Information Week

There might be someone, somewhere — possibly on some isolated South Pacific Island — who hasn’t wondered about the impact of artificial intelligence and other technologies on their job. For the rest of us, AI’s invasion has the workforce pondering what it means to us, how it changes the nature of our work, the value of our paychecks, and even if we have a job going forward.  All legitimate questions.  Browsing through the past year or so of InformationWeek articles, we found a boatload of content focused on the role of AI and other tech today and in the future. In updating this Future of Work Quick Study, posted in mid-2023, we hope to provide you with insight into what IT leaders and their teams can expect from those technologies, and how they can build a modern workforce that enables their organizations and careers to flourish.  One thing we can be sure of is that, for all the change we’ve seen in the past couple of years, still more change is on the horizon.  The Hybrid: Work From Home and From Work  It’s Different IT: Tech Support for Remote Users  How does the IT team’s approach change when it must provide technical support for remote workforces?  Onboarding Employees in the Age of Remote  Remote changed IT hiring fast, but onboarding employees didn’t quite keep pace. Often, new employees like software engineers benefit from having someone sitting across from them. Here’s insight from a company that’s been there and done with advice on how to get it right.  Are Return to Work Mandates Wise?  Some businesses are mandating that some or all employees return to the office. While the motives are understandable, there’s more to the story.  Negotiating Remote Work Agreements as Listings Thin  As organizations angle to get workers back to a more regular in-office work schedule, IT professionals are still in a strong position to bargain for remote and hybrid agreements, given the robust IT jobs market.  6 Lessons Learned from the Big Return to Office Debate of 2023  Hint: Trust your people for hybrid work to fuel the business.  6 Challenges and Opportunities for Hybrid and Remote IT Teams  Remote and hybrid work is here to stay. What does that mean for IT teams when employees want it, but managers may not like it?  ‘Manage By Walking Around’ in the Remote World  The concept ‘manage by walking around’ encourages CIOs and other execs to get away from their desks to really see how projects are progressing. Does it work in a remote workplace? Here’s some advice.  AI: A New Ballgame for the Workplace  Building an Augmented-Connected Workforce  AI and other advanced technologies are unleashing the augmented-connected workforce, enabling human-machine partnerships for new levels of business productivity.  Nvidia’s Jensen Huang on Leadership, ‘Tokenization,’ and GenAI Workforce Impact  The GPU chipmaking giant’s CEO says it’s important for CIOs to get started with AI and called for a more positive outlook on the emerging tech’s impact on the workforce.  CIOs Can Build a Resilient IT Workforce with AI and Unconventional Talent  As the IT talent crunch continues, chief information officers can embrace new strategies to combine traditional IT staff with nontraditional workers and AI to augment the workforce.  AI: Friend or Foe?  Adoption of AI continues, further fueled by generative AI. Like with all things tech, the hype needs to be tempered with a realistic expectation of results.  Navigating the Impact of AI on Teams  Leaders should prioritize artificial intelligence literacy, empathy, and balance AI benefits with human insights to navigate the transformative impact of AI on teams effectively.  How CEOs and IT Leaders Can Take the Wheel on Responsible AI Adoption  Leaders expect AI to reshape business, but readiness varies. Here’s why it’s crucial for CEOs, CIOs, and CTOs to develop responsible AI safety and innovation strategies now.  What Is the Future of AI-Driven Employee Monitoring?  Workplace monitoring isn’t new, but AI is giving employers new powers to sift through employee data and analyze their work performance.  How Companies Can Retain Employee Trust During the AI Revolution  Recent surveys indicate a trust gap among most employees, driven largely by job insecurity. Here are some ideas for enterprise leaders on how to grow  Utilizing Automation to Alleviate Alert Fatigue, Workforce Shortages, and More  This session explores strategies to address the growing volume of vulnerabilities and associated challenges of alert fatigue and resource shortages through safe automation.  The IT Jobs AI Could Replace and the Ones It Could Create  Transformative power of AI has the potential to eliminate and create jobs in the IT field.  Hire or Upskill? The Burning Question in an Age of Runaway AI  Generative AI speaks like a human but to make it work employees have to think like a machine. Where do you go to find that kind of talent?  The People (and Machines) You Work With  Quick Study: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion  Are we making progress in this sensitive, timely topic? Here’s a snapshot of our own articles on why DEI matters, how companies are addressing it, educational initiatives, cutting through bias, and more.  