Philip Fasano (B.S. ’80) is executive vice president and chief information officer for commercial insurer AIG, a leading global insurance organization that serves 98 percent of Fortune 500 companies.

Fasano chose to attend New York Tech because of the school’s reputation as a leader in technology education. In New York Tech’s state-of-the-art labs, he learned how to work using a Xerox mainframe, an industry-standard at the time. The technical knowledge he gained at New York Tech and working at a local data systems company would eventually set him on a path to leadership roles at a number of the country’s top financial institutions, including Capital One Financial, JP Morgan Chase, and Deutsche Financial Services, as well as healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente. Along the way, he also founded his own strategic advisory and consulting company, working with Fortune 500 companies and the Department of Homeland Security.

Fasano’s time at New York Tech fueled his desire to continue learning, so he went on to earn an M.B.A. His passion for exploring new directions and bringing about change is a theme that has defined his career. It is why he joined AIG in 2014 to help the company use technology to transform the commercial insurance industry.

For Fasano, success begins and ends with people. “We have some extraordinary people working at AIG,” he says. “They bring an incredible ability to look at challenges in a global and local context, and use their expertise to enhance outcomes that improve our business operations.” He enjoys leading his team and takes pride in celebrating their accomplishments as technology and business leaders.

Fasano says his interest in people and his commitment to helping them succeed stems in part from his days at New York Tech. He recalls the camaraderie on the Long Island campus when he and his classmates formed an informal fraternity. They spent lots of time discussing the future of technology and its power to transform. Fasano also recalls a statistics professor who inspired him to explore fields beyond technology and further broaden his knowledge base.

In 2013, Fasano published Transforming Health Care: The Financial Impact of Technology, Electronic Tools and Data Mining. The book draws upon his in-depth knowledge of the industry and how technology has evolved over the years. He says that evolution is happening faster than ever. Among the developments he has followed is the trend toward quantification and how data can influence sweeping change in an industry. “There is data everywhere and new opportunities for people to achieve higher levels of convenience and service,” Fasano says. He plans to work on a new book that will examine how technology played a transformative role in the insurance and financial industries following the Great Recession of 2008.

Family time is important to Fasano and his five children—one who is in college—and he and his wife are always on the run. Still, every 10 years they take up a new challenge. In the past, they have learned to golf, scuba dive, and ski. Now the family is navigating the maritime life as owners of a 54-foot Sea Ray powerboat.