After I published my restart post, a friend and former coworker from about 15 years ago asked me a good question.

Do I still code?

The short answer is yes. I still code whenever I get the chance.

That may sound strange now that my role is more focused on leadership, strategy, vendors, security, operations, and everything else that comes with being a CIO. But coding has never felt only like work to me.

It started as a hobby.

And in many ways, it still feels like one.

How It Started

My first exposure to programming was not in a formal computer science class.

It started in the Philippines while I was working at a bank. A coworker taught me how to use macros in Lotus 1-2-3.

That was it for me.

That was the starting point.

I took a crash course in dBase and Clipper, if anyone still remembers those. I know that dates me a little, but that was part of the path.

From there, I was hooked.

I bought a book about Visual Basic 3 and taught myself from it. I still have that book.

At the time, that book cost about a third of my paycheck. Looking back, it became one of the most important investments I made in myself.

It opened a door.

The First Things I Built

Once I started learning, I wanted to build something useful.

One of my first side projects was an inventory program for a pharmacy. It was not glamorous, but it solved a real problem for someone.

That mattered to me.

I also bought my first PC around that time. It was a Pentium 100 with a 1 GB hard drive. I do not remember how much RAM it had, but I remember how excited I was to have it.

There was something powerful about being able to sit in front of that machine and make something work.

That feeling never really left.

Why I Still Code

Even now, coding re-energizes me.

I spend a lot of time now in meetings, conversations, planning, decisions, and problem solving at a different level. That work matters, but it uses a different part of my brain.

Coding gives me a different kind of focus.

There is a problem.

There is a blank file.

There is an idea.

Then slowly, there is something that works.

I still love that.

I especially like building things that help people. That has been the common thread from the beginning. The language, tools, and platforms have changed, but the motivation has stayed the same.

Build something useful.

Make the work easier.

Help someone solve a problem.

That is what pulled me into programming, and it is what keeps pulling me back.

Where AI Fits Now

The difference now is time.

As a CIO, I do not have the same open blocks of time I had earlier in my career. I cannot spend unlimited hours experimenting, wiring things together, and figuring out every detail from scratch.

Before AI, that would have made side projects harder to sustain.

AI changes that.

It helps me move faster. It helps me get unstuck. It helps me explore an idea, scaffold a first version, explain unfamiliar syntax, generate test ideas, and turn a rough thought into something I can inspect and improve.

It does not replace the joy of programming.

It gives me a way to keep doing it despite the constraints on my time.

That is what I am grateful for.

Still A Builder

I usually find time to code in small pockets. Sometimes it is on a Saturday. Sometimes it is between other responsibilities. Sometimes it is because I see a problem and my developer brain immediately starts thinking about how it could be solved.

That instinct is still there.

I have to manage it carefully now. Not every problem should become my personal coding project. Not every solution should be built internally. Leadership requires judgment about when to build, when to buy, when to delegate, and when to wait.

But I do not want to lose the builder part of me.

It has shaped how I think about systems, workflows, data, and operations. It helps me understand what is possible. It helps me ask better questions. It helps me see how a problem might be turned into something practical.

The role changed.

The responsibilities changed.

But the love of building is still there.

AI helps me keep that part of myself active in a season where time is more limited.

That matters to me, because building has always been one of the ways I learn, contribute, and stay connected to the work.