Future Backwards Thinking: How CTOs Should Build Today’s Technology Strategy With Claus Torp Jensen Go Beyond The Connection podcast

What if you stopped optimizing for today and started building from 2040 backward? That’s the challenge Claus Torp Jensen, Chief Technology Officer at the University of Texas Medical Center and Dell Medical School, brings to this conversation with host Steve MacDonald.

A technologist turned storyteller, Claus has served as a Chief Innovation Officer and advisor across industries. He believes the best technology leaders don’t just react to change—they prepare for it. In this episode, he explains how to anchor strategy in a clear future destination, then engineer the steps that make it real.

Together, Steve and Claus explore how future backwards thinking reshapes long-term planning for hospitals, networks, and people-centric innovation. Claus shares examples from his work designing a next-generation academic medical center, where the building itself becomes part of the care team. He discusses robotics and human collaboration, individualized therapies created at the point of care, and why waiting rooms may soon give way to functional lounges that onboard patients into follow-up programs.

This future-first mindset also applies to infrastructure. Claus outlines how generalized sensors paired with smart algorithms can simplify data collection while edge computing filters out noise so teams act faster on what matters. He argues that connectivity is no longer just business-critical—it’s mission-critical—and that healthcare networks must be engineered with double or triple redundancy across wired and wireless paths to ensure patient safety and operational continuity.

Yet technology alone isn’t enough. Claus emphasizes that leadership and storytelling are the glue that hold complex programs together. Knowing who your “chief storytellers” are—and empowering them to share the why behind the work—helps sustain culture and momentum over years of transformation.

“Nobody can predict the future, but you can prepare for it. Ask yourself, where do you want to be in 2040? It’s mind-boggling how it changes the conversation if you start with the future and then you try to go backwards.” — Claus Torp Jensen

Key Learnings

Start with 2040, then work backward. Define the end state first so roadmaps, standards, and budgets line up with where you need to be—not just what’s possible today.
Design for blended teams and care. Plan spaces for people and robots to share corridors, build labs for individualized therapies, and turn waiting rooms into active engagement lounges.
Build wide sensing with smart interpretation. Combine generalized sensors with specialized algorithms and edge computing to deliver faster, more accurate insights.
Treat connectivity as clinical risk management. Engineer redundant paths and measure continuity, not just uptime, with clinicians and operations as partners.
Lead with people and story. Identify storytellers who connect vision to daily work and make long-horizon change feel tangible.

If you’re responsible for networks, applications, or facility programs, this episode offers a practical way to prepare for what’s coming while improving reliability today.

🎧 Listen now, share it with your team, and subscribe to Go Beyond the Connection for more conversations with leaders building for resilience, performance, and human impact.

Companies mentioned:

University of Texas Medical Center, Dell Medical School, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Six Sigma

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