AI Robots Are Here. Are We Ready?  Robots are getting smarter and more intuitive thanks to advances in artificial intelligence. Can people survive the competition?  Eliminating Remote Work Will Ruin Tech’s Drive for Diversity  With some tech companies saying diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is unimportant, remote work should continue to be an option available at tech companies to increase DEI and help solve staffing challenges.  A New Generation and the Future of Sustainable Computing  The Gen Z generation has grown up with both powerful technology and a keen awareness of environmental impact. How will their perspectives as the new data scientists and stakeholders shape the future of sustainable computing?  The Importance of Mentors in Tech and Finance  Here’s why mentorship is instrumental in career growth, providing guidance and support for personal and professional development.  Integration, Insight, and AI Will Define DEI’s Next Era  Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are more important

Generation Z is the driving force fundamentally redefining the world and our business landscape. Growing up amid a digitally defined, network-oriented environment that moves at unprecedented scale, scope, and speed — Gen Zers, also called Zoomer or iGen-ers — are the first generation shaped by digital technology.  Born a few years after the World Wide Web debuted in 1993, this post-millennial digital native generation has grown up with the internet. As they seamlessly blend online and real worlds, Gen Zers, an integral part of business today, are heralding the shift from the digital age to the virtual age.  While previous generations invented most of the technology Gen Zers have at their fingertips, their inherent AI fluency helps them radically redefine the future of work, play, and social life. Every facet of their life has been profoundly shaped by AI tools and solutions, leading to new methods of working and connecting with others.   The speed and scale afforded by new technologies like GenAI is also reflected in the new attitudes to how they get work done. Unsurprisingly, GenAI tools are the preferred sidekick for tech-savvy Zoomers, with more than 50% using it at work to free up their time for strategic work.   As we welcome the next wave of innovation and the youngest cohort of workers, it’s essential for Gen Z to channel the following skills to thrive in the AI-driven era:  Related:Tech Company Layoffs: The COVID Tech Bubble Bursts Creativity: AI can process vast amounts of data and identify patterns, but it lacks the spark of human creativity. Thinking outside the box, generating novel ideas, and envisioning the future will be indispensable.  Imagination: Imagination is the fuel that drives innovation. It allows for new possibilities, challenges the status quo, and develops solutions to complex problems.  Problem-solving: While AI can assist in identifying problems and analyzing data, it is humans who possess the critical thinking skills, empathy, and judgment necessary to devise effective solutions.  But as we guide Gen Z toward harnessing the power of AI, businesses should proactively adapt to the needs of Gen Z, recognizing their value as a tech-savvy generation that is shaping the ‘future of work.’  Redefining the Workplace for Zoomers  According to the World Economic Forum Gen Z will make up about 27% of the workforce by 2027 and 29% by 2030. By recognizing the unique skill set of Gen Zers, organizations can capitalize on their potential to create a more adaptable, innovative, and human-centric workplace.   To build a collaborative ecosystem for the future workplace, organizations must consider the following:  Related:How to Keep IT Team Boredom From Killing Productivity Invest in continuous learning: The rapid AI development and proliferation of tools has also created unrealistic expectations about capability and proficiency, highlighting the importance of better training, continuous learning and more importantly governance of tools. It’s important for organizations to foster a culture of lifelong learning to keep employees adaptable to evolving technologies and to offer training programs for effective governance to avoid misuse of tools and create a knowledge-sharing environment.  Use AI as co-pilot in the workplace: Gen Z brings a new perspective, and they do not view AI as a threat or competitor but a valuable collaborator. They are accustomed to using AI assistants for data analysis, modifying product design, and gaining insights to enhance their work. This paradigm shift demands a focus on developing skills that complement AI, like creativity, critical thinking, and the ability to transform AI-generated data into practical strategies.  Adopt tools that reflect the needs of digital age humans: Gen Z workers have more AI fluency than their more senior colleagues as evidenced by this recent study, which underscores the need to do away with outdated, legacy tools and platforms to promote real change. Now, organizations must adopt better systems and software that match the needs of this younger workforce wave.  