Growing up with a Mom that only had one lung taught me a lot about what real adversity was.

Although we didn’t have much, our Mom showed us love and taught us how to be kind & empathetic.

I’ve had 4 pivotal moments in my life:

1. Getting stung by 53 Bees in 4th grade.

2. Being beaten and falsely arrested by police at 12.

3. Surviving a high speed accident and getting 52 staples on both legs at 19.

4. Making the decision to leave a 15 year career to be a full time entrepreneur.

The last one happened today, the day I’m writing this new bio.

I’ve experienced some adversity in my life like most of us, but I still don’t feel that I’ve faced adversity yet, knowing what my Mom went through in her short 54 years on this planet.

Less than two years ago when I started creating content on LinkedIn, everything changed. 

I started to realize that I can make a difference in people’s lives by helping them see things they don’t see in themselves.

Truly making a positive impact and having people walk away different then when they met you is so humbling and a true honor.

Once I realized why I was born, I knew I had to go all in on my mission of helping people Blaze their own trail in business & life.

That’s why I started the Blaze Your Own Trail Podcast 4 years ago as well.

At Blaze Your Own Trail Consulting, LLC I help entrepreneurs Blaze their own trail through strategic Consulting Services, 1:1 & Group Coaching & Digital Courses.

Areas Of Expertise:

Sales 
Digital Marketing 
Social Media Marketing 
Leadership Training & Coaching 
Personal Branding
Systems & Process Integration
Podcast Coaching
Content Strategy 

What I’m Looking For:

Strategic Partnerships
Podcast Sponsors
Speaking Engagements

Are you ready to blaze your own trail? Use the link below to book a call with me today👇🏽

https://calendly.com/byotconsulting/30-minute-discovery-call

Jordan Mendoza

I help organizations in finding solutions to current Culture, Processes, and Technology issues through Digital Transformation by transforming the business to become more Agile and centered on the Customer (data-informed)

CDO, CIO & Digital Transformation Director focused on helping organizations navigate the digital age. I partner with leaders to develop and execute strategies that resolve critical business issues related to culture, processes, and technology, ensuring a human-centric approach to innovation and growth.

Dynamic and results-driven Executive with 25+ years of experience leading strategic change in global organizations and SMBs. Proven expertise in consulting, designing, and implementing business-transformative initiatives that drive cultural, process, and technological change. Skilled in optimizing business processes through innovative technology solutions. Strong track record of building high-performance teams and ensuring organizational effectiveness. Experienced in business units, IT, operations, and professional services/consulting areas. Adept at delivering results, driving efficiency, and leveraging cutting-edge technologies. Excels in strategic planning and execution, collaborating with stakeholders across the organization to drive Digital Transformation. Effective communicator and relationship builder, fostering collaboration and innovation. Demonstrated ability to establish data and information strategies, governance, and policy development to create business value. A human-centric leader committed to driving organizational effectiveness and success in the digital age.

You can reach me at https://dtstrategist.com

Manuel Barragan

What the new Italian law on AI education teaches organizations about workforce strategy

I have seen many organizations completely baffled. They bought expensive AI licenses expecting a productivity boom, but instead, morale tanked and data leaked. Teams feared the software was there to replace them, so they either sabotaged it or used it recklessly. Italy just offered a masterclass on how to fix this: don't just install software; build a fence around it.

In the article, you will learn how to:
1️⃣ Prioritize the People Pillar by mandating real training on ethics and prompts. If a student in Rome needs a license, your directors do too.
2️⃣ Codify the Human-in-the-Loop to lower resistance by explicitly stating that AI recommends while humans decide.
3️⃣ Centralize Governance to stop "shadow AI" tools from compromising your network.
4️⃣ Protect Data with Granularity, ensuring sensitive financials stay off public servers through tier-based classification.

The corporate sector is a playground without fences. We have powerful toys and no supervision. We risk injury, data loss, and revolt. The Italian government showed us that regulation does not stifle progress; it creates the safety required for real adoption.

If your organization lacks a governance framework for its digital tools, Digital Transformation Strategist can help. We design policies, training programs, and data strategies to keep your business safe as you grow. Contact us to build your fence.

View newsletter: Digital Transformation Stories

I have known that many organizations are baffled. They had bought expensive AI licenses for their teams. They expected productivity to double. Instead

Open article: What the new Italian law on AI education teaches organizations about workforce strategy by Manuel Barragan • 3 min read

What the new Italian law on AI education teaches organizations about workforce strategy

The talent war is over.

