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In a landmark move, the Abu Dhabi Government, Microsoft, and Core42 was made in the presence of H.H. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council, and Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority and member of the Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council will create a unified, high-performance sovereign cloud computing environment capable of processing over 11 million daily digital interactions between government entities, citizens, residents, and businesses. Ahmed Tamim Hisham Al Kuttab, Chairman of the Department of Government Enablement—Abu Dhabi, Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft, and Peng Xiao, Group CEO of G42, entered into the partnership which will be a critical milestone in Abu Dhabi’s digital transformation journey, aiming to make the emirate the world’s first fully AI-native government by 2027. The initiative is backed by a significant 3.54 USD billion investment in digital infrastructure under the Abu Dhabi Government Digital Strategy 2025-2027. This strategy includes deploying over 200 AI-driven solutions to enhance public service delivery, boost operational efficiency, and promote environmental sustainability. Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft, emphasized that AI will transform how governments operate and serve their citizens, with Abu Dhabi leading the way. The partnership sets a standard for AI adoption in the public sector, ensuring data sovereignty while harnessing hyperscale innovation through Core42’s Sovereign Public Cloud, powered by Azure. source

By Bryan Kirschner, Vice President, Strategy at DataStax Change management across people, processes, and technologies is a critical part of succeeding with generative AI (genAI). In earlier articles, we’ve covered the human element and how to adapt your processes; here, we’ll take a look at the third: technology. A recap: A growth mindset and the cognitive value chain Because deploying technology is a means to an end rather than an end in itself, here’s a recap of the keys to achieving great outcomes by deploying a winning genAI infrastructure and architecture. With people, the goal is to inspire a growth mindset toward genAI, much as they would take toward any new tool or technique (such as a spreadsheet or the blameless post mortem). But with genAI, they should be pursuing augmentation excellence (“that was a smart way to use it”) and excellent augmentation (“I’m really glad we did that”). With processes, the goal is to evolve toward a “new normal” way of working in which a cognitive value chain enables knowledge to infuse workflows, at pace and scale, in order to reduce error. It’s conceptually similar to how enterprises developed digital value chains that enabled data to infuse digital experiences, at pace and scale, in order to increase their value. Our goal here is to point you toward technology that will always help, never stumble, and never stand in the way. Access to the right data Let’s start by level-setting on what that entails by using a concrete example that’s likely to become a ubiquitous use of genAI in large enterprises. Here’s what Teresa Heitsenrether, JPMorgan’s chief data and analytics officer, told a Wall Street Journal reporter when asked how genAI will transform work at JPMorgan: “Think about any place in the bank where people are preparing to go and talk to their clients. Today, you have armies of people running around, pulling briefing memos together and making sure that everybody’s prepped. This is a great way of being able to pull those things together more quickly. We see it in legal, in any place where you’ve got lots of documents, a lot of information to sift through.” Off the rack, an LLM-powered genAI app such as ChatGPT Enterprise can lend a hand to any user who can craft a prompt and insert documents into its context window. But with important, ongoing workflows such as preparing for customer meetings, sales calls, or contract negotiations, individuals willy-nilly copying-and-pasting from 17 different data sources simply doesn’t make sense. You want your genAI app developers to be able to build access to the right data sources into tailored enterprise apps, which we represent with the diagram below. The upshot is simple: richer context means better results and greater impact. DataStax Agency and orchestration But there’s an added twist with genAI. Traditional apps can’t display any agency beyond the data sources and queries hard-coded into them. genAI, on the other hand, can choose to make use of tools and APIs to which its given access. So the developer tooling layer must incorporate elements of orchestration, too, a concept which we represent with the next diagram below. It’s a matter of bringing not just whatever is in your data estate to bear, but what might be relevant beyond it as well. For example: if a ticketing database is the system of record for customer support, but one ticket ends with “let’s take this conversation over to Slack,” the genAI app could be equipped to follow the trail. Or if the AI finds conflicting data from internal sources about a customer’s business metrics that are available from a high-quality source such as Dun & Bradstreet, it could tee up the issue and ask permission to make the call. DataStax Finally, for all the human-mind-like behavior genAI can manifest, a genAI app still depends on “math” under the hood to find the most relevant context. And while vector search is table stakes for genAI apps, we know that hybrid search approaches such as combining vector search (for semantic understanding) and lexical search (for exact keyword matching) can improve results. So what we call a knowledge layer is inserted in order to provide full multi-modal search capabilities beyond the SQL queries that used to be the predominant link between your developers and your data. DataStax The building blocks of AI success Putting it all together, these three changes – unstructured data becoming a first-class citizen of the data layer; adding orchestration and data access capabilities at the dev tools layer; and the new knowledge layer – will underpin winning processes for leveraging genAI and set up people (both end users and developers) for success with it. Learn more about DataStax and the technology to help with genAI success. About Bryan Kirschner:Bryan is Vice President, Strategy at DataStax. For more than 20 years he has helped large organizations build and execute strategy when they are seeking new ways forward and a future materially different from their past. He specializes in removing fear, uncertainty, and doubt from strategic decision-making through empirical data and market sensing. source