Related:Quick Study: The Future of Work Is Here Invest in digital tools and infrastructure to foster collaboration: Growing up in a hyper-connected world, this generation thrives both in the digital and physical realm. In an era of hybrid work, organizations must strive to provide phygital (physical + digital) environments to foster connections, spur productivity and boost culture. This also helps promote a sense of belonging.    Future Is Bright for Gen Z and AI As we navigate the rapidly evolving future of work, it’s clear that Gen Z is at the forefront of innovation. Their digital fluency, combined with their creativity, imagination, and problem-solving skills, positions them as invaluable assets in the AI-driven era.  By fostering a workplace that supports continuous learning, innovation, and collaboration, organizations can harness the full potential of Gen Z and create a more adaptable, innovative, and human-centric future, centered on a partnership — not a tradeoff — between humans and AI. If organizations understand and embrace this dynamic, they’ll be poised to create a world where technology augments human capabilities, with Gen Z at the helm of this transformation, defining the future of work for generations to come.   source

Dear reader, Today, Informa Tech, the company behind InformationWeek, is combining with TechTarget’s technology websites and Informa’s award-winning industry publications to create a new company: Informa TechTarget.  Our editorial footprint is greatly expanding. The combined Informa TechTarget newsroom features many of the most trusted publications in B2B media, over 300 world-class business journalists, and in-depth coverage across 30+ technology segments and 45+ industry verticals. In 2025 alone, we expect to produce over 60,000 stories that provide essential information for our readers across many markets.  Our commitment to you remains the same. Our newsroom of journalists will continue to independently report on the most notable developments, innovations, and disruptions in our markets. Whether navigating new technologies, regulations or market dynamics, you need insight you can trust to make smart decisions and navigate the evolving business landscape. Readers who come to our publications can expect reliable industry information they can’t get anywhere else.  For more information, you can read the company’s press release and check out our combined portfolio of publications. Thank you for reading — and stay tuned for more vital coverage and resources as we continue to grow. Sara Peters, Editor-in-Chief, InformationWeek source

Boredom is easy to detect, yet difficult to define and even tougher to address. Boredom indicates that a current activity or situation isn’t providing sufficient engagement or meaning. An IT leader’s goal should be to help bored individuals — even entire teams — shift their attention to tasks and activities that are fulfilling and enriching.  IT team boredom often stems from mind-numbing repetitive tasks that drain creativity and engagement, observes Carl Herberger, CEO of Corero Network Security, a threat intelligence insights and analysis firm. “The irony is that the very efficiency IT seeks to create can trap teams in a cycle of monotony,” he says in an email interview.  It all comes down to engagement, says Orla Daly, CIO with workforce development firm Skillsoft. “IT teams may lack engagement because the work isn’t considered sufficiently challenging or feels repetitive,” she explains in an online interview. Many tech professionals want the opportunity to become familiar with new technologies and to keep their skills up to date. “When organizations fail to provide a good balance of opportunities, team members can become disengaged,” Daly notes.  Yet engagement isn’t just about gaining access to new technologies. If team members attempt to try a new task without enough skills and support resources to be successful, they may become disengaged, Daly cautions. “It’s important to couple access with the right support frameworks.”  Related:Tech Company Layoffs: The COVID Tech Bubble Bursts Risky Business  A bored IT team is a ticking time bomb, Herberger warns. “The risks are clear: increased turnover as talent walks out the door, underperformance that drags down productivity, and a contagious drop in morale that can spread like a virus across the organization,” he says. “Worse, in a competitive industry, boredom kills innovation, leaving your company vulnerable to being outpaced by more engaged and agile competitors.”  A disengaged IT team, or team subset, can negatively impact business performance, since members are probably not contributing to their full abilities. “Additionally, it can impact company culture, creating a suboptimal work environment and lowering the drive of more motivated employees,” Daly says. She points to a Gallup survey that shows disengaged employees cost organizations worldwide $8.8 trillion in lost productivity. The same report found that companies with actively engaged employees can provide enormous benefits, including 23% higher profitability and 18% lower turnover for high-turnover organizations.  