You lost.

There are not enough experts to fill your open roles.

Here are the 4 rules to develop a "Build from Within" engine.

1. Hunt for Curiosity, Not Credentials
 ❌ Old way: Screen for degrees.
 ✔️ New way: Screen for the employee who hacked their own workflow.

2. The 20% Rule
 ❌ Old way: Training happens after hours.
 ✔️ New way: Allocate 20% of the work week to learning new tech. Paid.

3. Kill the "Fear of Firing"
 ❌ Old way: Mistakes = Performance Improvement Plan.
 ✔️ New way: Celebrate the pilot that failed because it taught you something.

4. Cross-Pollinate
 ❌ Old way: Marketing stays in Marketing.
 ✔️ New way: Move the math wiz from Ops to Data Science.

❌ Stop waiting for a unicorn to apply. ❌

✔️ Build the horse you have into a unicorn. ✔️

Which of these rules is most missing from your culture?
At Digital Transformation Strategist, we guide organizations through this shift.

A CIO fired a manager who hit every single deadline.

His metrics were perfect.
 
But his team was silent.

The CIO walked into their weekly meeting.
He gave orders. They took notes.
No one asked questions.
No one suggested a better way.
They were terrified of making a mistake.

That is not management.
That is a hostage situation.

The CIO pulled him aside.
"You are running a factory line, not a creative team".
The manager argued that efficiency was the goal.

The CIO told him he was wrong.
Efficiency without empathy is just short-term speed.
It kills the future.

The organization replaced him with a leader who admitted when she was wrong.
She told the team: "Here are the guardrails. You have the budget and the goal. How you get there is up to you".

The first month, they missed a deadline.
She didn't punish them.
She asked, "What did we learn?"

In the second month, they automated the process and finished a week early.

Real transformation happens when people feel safe enough to screw up.
If they are scared, they are hiding the problems from you.

Do your employees tell you the bad news? At Digital Transformation Strategist, we guide organizations through this shift.

Stop Buying Tech Toys Until You Build a Fence

Companies throw cash at Tech Toys and expect magic. It didn't happen. Instead, your teams panicked. They saw the new tools as a replacement rather than a helper. Morale dropped, and someone probably pasted confidential financial data into a public chatbot.

This is a failure of organizational culture, not technology. Organizations must build a perimeter. How?

✅ Centralize Your Governance
 Stop the shadow IT purchases immediately. Marketing does not need a credit card to buy an unvetted writing bot. Form a council with IT, HR, compliance, and legal (among other areas). You must validate every tool against security standards before it touches your network. If the tool fails the test, it stays out.

✅ Protect Data with Granularity
 Treat your data like a tiered security system. Classify everything. Public marketing copy goes into the open model. Q4 financial projections stay on your private/secure server. Clear rules prevent expensive leaks.

The corporate sector currently looks like a playground without supervision. We have powerful toys but no fences. We risk injury and data loss daily. Regulation does not stop progress. It creates the safety your team needs to trust the tools.

Is your Tech strategy chaotic or without control? Let Digital Transformation Strategist audit your governance structure today.

Corporate Learning Is Broken: Why Your Team Ignores Your New Platform
 
I sat across from a CEO who was fuming. He’d spent a small fortune on a top-tier Learning Management System (LMS), yet completion rates were in the single digits. 📉 He thought the software was broken; I told him the truth: his approach to human curiosity was the problem. In 2026, corporate learning can’t be a separate destination. If it isn't part of the workflow, it’s just noise.

In this article, you will learn how to:
- Shift from compliance to capability by treating learning as a habit rather than a mandated event.
- Foster psychological safety, creating a culture where "I don't know" is the celebrated starting point for innovation.
- Apply Lean and Agile principles to education, breaking down monolithic workshops into high-impact, five-minute micro-learning chunks.
- Leverage AI as a personal tutor to move past generic content and deliver personalized learning paths based on real performance data.
- Move the needle on Data and Risk Management by measuring business outcomes (like code quality or security) instead of useless "hours completed".
 
Most companies react to the rapid expiration of skills with panic. They buy content libraries and mandate "Digital Basics" courses that busy managers click through while muted on a conference call. This is a process failure. When you treat learning as a supply chain for talent, you realize that an untrained workforce isn't just a productivity drain; it’s a security risk.
 
The tools of 2026 (AI coaches, VR, instant analytics) are only as powerful as the strategy behind them. You can't buy a learning culture; you build it by respecting your people's time and solving their immediate problems. Stop tracking completion rates and start tracking growth.