The mentorship relationship really takes off at the end of the 10-week program, when mentors and mentees are expected to meet once a week for at least three months following completion of the program. Brecht initially had mixed feelings about working in the tech industry, nothing that while it can be exciting to be on the forefront of innovation, the rapid evolving pace of technology can sometimes be overwhelming, especially the pressure to constantly develop skills to stay relevant. But having a mentor helped gain a new perspective on a career path and as a guide through interview processes, as well as even job rejections, to help see that career paths aren’t linear. “You have to be more creative than in past years with your trajectory,” says Brecht. And Saldaña says he’s seen first-hand the confidence boost QueerTech members get when they join, whether it’s through conferences, networking events, or professional development courses. At one conference, he says that during the final reflection session, someone stood up and spoke about often feeling uncomfortable at tech conferences. But by the end, they’d met over 100 people and didn’t feel like an introvert for the first time. “It really surprised them how that shift happened so quickly within that space,” he says. “It’s not just about focusing on business creation, but on supporting the tech talent that’s coming through to land those first roles, and then providing support and guidance as they build their career for longevity,” says Saldaña. source

“IT professionals will now need to focus more on interpreting AI outputs, ensuring accuracy, and making strategic decisions based on AI insights,” he says. “This shift calls for stronger problem-framing abilities, a deeper understanding of AI ethics, and expertise in managing AI-driven workflows. Instead of routine coding, developers will play a greater role in system design, advanced debugging, and optimization.” To ensure they are able to get there, “entry-level IT professionals must master AI-assisted coding, debugging AI outputs, and prompt engineering while strengthening core programming and problem-solving skills. Adaptability, critical thinking, and ethical AI awareness are equally essential in this evolving landscape,” he says. And IT leaders will have to establish training pathways to help lay the groundwork for new career paths. “AI is clearly reshaping IT career paths, shifting focus to dynamic, skills-based growth,” Vohra says. “For IT organizations, this demands a new approach to talent development — one that prioritizes AI fluency, problem-solving, and cross-functional collaboration.” Like previous evolutions in IT work requirements, some current critical skills may quickly become irrelevant as AI and its use cases advance in the workplace. IT leaders who consider the impact this will have on their talent development strategies and pipelines will have a leg up in ensuring their organizations are primed to make the most of what’s to come. source

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By embedding sustainability into enterprise data strategies, CDOs can play a pivotal role in driving long-term environmental and social impact while ensuring their organizations remain competitive and compliant in a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape.  💡Building strong partnerships  For CDOs to successfully integrate sustainability into their data agenda, they must collaborate beyond their immediate teams. Strong partnerships across departments and external organizations are key to ensuring a holistic approach to ESG initiatives.  Internally, CDOs should work closely with sustainability, operations and marketing teams to align data-driven sustainability goals with overall corporate objectives. For example, marketing teams can leverage sustainability data to communicate responsible business practices to consumers, while operations teams can use insights to optimize resource efficiency.  Externally, partnerships with NGOs, academic institutions and regulatory bodies can help CDOs stay ahead of evolving ESG expectations. Collaborating with research institutions can improve ESG data methodologies while engaging with regulators ensures compliance with changing disclosure requirements. Additionally, participating in industry consortiums or sustainability alliances can create opportunities for shared best practices and innovation in sustainable data governance.  💡Advocating for change  To elevate the role of sustainability in data leadership, CDOs must actively advocate for its inclusion in enterprise-wide decision-making. This requires influencing stakeholders, both internally and externally, by demonstrating the strategic value of ESG initiatives.  Internally, CDOs should educate and inspire other business leaders by presenting data-driven insights that illustrate the long-term benefits of sustainability investments. Hosting internal workshops and knowledge-sharing sessions can help integrate sustainability into corporate culture.  Externally, CDOs should participate in industry discussions and conferences, leveraging their expertise to shape the broader ESG discourse. Contributing to panels, publishing thought leadership content and engaging in policy discussions can help drive the agenda forward. Additionally, collaborating with peers from other organizations can lead to industry-wide improvements in sustainability data management.  source

