leadership was, so I just threw myself into it. It went fine, until at one point in a previous job I had a team where the employees gave me a very poor survey. I was completely taken aback and asked directly if they wanted me as their manager. They answered: ‘It’s not about you – it’s about what you do. You don’t lead. You execute.’ That hurt, but it was an eye-opener for me. At the same time, I attended a program at the Leadership Pipeline Institute, and it came at exactly the right moment. I understood that I had overlooked so many things related to what leadership really is: setting direction, creating vision, gathering a team. I had focused on deliverables and results, but I had forgotten to lead the team. That was my big hallelujah moment. Since then, I have been much more conscious of the balance between being a strong executor and being a leader who cultivates people. I can still work around the clock, but I also know that I cannot – and should not – do everything myself. For me, leadership is about plowing the field together with others, not alone.”
And when it comes to developing together with others, Thomas immediately points to the CIO Transformation Board:
“I have never experienced a network like the CIO Transformation Board. It is a confidential space where we can share everything – regardless of which industry or company we come from. For me, it is a huge energiser. I prioritise it, even when I am at my busiest, because it simply provides so much value. I have parked all other networks, but this one I will continue to cultivate – also 15 years from now, if it’s up to me.”
”I can still be completely blown away by a good track”
Even though work is an important part of his life, Thomas has his own sources of energy:
“Exercise is an important outlet for me – I actually train almost every day. Often, I spend an hour on the cross trainer with heavy rock in my ears, and it gives me a huge boost.”
And music has indeed been a consistent thread since youth:
“Music has followed me since high school, where I played bass in various bands. It was hard, raw and very loud – but I stopped quickly when I started a family. Still, music is ever present: I listen to rock whenever I get the opportunity and I can still be completely blown away by a good track. For me, it is essentially the same in music as in leadership and digitalisation – it must have energy and make an impact.”
The CIO Transformation Board
In the Danish ICT Industry Association (IT-Branchen), we have the CIO Transformation Board, which brings together the most visionary CIOs from Denmark’s large and medium-sized companies. These are CIOs from businesses where digitalization is a strategic part of the business — but where there is also a desire to do more than just digitalize.
We aim not only to highlight Denmark’s most talented CIOs and share experiences and best practices across industries, but also to set the agenda in the media and with politicians regarding Denmark’s and the business sector’s digital future.
The CIO Transformation Board is created for those who also want to help find the new balance between people and technology. For those who have a stance and want to help influence our green transition, address the skills shortage, and strengthen growth in Denmark.
