At Covenant Health, Mr. O’Brien is vice president of IT and CISO. He leads the organization’s overall technology strategy, operations and cybersecurity posture, overseeing infrastructure, applications, cloud strategy, service delivery and vendor management. In his role, he is accountable for establishing and maintaining a cybersecurity program covering risk management, regulatory compliance, incident response and threat mitigation. Mr. O’Brien positions IT as a strategic partner rather than a support function, aligning technology initiatives with enterprise goals and building relationships between IT and business units. He has led infrastructure and application teams, managed large cross-functional project portfolios, and implemented governance frameworks that enhance decision-making and accountability. Mr. O’Brien also emphasizes talent development, mentorship and succession planning within his teams. He serves on the boards of directors for OutThink, the Tennessee Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society chapter and the National Organization for Disorders of the Corpus Callosum. He previously held IT leadership roles in health insurance, consulting, automobiles and medical devices.