Related:Quick Study: The Future of Work Is Here Most at Risk  IT teams stuck in the trenches of repetitive, mundane tasks — such as routine maintenance or low-level coding — are most at risk of succumbing to boredom, Herberger says. “These assignments often fail to provide the intellectual stimulation that keeps talent engaged, turning what could be an incubator for innovation into a dead-end job that saps motivation.”  Daly agrees. “While individual motivations play a big role, there’s a greater risk of disengagement from teams involved in routine, repetitive tasks that could be automated, or where team members do not understand the purpose of their role and how it connects to the overall company performance.”  Solutions  To reinvigorate a sagging IT team, Herberger recommends shaking things up by introducing fresh challenges and innovation opportunities: “Whether it’s rotating team roles, fostering a culture of collaboration, or carving out time for passion projects, the goal is clear: disrupt the routine, reawaken creativity, and make the team feel like they’re part of something bigger than just punching the clock.”  Meanwhile, empathy and open communication can help IT leaders identify the root causes of disengagement and identify effective solutions, such as pursuing new certificates, establishing mentorships, or reorganizing responsibilities, Daly says. “Engage in exercises that drive innovation,” she suggests. “Learning something new generally excites people — they feel like they’re developing, growing, and that tends to get people engaged.”  Related:AI and Gen Z: A Perfect Match for Innovation Workers often cite a lack of growth and development opportunities as the reason to move to a new job, Daly says. “Build opportunities for employees to propose new ideas and lend their expertise on projects they wouldn’t typically be a part of, encouraging these skilled professionals to use the full scope of their abilities.” She also stresses the importance of encouraging open communication.  Preventative Measures  Proactive leadership is key, says Hiren Hasmukh, CEO of IT asset management solutions provider Teqtivity. “Regular check-ins, setting clear goals, and providing opportunities for professional development can help,” he advises via email. “Fostering a culture of innovation, where team members can propose and lead new initiatives, can be very effective.”  Daly recommends that IT leaders stay close to their workforce in order to understand their engagement levels, manage mundane tasks effectively, and create space for more interesting assignments. To help prevent disengagement, he suggests offering learning opportunities and activities that promote development and growth. “Upskilling and reskilling are essential strategies to combat disengagement in the workforce.”  A Final Observation  It’s important to recognize that occasional lulls in excitement are normal in any job, Hasmukh says. “The key is to create an environment balanced with periods of challenge and growth.”  source

When they refer to “bench strength” in sports, they’re talking about the ability of a less skilled player to step in and play a big role if a main performer is unavailable. For years, IT leaders have wanted bench strength. However, those leaders found that achieving bench strength has been an elusive goal in tight job markets.   Is there a way you can develop a bench? Yes, IT can develop bench strength.  The first step is to identify the talent shortfalls in IT, where most CIOs will find the following gaps:  Talent shortages in new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), automation, database architecture, information management, cloud management, and edge IT Shortages of talent in the bread-and-butter infrastructure stalwarts, such as network architecture and systems software In the infrastructure category, one cause of declining bench strength is baby boomer retirements. Computer skillsets have systematically been abstracted from newer IT workers, who now work through point and click GUIs (graphical user interfaces) to provision, monitor and manage infrastructure resources. Unfortunately, the more highly abstracted IT tools that newer workers use don’t always get to the bottom of a bug in system infrastructure software. That bug could bog down a hotel reservation system resulting in loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bookings per hour. For this, you need “down to the metal” skills, which boomers have excelled at.   Related:How to Build an Effective IT Mentoring Program The net result for IT managers and CIOs is that they find themselves short in new skill areas such as AI, but also in the older IT disciplines that their shops must continue to support, and that younger IT’ers aren’t exposed to.  Setting Your Bench Strength Targets  Since talent is likely to be short in new technology areas and in older tech areas that must still be supported, CIOs should consider a two-pronged approach that develops bench strength talent for new technologies while also ensuring that older infrastructure technologies have talent waiting in the wings.  