From Migration to Innovation: Leading Tech at Harry Reid Airport with Rishma Khimji | Ep046

Episode Information

Show Notes

Episode Highlights: Join host Manuel Martinez for an inspiring conversation with Rishma Khimji, the pioneering CIO of Harry Reid International Airport. Her story begins with constant movement – nine cities across two countries – and leads to managing technology systems that serve millions of travelers annually.

Rishma’s career trajectory breaks conventional wisdom about climbing corporate ladders. Starting as a junior programmer debugging code for IBM, she discovered her true calling lay in making technology invisible to end users. Her public sector experience spans water utilities, police departments, and now aviation – each role teaching her how technology should serve humanity, not the other way around.

Key Takeaways:

• Embrace Your Migration Story: Constant change teaches adaptability and opens doors you never imagined
• Failure Equals Course Correction: Build backup plans (A, B, and C) because your primary approach won’t always work
• Technology Should Be Invisible: The best systems are the ones passengers never think about
• Community Amplifies Success: Surround yourself with people who champion your growth
• Apply at 50% Qualification: Stop waiting until you’re 100% ready – most learning happens on the job
• AI as Augmented Influence: Use technology to enhance your capabilities, not replace your humanity

Resources Mentioned:

• “Smart Brevity” book referenced by Manuel
• Airport common-use technology systems
• RFID baggage tracking implementation
• Public sector technology transformation strategies

About Rishma Khimji: Rishma serves as Chief Information Officer for the Clark County Department of Aviation, managing technology operations for Harry Reid International Airport and four general aviation facilities. Her leadership spans over 25 years in technology, with experience transforming operations across utilities, law enforcement, and aviation sectors. She’s recognized for her innovative approaches to making technology serve community needs.

Connect with Our Guest: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rishmakhimji/

Next Steps: Ready to accelerate your tech career? Subscribe to Career Downloads for weekly episodes featuring leaders who’ve navigated unconventional paths to success. Each conversation delivers actionable insights you can implement immediately.

Transcription

Manuel: Welcome everyone, my name is Manuel Martinez and this is another episode of Career Downloads. Where each episode I basically hit the refresh button, bring on a different guest to learn more about their experiences and their background, to really help uncover any actionable advice that you can use as you’re managing your own career. So I’m excited for today’s guest. I have with me Rishma Khimji and I have crossed paths with her close up, I’ve come close to crossing paths with her a few times. She’s worked on the public sector and when I used to work at VMware, covering public sector. So that’s kind of when I first became aware of her. I’ve seen a lot of what she’s done since that time. So I’m really excited to kind of get to know more about her and how she’s kind of continued to navigate her career. So with that, I’ll introduce Rishma.

Rishma: Hi.

Manuel: Hi, I appreciate you coming on and again, being willing to share your experiences.

Rishma: No, absolutely, happy to be here. So, I know we haven’t always crossed paths face to face but there’s always been an intersection of acquaintances for us. And so I’m very excited to be here because those friends that have already been on this podcast have spoken very highly of you and so I feel very honored to be here. So thank you.

Manuel: Thank you, I appreciate that. So if you don’t mind kind of telling people a little bit more about what your current role is and kind of some of the responsibilities that you have to manage.

Rishma: Sure, so I’m the first chief information technology officer for the Harry Reid International Airport, more so the Clark County Department of Aviation. We are a system of five airports. So we have the major airport, which is the Harry Reid Airport. And then we have four general aviation airports. Those are our non-commercial airports. So like the Henderson Executive Airport, the North Las Vegas Airport, Overton and Jean. And so we have these great airport systems that allow all of our guests and visitors come into Vegas. And the fun thing about it is I manage all of the technology that surrounds the passenger experience and the airline airport relationship. So I make sure that t