Are you struggling to get your team to adopt new digital skills? Let’s stop wasting your budget on ghost-town platforms and start driving results. Digital Transformation Strategist can help you turn your learning strategy into a competitive advantage.

I sat across from a CEO some time ago. He looked tired. His company had just spent a small fortune on a top-tier learning management system. He slamme

Open article: Corporate Learning Is Broken: Why Your Team Ignores Your New Platform by Manuel Barragan • 4 min read

Corporate Learning Is Broken: Why Your Team Ignores Your New Platform

Unlocking Human-Centered Digital Transformation
 
This newsletter is different. Why? Shilpi Sharma invited me to do an episode on “Efficiency & Productivity: The Real Outcomes of Human-Centered Digital Transformation” for her podcast, named “Caffeine & Concepts” which is now live.

In this conversation, Shilpi and I explore the critical aspects of Digital Transformation, emphasizing the importance of a human-centric approach. We discuss how empowering employees, fostering collaboration, and ensuring data quality are essential for a successful transformation. The conversation also highlights the need for agile governance and the importance of rethinking processes, especially when integrating AI. Through real-world examples, we illustrate the impact of culture and communication on organizational success, ultimately advocating for a shift in mindset towards empathy and agility in the workplace.

The key takeaway from this enlightening discussion is that Digital Transformation must prioritize the human element to achieve lasting success. By empowering employees, fostering collaboration, and breaking down silos, organizations can unlock true productivity and efficiency. As spoken in the episode, "If I resist change, there is no transformation". Embracing a human-centered approach is essential for any organization looking to thrive in the digital age.

Are you struggling to get the transformation your organization needs? Let Digital Transformation Strategist review it with your team.

This newsletter is different. Why? Shilpi Sharma invited me to do an episode on “Efficiency & Productivity: The Real Outcomes of Human-Centered Digita

Open article: Unlocking Human-Centered Digital Transformation by Manuel Barragan • 3 min read

Unlocking Human-Centered Digital Transformation

The Productivity Paradox: Why Latin American Business Leaders Must Act Now

I sat in a boardroom in Mexico City some month’s ago. The coffee was strong. The strategy was bold. But the CIO looked exhausted. He had a team of brilliant developers, yet they spent their days patching ten-year-old code. They were running fast just to stay in the same place.

This is the Latin American paradox: we have the talent and the hunger, but we lack the structural plumbing to make it flow. Buying tech isn't a transformation; it’s often just an expensive digitization of chaos.

In the article, you will learn how to:
▶️ Rethink your strategy to stop "paving cow paths" and start pivoting toward real value creation.
▶️ Fix your foundation because you can't build an AI skyscraper on a swamp of messy, disconnected data.
▶️ Build talent from within to win the digital war by fostering a culture where it's safe to experiment.
▶️ Stop working alone and embrace partnerships with startups to gain the agility you lack.

Potential does not pay the bills. Execution does. Are you ready to turn your potential into actual results? Let Digital Transformation Strategist look at your current roadmap and find the friction points. Send me a message, and we can start a conversation about real change.

I sat in a "boardroom" in Mexico City some months ago. The coffee was strong. The strategy was bold. But the CIO looked exhausted. He had a team of br

Open article: The Productivity Paradox: Why Latin American Business Leaders Must Act Now by Manuel Barragan • 3 min read

The Productivity Paradox: Why Latin American Business Leaders Must Act Now

The best salesperson blew a massive deal.

He had taken the negotiation course three months prior.

But he forgot the most important rule when it mattered.

He froze on the call.
He caved on price.
Later, he explained himself, "I knew we covered this, but I couldn't recall the specific tactic".

Everybody wanted to blame him.
But it was the organization’s fault.
They had forced him to memorize a textbook in a classroom.
They expected him to recall page 42 while under pressure.
That is not how the human brain works.

They changed their entire approach in just weeks.
They stopped doing "just in case" training.
They started doing "just in time" support.

They built a simple sidebar for his screen.
Now, when he is on a call, he has the key questions right in front of him.
He doesn't need to memorize anything.
He just needs to read.

He closed the next three deals.
He didn't get smarter overnight.
We just stopped making him rely on his memory.

Are you setting your team up to fail by relying on their memory? At Digital Transformation Strategist, we help you fix it.

Are you ready to shift your mindset on Digital Transformation? 

Tomorrow, in my newsletter and along with Shilpi Sharma, I will highlight the importance of a human-centered approach to productivity.

