Stop The Presses! The 'Boss Every CIO Would Love' Is Out!Stop The Presses! The 'Boss Every CIO Would Love' Is Out!

Talk about timing: Touted yesterday by Global CIO as the type of boss every CIO would love to have because of his strong advocacy for customer-driven business technology, First National Bank of Omaha president Rajive Johri has just left the company. He says his departure was voluntary. And I say no one should believe there's any such thing as a Global CIO jinx.The Omaha World-Herald reported this week that Johri resigned following the return to an operating position of one of the members of the family that owns controlling interest in FNBO. The story also said, "Johri disputed that interpretation, saying that his departure was planned and voluntary and that the policies he instituted since 2006 moved the bank forward significantly and had [returning executive Bruce] Lauritzen's full support."

The World-Herald also reported that a bank spokesman said Johri's departure was not related to the midyear losses incurred in 2008. Johri, who lives in Connecticut and was commuting to Omaha, told the World-Herald that he had promised his family he would spend three years with FNBO and that his departure is a direct result of that commitment. It will be interesting to see if FNBO's incoming management will maintain the customer-centric technology focus we wrote about earlier this week and that has been led by CIO and senior VP Ken Kucera.