Here are five talent development strategies that can strengthen your bench:  Partnering with schools that teach the skills you want. Companies that partner with universities and community colleges in their local areas have found a natural synergy with these institutions, which want to ensure that what they teach is relevant to the workplace.   This synergy consists of companies offering input for computer science and IT courses and also providing guest lecturers for classes. Those companies bring “real world” IT problems into student labs and offer internships for course credit that enable students to work in company IT departments with an IT staff mentor.  Related:Jumping the IT Talent Gap: Cyber, Cloud, and Software Devs The internships enable companies to audition student talent and to hire the best candidates. In this way, IT can sidestep a challenging job market and bring new skills in areas like AI and edge computing to the IT bench.   There are even universities that teach “down to the metal” skills at the behest of their corporate partners. The IBM Academic Initiative, which teaches students mainframe software skills, is one example.  Using internal mentors. I once hired a gentleman who was two years away from retirement because he 1) had invaluable infrastructure skills that we needed; and 2) he had expressed a desire to “give back” to younger IT employees he was willing to mentor. He assigned and supervised progressively more difficult “real world” projects to staff.  By the time he left, we had a  “bench” of three or four persons who could step in.  Not every company is this fortunate, but most have experienced personnel who are willing to do some mentoring. This can help build a bench.  Use consultants and learn from them. At times in my CIO career, I hired consultants who possessed specialized technology skills where we lacked experience. When my staff and I evaluated consultants for these assignments, we graded them on three parameters:   Related:Hiring Hi-Tech Talent by Kickin’ It Old School 1) Their depth and relevance of knowledge for the project we wanted done;   2) Their ability to document their work so that someone could take over when their work was complete; and   3) Their ability and willingness to train an IT staff member. Getting the project done was a foremost goal, but so was gaining bench strength.   Give people meaningful project experience. It’s great to send people to seminars and certification programs, but unless they immediately apply what they learned to an IT project, they’ll soon forget it.  Mindful of this, we immediately placed newly trained staff on actual IT projects so they could apply what they learned. Sometimes a more experienced staff member had to mentor them, but it was worth it. Confidence and competence built quickly.   Retain the employees you develop. CIOs lament about employees leaving a company after the company has invested in training them. In fact, the issue became so prominent at one company that the firm created a training “vesting plan” whereby the employee had to reimburse the company for a portion of training expenses if they left the company before a certain prescribed time.   A better way to retain employees is by regularly communicating with them, giving them a sense of belonging that makes them feel part of the team, assigning them to meaningful work, and rewarding them with paths to advancement and salary increases.  Companies (and employees) continuously change, and there is no guarantee that IT departments will always be able to retain their most competent performers. Consequently, it’s critical to develop employees, to actively and continuously engage with them, and to foster an open and pleasant working experience.  By doing so, CIOs can improve staff skill agilities in their organizations and be ready for the next tech breakthrough.  source

An enterprise’s culture is defined by a lot of different things: shared organizational values, how leaders behave, the way teams interact. A company’s culture can make or break its business. Increasingly, cybersecurity is a risk that enterprise culture cannot ignore. Phishing scams. Zero-day vulnerabilities. Ransomware. Threat actors can levy various tools in their arsenal at anyone in an organization, from executives to members of the help desk.   InformationWeek spoke to security leaders from three different companies about how they approach building a security-first culture across their organizations and what that can look like for different companies.   Recognizing Obstacles  Culture is a complex concept, not easily built and maintained. What are some of the biggest obstacles cybersecurity leaders face when establishing security as a core cultural value?  First of all, enterprises have a lot of priorities: driving revenue, marketing products and services, supporting customers and employees, and, of course, security. While each priority plays an important role in sustaining a business, they may compete with one another for talent, time, and budget.   “How do you get the organization to put security on … par with increasing EBITDA or trying to maximize your revenue?” asks John Cannava, CIO at Ping Identity, an identity management and governance company.   Related:Does Cyber Insurance Drive Up Ransom Demands? That’s a tough question to answer, especially when enterprise teams view security as a stumbling block rather than a business enabler. Often security protocols, and with good reason, force people to slow down.  “As soon as employees think that it’s an obstacle to overcome, they may look at creative ways to bypass that security control,” Monica Landen, senior vice president and CISO at Diligent, a board and governance software company, says.   Cybersecurity cannot be the sole responsibility of security and IT teams, but it is the responsibility of these team leaders to demonstrate its value to everyone in an organization.   “There is continuous need to not just come up with the right control set but also to figure out what are the best ways to scale those controls across such a heterogenous, large landscape,” says Sebastian Lange, CSO at software and technology company SAP.  Identifying Security Champions  Identifying the right security controls, scaling them across an organization, and threading that security-first mindset throughout an entire organization requires security champions. Oftentimes, the CISO and CIO wear that mantle, but the person or people who fill that role will vary depending on the size, structure, and maturity of an organization. At SAP, Lange and Marielle Ehrmann, the company’s global security compliance and risk officer, co-lead global security and cloud compliance.  Related:Lessons from Banking on the Role of the Chief Risk Officer SAP has more than 100,000 employees around the world. “Each line of business in SAP often [has its] own architectural uniqueness, sometimes even their own execution culture. How do you fit around that?” asks Lange.   The company has business information security officers for each line of business. “They do the line of business-specific security implementation. So, within that model, we are spreading our security and compliance strategy into each and every line of business,” Ehrmann explains.   SAP also identifies employees throughout the business as security champions, people who teammates can turn to with security questions related to their everyday work. “There are quite a few embedded in all of the different areas of the business to help further the availability of people with expertise but also context [and] knowledge of the day-to-day work [of] … employees,” says Lange.   At Ping Identity, the head of product plays a big role in championing security initiatives. “We’ve taken the security team and embedded it within our engineering organization so that it’s not a high-friction interaction between those organizations,” says Cannava. “They’re part of the same team who’s delivering a solution that has security as part of its core value.”    Related:Why Are Organizations Still Getting Hacked? Whoever leads security efforts should be accessible to everyone in the company, from the board and C-suite on down. “[Make] sure that the cybersecurity leader … is visible and approachable and really sets clear organizational priorities across the company in easy-to-understand terms,” says Landen.   Securing Buy-In  Whoever is championing enterprise-wide security needs to secure buy-in from everyone within an organization. At the top, that means getting the C-suite and board to throw their weight behind security.  “At the end of the day, if you don’t have the CEO on board and the CEO isn’t … voicing the same level of prioritization, then it will be something that’s viewed as a half step back from … fundamental business priorities,” Cannava warns.   Effective communication is a big part of getting that buy-in from leadership. How can security leaders explain to their boards and fellow executives that security is an essential business enabler?  “Really [convert] the technology language or cyber language or jargon into how will … that risk potential impact revenue or reputation or our compliance?” says Landen.   Tabletop exercises can be a powerful way to not just tell but show executives the value of cybersecurity. Walking through various cybersecurity incident scenarios can demonstrate the vital connection security has to operations and business outcomes. Ping Identity periodically engages multiple members of the C-suite in these exercises.  “Not only do you know learn what the gap is, you also learn by doing … you’re pulled in and engaged as a member of the C-suite, and now you’re invested,” he says. “So, when you go back to your teams, you can share with them why this is so important.”  Executives can and should talk about the importance of security, but employees throughout an organization are busy with their day-to-day responsibilities. Cybersecurity can easily slip through the cracks.   It requires regular communication, not a single training done as a part of onboarding and quickly forgotten. “We find it really important to explain to our employees the ‘why’ of security and what it means to the overall company’s success or brand,” says Cannava.   Explaining that “why” can come in the form of education. For

