Stephen Andriole

Stephen J. Andriole was the Director of the Cybernetics Technology Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) where he managed a program of research and development that led to a number of important scientific and technological advances in the broad-based information, decision, and computing sciences.

Dr. Andriole was the Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. where he was responsible for identifying technology trends, translating that insight into the Safeguard investment strategy, and leveraging trends analyses with the Safeguard portfolio companies to help them develop business and marketing strategies. Dr. Andriole was also a Principal at TL Ventures, one of the Philadelphia region’s largest private equity venture capital funds. He also participated directly in raising nearly $1B for Safeguard and its partner companies. At its peak, the value of Safeguard and its partner companies exceeded $100B. Dr. Andriole participated directly in the Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of eleven companies and directed due diligence projects supporting investments in over fifty companies.

Dr. Andriole was the Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President for Technology Strategy at Cigna Corporation (NYSE: CI), a global insurance and financial services company, where he was responsible for the enterprise information architecture, computing standards, the technology research & development program, digital security, as well as the overall alignment of enterprise information technology invest-ments with Cigna’s multiple lines of business. He was also the Interim CIO of Shire Pharmaceuticals where he stabilized the technology environment and launched multiple projects to modernize and transform the technology organization especially as it applied to governance.

Dr. Andriole is currently the Thomas G. Labrecque Professor of Business Technology of Business in the Villanova School of Business at Villanova University where he teaches artificial intelligence & machine learning, emerging business technologies, and innovation and entrepreneurialism. Dr. Andriole is formerly a Professor of Information Systems & Electrical & Computer Engineering at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he conducted applied research in information and software systems engineering, principally through the Center for Multidisciplinary Information Systems, which he founded and directed. Dr. Andriole was also a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Information Systems & Systems Engineering at George Mason University where he held the George Mason Institute Professorship of Information Technology.

Dr. Andriole’s research on digital transformation was recently published in the Sloan Management Review, IEEE IT Professional, the California Management Review, the Communications of the AIS, the International Journal of Technology Management, the European Business Review and the Communica-tions of the ACM. His most recent books include The Digital Playbook published by Pearson Trade Professional in 2023 and Start-Ups DECLASSIFIED in 2025 by Business Expert Press in 2025. His forthcoming book – How Executives Should Think About AI – will be published in 2026 by Taylor & Francis. Some of his other books include the Sourcebook of Applied Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence & National Defense, Applications in Artificial Intelligence, Defense Applications of Artificial Intelligence.