In this short extract, you will find an example of it. 

How do you prioritize your team’s needs? Let Digital Transformation Strategist know!

AI will not save your broken business.

It will just make you make bad decisions faster.

Here is the 3-step foundation you need before you buy the hype.

1. The "Swamp" Check (Data Hygiene)
 ◾ Most companies sit in a swamp of dirty data.
 ◾ AI needs fuel. That fuel is accurate history.
 ◾ If your customer records are a mess, your insights will be worthless.
 Rule: Fix the data at the source, not in the report.

2. The Speed Test (Cloud Strategy)
 ◾ Stop treating the cloud like a hard drive in the sky.
 ◾ It is not about storage. It is about speed.
 ◾ Can you deploy a new tool in 20 minutes?
 ◾ If it takes 3 months to provision a server, you have already lost.
 Rule: value agility over ownership.

3. The Silo Breaker (Integration)
 ◾ Sales sells what Operations cannot deliver.
 ◾ Operations builds what Sales cannot sell.
 ◾ Why? Because their systems do not talk.
 ◾ Connect the pipes.
 Rule: If data has to be emailed, the process is broken.

You cannot apply a fresh coat of paint to a crumbling wall.
Fix the structure first.

Which part of your foundation is cracking right now? 
At Digital Transformation Strategist, we help you arrange it.

At one organization, they looked at their learning logs and saw a massive failure.

They assigned "Advanced Python" to the entire engineering team.

The senior architect finished it in 4 minutes.

He was insulted.
"I wrote a book on this", he told everyone.
"Why are you making me click through these slides?"

He was right.
They were treating their experts like novices.
They were wasting their time satisfying a compliance box.

So they turned on the AI engine.
Now, the system looks at his code commits.
It "sees" that he is flawless in Python but struggles with documentation.
It only sends him resources on technical writing.

It sees the junior dev struggling with syntax.
She gets the Python course.

The complaints stopped.
Engagement went up.
People learn what they need, not what HR thinks they need.

Are you wasting your experts' time with generic content? At Digital Transformation Strategist, we guide organizations through this shift.

Thanks for sharing, Digital Transformation Strategist.

Empowering people drives transformation more than tech alone. You will see the full video with Shilpi Sharma and me in my Wednesday newsletter, where we chat about this topic.

Teams that lead change create sustainable productivity and innovation beyond any tool or system.

View company: Digital Transformation Strategist

Ready to transform your business? 

Discover how a people-first approach can lead to real productivity gains!

Shilpi Sharma and Manuel Barragan emphasize that technology isn't the only driver of change; it's the humans behind it. 

Have you empowered your team to lead the change? Contact us to talk more about it.

Corporate Learning Is Broken

This is a sharp look at how habits drive Digital Transformation more than software, Digital Transformation Strategist. A true learning culture starts with trust and curiosity. Focus on psychological safety, reward questions, and measure problem-solving for real growth.

High-performance teams thrive when leaders trade tracking logins for measuring actual problem-solving. These human-centric strategies are the best way to ensure organizational effectiveness in any business unit.

Which of these habits is missing in your organization? DM me to talk more about it.

Companies waste billions on learning platforms.

Most employees rarely log in after the first week.

Stop buying software and start building these 5 habits.

1️⃣ Safety Over Software
 - You cannot force someone to learn.
 - You must invite them.
 - Fear kills curiosity faster than bad UI.

2️⃣ The "I Don't Know" Rule
 - Make ignorance acceptable.
 - When a leader admits they don't know an answer, the team relaxes.
 - It signals that learning is part of the job.

3️⃣ Reward the Question
 - Most companies reward the expert.
 - You should reward the student.
 - Praise the person who asks the "dumb" question that everyone else was thinking.

4️⃣ Schedule the Time
 - Tools do not create time.
 - Calendars do.
 - Block out 30 minutes a week for the team to learn something new.
 - No meetings allowed during this block.

5️⃣ Measure Growth, Not Logins
 - Stop tracking how many hours people spend on the platform.
 - Track how many new problems they solve.
- Fix the human side first.
 - The technology is the easy part.

Which of these habits is missing in your organization? Contact Manuel Barragan to talk more about it.

Most companies burn cash automating waste.

They see a bottleneck and immediately buy software to clear it.

The use of this 4-step audit shared by Digital Transformation Strategist highlights a vital truth about why many projects fail.

This is disciplined thinking. I have seen many leaders buy tools to speed up processes that should not exist. 