An IT project timeline that’s overly optimistic can lead to delays, cost overruns, missed opportunities and, in extreme instances, complete project failure. It can also make the project leader look weak or incompetent.  While there are multiple ways to build a project timeline, keeping it simple by starting with the overarching scope and then breaking it down into individual smaller components is key, says Sathya Chandrasekar, a managing director with Deloitte Consulting, in an online interview.  Sharif Naqib, senior director of project management and resourcing at IT consulting firm SADA, says the project sponsor must clearly understand the venture’s value as well as key constraints, including timelines, scope, and budget. In an email interview, he advises project leaders to research ways to embrace enterprise and industry best practices and then build a draft timeline leveraging input from the team’s subject matter experts.  A quality project timeline will have deliverables and milestones with strict deadlines tied to them, says Mary Rivard, a partner with technology research and advisory firm ISG. “Milestones are critical, because they provide specific points within the project to measure progress and keep the team on track,” she notes via email.  Related:How to Keep IT Team Boredom From Killing Productivity When planning, be sure to include time for business readiness, employee feedback, and training, Naqib advises. “Many project leaders leave time for quality assurance and solution testing but tend to underestimate the time it takes to prepare employees to work with and adjust to the new solution.” Lacking this critical organizational change management component, the timeline may be thwarted by staff resistance and a lack of understanding, he warns.  Ensuring Accuracy  Building resilient project plans that can handle unforeseen, yet often inevitable changes, is key to ensuring timeline accuracy. “Understanding dependencies, identifying bottlenecks, and planning delivery around these constraints have shown to be important for timeline accuracy,” Chandrasekar says.  Project accuracy also depends on clear communication and tracking. “It’s critical to consistently review timelines with your project team and stakeholders, making updates as new information is discovered,” Naqib says. He adds that project timelines should be tracked with the support of a work management tool, such as SmartSheet or Jira, in order to measure progress and identify gaps.  Yet even with perfect planning, unanticipated delays or changes may occur. Proper planning and communication are key to assuring timeline accuracy, says Anne Gee, director of delivery excellence for IT managed services at data and technology consulting firm Resultant. “During the planning phase, include buffer time, identify potential risks, and develop mitigation plans to handle delays proactively and stay on track,” she advises via email.  Related:Quick Study: The Future of Work Is Here Getting Up to Speed  Leaders often underestimate how long a task will take. “We think we can get something done fast and easily when the reality is that the solution is more complex,” Gee observes. “Due to this mistaken thinking, project leaders often have overly optimistic timelines that don’t account for resource constraints, potential delays, or unexpected challenges.”  Rivard believes that the biggest timeline mistakes include neglecting to clearly identify the project’s scope and deliverables, not identifying and accounting for project dependencies, and failing to ensure that the necessary resources, with teams possessing the right skillsets, are available to work on the project.  Getting Back on Schedule  Project delays are common and must be immediately addressed. The first step is to identify the cause of the delay so it can be effectively resolved, Gee says. The project leader will then need to determine whether additional resources are needed, or if resources must be reallocated to get the project back on schedule. “At the end of the day, extending the deadline may be necessary,” she acknowledges.  Related:AI and Gen Z: A Perfect Match for Innovation To get a stalled project back on track, determine if the project scope can be revised or reduced, Rivard says. “Regardless of whether you’re working toward [meeting] the original project scope or a reduced scope, you’ll need to divide the remaining work into smaller tranches of prioritized tasks.” She suggests assigning responsibility for the remaining tasks while reaffirming that the project has the appropriate skillsets available to accomplish its goals within the specified timeframe.  The best way to get a lagging timeline back on schedule is to work with your project team to identify the root cause, Naqib advises. “Then, you can work with your team and your greater organization to explore possible resolution accelerators that will keep your timeline on track.” He adds that resolution plans might include resequencing work, adding or subtracting the project’s scope, adding or changing team members, or leveraging automation or existing code libraries to accelerate delivery.  Parting Thoughts  Stakeholder involvement should be encouraged throughout the project to ensure that their expectations align with the project timeline, Gee says. She also recommends documenting all decisions to prevent future confusion and errors. “Finally, don’t forget to conduct a post-mortem after project completion to document any lessons learned — especially as they relate to the timeline — and store it where others can access it.”  source

