For Harrison Allen Lewis, technology has never been about the shiny new tool or the latest buzzword. Real value begins and ends with the business itself. As the Founding Partner of Jacob Meadow Associates and a three-time CIO with decades of leadership experience across major U.S. retailers, Lewis has seen firsthand that lasting transformation comes from maintaining a sharp focus on business goals. “It really is about being centered in the business,” Lewis explained. “Staying rooted in the business strategy, staying rooted in the business opportunities, staying rooted in the business problems and the pain points and the aspirations.”
At Jacob Meadow Associates, Lewis and his team advise organizations on how to align technology investments with tangible outcomes. Rather than positioning digital tools as isolated solutions, Lewis emphasizes that every recommendation must trace back to a core business need. “We say here is the way that technology can be used to really address those problems, those pain points, those opportunities.”
Technology as a Means, Not an End
Many organizations unknowingly waste between 15 to 20 percent of their technology budgets on systems that add little or no value. However, too often, technology purchases are mistakenly labeled as investments merely by virtue of being acquired. “Everything in the technology stack has to have a reason for existence,” Lewis says. “If you can’t find that reason, it can’t exist. It’s a non-value-add, it’s a waste.”
Drawing on a core principle Lewis calls “optimization of software and services,” a disciplined method for rationalizing technology spend, he steers resources toward initiatives that yield measurable returns by uncovering and eliminating unnecessary or redundant systems. “Our success isn’t about delivering the thing,” he explains. “It’s about delivering the benefits. We bring it into existence, the business uses it, and together you achieve your return on investment.
Speaking the Language of Business Leaders
For Lewis, technology leadership is not about convincing boards or CEOs of tech’s value through jargon, but instead reframing the conversation in terms they already understand. “Business leaders can have a business discussion, but they can’t always have a technology discussion. You’ve got a solution looking for a problem as opposed to here is what is important to my organization, important to my business.” In this experience, executives are far more comfortable and authentic when speaking about their business aspirations and challenges. From there, technology becomes the natural enabler. “We always redirect and say, let’s talk about your business. That is something business leaders are fluent in.”
AI That Remembers What Matters
At Jacob Meadow Associates, AI is being used as part of the services delivered to clients and an internal tool to improve personalization and efficiency. “We embed and weave AI into our recommendations and solutions,” Lewis shares. “It’s not a situation where it is a bolt-on. Instead, we look at a business problem that has always been evasive and say, now here is how you are able to solve that using the entire technology stack, which includes AI.”
One of his most important bets has been strengthening AI’s ability to remember and build on every client interaction. By leveraging techniques that allow AI to retrieve and apply trusted knowledge in real time, his team eliminates redundancy and creates more personalized, forward-looking strategies. “It demonstrates we value the organization’s time and we value what people tell us,” he says. “We are able to deliver very personalized experiences for the organization.”
To ensure these solutions translate into measurable outcomes, Lewis applies a process called business benefit rationalization, which examines tangible, intangible, and quantifiable benefits tied to every recommendation. “We measure success by the benefits realized, not just the technology delivered,” he adds.
A Business-Centered Future for Technology
When technology investments are anchored in strategy, they evolve into catalysts for growth rather than expenses to be controlled. Lewis’s career has encompassed senior posts as Chief Information Officer, Chief Data Officer, Chief Information Security Officer, and Chief Privacy Officer across industries ranging from grocery to financial services. Through these experiences, he has consistently shown that digital transformation flourishes when it speaks the language of business rather than technology.
Lewis has gained a clear understanding of what works and why—and just as importantly, what does not. That understanding became the foundation for Jacob Meadow Associates, created to help organizations avoid wasted effort and focus on the strategies, technologies, and outcomes that truly deliver business value. Today, he draws on this breadth of expertise to guide executives embarking on modernization journeys. “It is always a business transformation first. Then you review the technology, the people, and the process to see how well positioned they are to support the business.”
Lewis continues to share these perspectives with executives through his work at Jacob Meadow Associates and in his writing. More of his insights can be found on LinkedIn and on his personal website.