00:00 Maryfran Johnson 0:08Hi, good afternoon and welcome to CIO Leadership Live. I’m your host, Maryfran Johnson, CEO of Maryfran Johnson Media and the former editor in chief of CIO magazine and events. Since November of 2017 this video and audio podcast has been produced by the editors of cio.com and the digital media division of foundry, which is an IDG company. Our growing online library of past interviews, which are all openly available on cio.com and on our YouTube channel, includes more than 150 chief information technology and digital officers from mid sized to large companies across every industry joining us. That esteemed lineup of CIOs today is Deborah Youmans, who is the CIO of MITRE Corporation. Founded in 1958 MITRE is an independent, not for profit organization that provides technology research and development. It’s based in Bedford, Mass., and McLean, Virginia, and has over 10,000 employees operating at six different federally funded R&D centers, and those centers are sponsored by a long list of government agencies responsible for everything from national defense and aviation safety to financial systems, healthcare and cyber security. Deb joined MITRE in August of 2023 to lead more than 400 IT professionals in the enterprise technology division. The tech organization is responsible for a broad range of miters work in innovation and experimentation, information security, enterprise, it business and knowledge services. Before her current role, she was the Vice President and deputy CIO at Booz Allen Hamilton, where she led enterprise solutions across the firm’s 30,000 users. Before that, Deb directed Booz Allen information systems for more than a decade earlier in her 25 year it career, Deb held software project manager and implementation manager roles at ca CI international and American Management Systems. Welcome. Deb, that’s quite a resume. We’re glad to have you here.Deborah Youmans 2:26Thank you so much for having me. Maryfran, I’m very excited to be here.Maryfran Johnson 2:30All right, now, in the year and a half that you’ve been the CIO miter has had a lot going on. You have changed the CEO. You have dealt very openly with a major cyber security attack. And I’d like to start with just some of your perspective on all that, what it’s been like, and what sort of activities you are most engaged with around that.Deborah Youmans 2:52Absolutely. Yeah, I was thrilled to join miter a year and a half ago, and it was an amazing experience coming in. I kind of thought I knew what I was going to be getting myself into accepting the job, and it has been that, and so much more. The the change within miter has been amazing to watch and be part of. As you mentioned, we have a new CEO that started last fall, and then prior to that, we had this, this very large cyber incident, and watching how miter responded to this, and helping lead through the response was really different than what I had seen in other companies. Often, you know, it can be very similar in in companies, and there are many things that are extremely similar, the difference of miter and what has been, you know, the learning process for me is that, as an independent research and development company, our goal is to operate in the public interest. And so, you know, in the scenario of our cyber, cyber incident, we very quickly went public because we thought it was in the public interest to know and to learn. And so that was a real turning point for me to understand how miter works and where our mission and focus is,Maryfran Johnson 4:08yes, well, and it’s that openly discussing, and there were several blog posts, because this was actually a Chinese nation state adversary that attacked, and just kind of displaying the openness around all that was something, not only that, I’m sure a lot of fellow IT and business professionals have read about, but it’s something that you would hope would inspire other companies to deal with their cyber security incidents in this way, so that everybody can keep learning.Deborah Youmans 4:37Absolutely, the CIO community is one that is extremely welcoming. And also, you know, at most companies, there’s one CIO, there’s not many CIOs. And so to learn and to share knowledge, it often happens outside your own company. And so when we, when we released the fact that we had had a cyber breach, which is a hard thing for a company to announce. Else, right? Almost every company has a a stellar cyber program, and they pride themselves in that. And so to say we too had had an attack was really humbling, extremely humbling. And the support that I got from the CIO community was amazing. Not only like, how can we help you, but tell us what you’ve learned so that we can prevent this at our own company. And so it was a combination of an offer for help and, you know, an offer back on my side, to help and share the knowledge that we had so that we could all improve together as an industry, you know, from a CIO perspective. And for your listeners, you know, they the cyber attacks are what keep us up at night and so. So when it happens, making sure that we can share our knowledge is really critical.Maryfran Johnson 5:49Well, it’s always hard to find any kind of significant upside from a cyber attack like this, but when you then go take the risk of being able to publicly talk about it. The upside, one of the upsides you discovered, was how quickly it brought you deeply into that, that network of CIOs, not just in the research and development centers working with the feds, but probably all over McLean, all over the Boston area.Deborah Youmans 6:17Yes, yes. And it was a combination, too. I learned a lot about our own company, right? And the cyber experts we had working within