UC Tech News is excited to launch the UC Tech Leaders Q&A Series in 2026—a series designed to spotlight the voices shaping technology across UC.
What is Your Name?
Beena Albert
What is Your Title? UC Location?
Business Intelligence Technical Lead, UC Office of the President
What are Your Top IT/Security Priorities in 2026?
My top priorities are making sure the data and reports we deliver are accurate and follow the standards set by our leadership. I also focus on learning and sharing new technologies with my team, so we grow together, not just individually.
What Emerging Tech Excites You for Higher Ed?
AI adoption across higher ed is exciting to watch. It’s great to see how staff, faculty, and students across the UC system are using AI to improve their everyday productivity.
What Emerging Tech Worries You?
User adoption of AI worries me. Both the speed at which we start trusting these tools, and at the same time, the users who just don’t want to adopt them at all. I also worry about a rise in false confidence, where someone thinks they can do programming using AI without knowing how to read or troubleshoot the code. Some of these tools just aren’t mature enough yet for that kind of trust.
How Do You Balance Innovation with Security?
I started an Information Security Committee with data engineering leadership and team members across our data services group. It helps drive security remediation for our servers and keeps us compliant with UCOP’s Vulnerability Remediation Program. That work runs alongside an AI agent (UC Data Classifier) I’m building that classifies data according to UC’s Protection Level Classification Guide.
What Principles/Values Shape Your Leadership?
I try to lead in a way that’s collaborative and growth oriented. I also make a point of proactively seeking feedback rather than waiting for it. I believe that supports better decision making and builds trust across the team. As a technical lead, I’m also learning to step back instead of jumping in to fix problems myself, and to work with team members to think, troubleshoot, and solve issues together.
What Books Are You Currently Reading?
Can I be honest and tell you it’s been a while since I’ve read a book? But trust me, I have a huge collection of brand-new books waiting for me 😊
What’s Your Favorite Thing to Do Outside of Work?
It depends on the day and my mood. I like eating out, watching movies and spending time with my loved ones.
Anything Else to Add?
Find a job that you love. I still turn on my work laptop after my daughter goes to sleep, and I love everything about data: finding issues with it and solving them like a detective. Don’t take your life or job for granted. And don’t stress over what you can’t control either.
Thank you for the conversation, Beena!
Beena Albert
Business Intelligence Technical Lead
UC Office of the President
Tech Leader Spotlights
UC Tech News is excited to launch the UC Tech Leaders Q&A Series in 2026—designed to spotlight the voices shaping technology across UC. The UC tech community values hearing directly from its leaders, and this series aims to be both inspiring and informative.
Are you a tech leader at UC? We’d love to hear from you! To participate, please complete the short Q&A form and please include a photo.