Digital Transformation must start with a whiteboard and a red pen to find real value. Fix the process first, test it in one team, then bring in tech. Automation should multiply value, not hide broken flow.

What process in your company needs to be reviewed today? 
DM me to start talking about it.

Most companies burn cash automating waste.

They see a bottleneck and immediately buy software to clear it.
 
Use this 4-step audit before you spend a dime on technology.

We use this with every client before we talk about Digital Transformation.
 
Step 1: The Value Stream Map
 - Draw the process on a whiteboard.
 - Include every hand-off, approval, and waiting period.
 - Circle every point where work stops.
 - If a step does not add value to the customer, mark it in red.
 
Step 2: The Elimination Round
 - Do not ask "How do we make this faster?"
 - Ask "Why does this exist?"
 - If the answer is "compliance", check the actual rule.
 - Usually, the rule is a myth.
 - Delete the red steps.
 
Step 3: The Revenue Test
 - Look at what is left.
 - Will digitizing this create new revenue?
 - Or will it just save pennies?
 - If it is only about cost, be careful.
 - Cost-cutting projects often cost more than they save.
 - Revenue projects pay for themselves.
 
Step 4: The Tiny Pilot
 - Do not roll out globally.
 - Pick one team.
 - Change the process manually for them.
 - See if it breaks.
 - If it works, then bring in the IT team.
 - Fix the flow.
 - Then buy the tool.

What process in your company needs to be reviewed today? 
Contact Manuel Barragan to start talking about it.

Are you really an Agile Organization?

This is a great post by Digital Transformation Strategist about doing vs being agile. Tools fail when the culture remains rigid. Safety, ownership, and questioning norms drive results. Software alone can’t create a culture of accountability or innovation.

Digital Transformation requires trust. Leaders must prioritize the human experience to see real results. Fix your culture before you buy another expensive license.

Is your organization not being agile? DM me so we can help you be 😉

Most companies are faking Agile.

They buy the software but keep the bureaucracy.

Here is the difference between "doing" Agile and "being" Agile:

The Focus
- Fake Agile: Focuses on tools and tickets.
- Real Agile: Focuses on people and interactions.
 
The Leadership Style
- Boss: Demands compliance and tracks hours.
- Leader: Creates safety and tracks outcomes.
 
Handling Failure
- The Old Way: Punish the mistake. Hide the evidence.
- The New Way: Share the mistake. Fix the system.
 
Process Management
- Bad Efficiency: "We have always done it this way".
- True Efficiency: "Why do we do this at all?"
 
Automation Strategy
- Trap: Automate everything to save time.
- Truth: Simplify first. Automate what remains.
 
The Outcome
- Compliance: People do what they are told.
- Ownership: People solve the problem.

Technology is the easy part.
- Changing the human mindset is the real work.
- Stop buying tools until your team feels safe enough to tell you the truth.

Which one does your company struggle with the most? Contact Manuel Barragan to talk more about it.

You can't manage what you can't measure across borders.

When Sales, Operations, IT, and Finance keep separate scorecards, you lose money.

I use a "Silo-Buster" audit to fix this.

Step 1: Map the Relay Race
 - Don't look at the org chart.
 - Look at a single order.
 - Trace it from the first email to the final payment.
 - Mark every time the "baton" drops between departments.

Step 2: Identify the Black Holes
 - Find the spots where data disappears.
 - Usually, this happens when Sales hands off to Operations.
 - Or when Operations hands off to Finance.
 - If you have to export data to Excel to move it, that is a black hole.

Step 3: Unify the Definitions
 - Ask Sales: "What is a booked order?"
 - Ask Finance: "What is a booked order?"
 - If the answers are different, stop everything.
 - Agree on the math before you buy the tool.

Step 4: The Shared KPI
 - Give disparate teams a single shared goal.
 - Tie the Sales bonus to the installation speed.
 - Tie the IT bonus to the Sales uptime.
 - Watch how fast they start talking to each other.

Step 5: The Tech Bridge
 - Now you connect the systems.
 - Technology works only when humans agree on the goal.
- Stop optimizing islands.
 - Build bridges.

Do your Sales, Operations, IT, and Finance teams agree on the numbers? At Digital Transformation Strategist, we help you fix it.

taplio

The Battle

Jordan Mendoza

Manuel Barragan

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreManuel Barragan's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Jordan Mendoza

Manuel Barragan

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Manuel Barragan's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreManuel Barragan's LinkedIn Performance