As the CISO role expands to encompass more strategic leadership, risk management, and compliance, CISOs are making more integral business-level decisions, reflecting the growing importance of cybersecurity in overall business strategy.  An October survey from Portnox found CISOs are increasingly buffeted by compliance challenges, gaps in cyber insurance, and are increasingly concerned about job security.   Heading into 2025, CISOs are expected to engage more deeply with other C-level areas including legal, finance, HR and operations.  James Scobey, CISO at Keeper Security, says this expanded integration with executive teams and boards has narrowed the pool of candidates who meet market demands for this role.  “Many firms now find themselves hiring candidates with strong skills in one area while investing in their development across others or building internal pipelines to develop future candidates with the necessary skill sets,” he says.   Given the demands on their time, Scobey says CISOs will require additional resources to take on technical responsibilities they previously managed firsthand.  “This will also drive increased investments in areas including cybersecurity, business intelligence and financial performance management to support their expanding role,” he says.   Related:AI and Gen Z: A Perfect Match for Innovation CISOs and Personal Accountability   Recent legal actions have heightened concern about personal accountability among CISOs.  Most notably, in 2023 SolarWinds CISO Timothy G. Brown was charged by the SEC with fraud and internal controls failures related to cybersecurity risks, marking the first time a CISO was targeted individually.  George Jones, CISO at Critical Start, says via email this may signal a shift toward holding security leaders personally accountable for breaches and associated disclosures.  “The tightening regulatory landscape is reshaping security leadership,” he says.   He explains that creating clear legal distinction and delineating job responsibilities could provide CISOs with some protection against liability, such as indemnification clauses and expanded Director & Officer (D&O) insurance.  “This also emphasizes shared accountability, which alleviates the personal pressure on the CISO while ensuring organizations meet regulatory standards,” Jones says.   From the perspective of Gareth Lindahl-Wise, CISO at Ontinue, other key accountabilities in business have been through this transition before, noting CEOs, CFOs, GCs, and DPOs have carried specific liabilities for a while.  “I think both parties will look at whether they are happy with where liabilities sit — the organization with their CISO and vice versa,” he says.  Related:Note From the Editor-in-Chief He adds it may cause more organizations to move security into more traditionally mature hands such as finance or legal.  “CISOs have largely always relied on key business partnerships to succeed,” he says. “I think the lean towards personal and organizational liability makes the relationship with the head of legal or general counsel even more important.”  A closer relationship would allow both parties to properly understand the risks and what appropriate responses look like.  “In my view, CISOs need to be increasingly capable of understanding legal principles yet recognize when they need to be seeking genuine legal counsel on a matter,” Lindahl-Wise says.   Integration in Boards, Executive Teams   A June Bugcrowd report, Inside the Mind of a CISO, found more CISOs are also joining boards to provide better oversight on security strategies, with direct reporting line to the CEO or Board of Directors.   Jones says this reflects a broader trend to CISOs as strategic advisors impacting business decisions.  “Many companies and Boards creating cybersecurity subcommittees to better address cyber risk, integrating the CISO into these structures to offer insights on risk resilience, compliance, and cyber insurance strategies,” he explains.   Related:Yes, AI Will Kill Jobs, Then Create More Scobey says as cybersecurity has historically been viewed as a technical or support function, CISOs reporting directly to the board has been the exception rather than the norm.  “However, as cybersecurity increasingly influences business strategy and becomes a key differentiator, we’re seeing a shift,” he explains in an email interview. “CISOs are now expected to liaise more frequently with executive teams and report directly to the board.”  CISO Salaries Rise, Tenures Fall  Agnidipta Sarkar, vice president, CISO advisory at ColorTokens, says via email he thinks enterprises will evolve the CISO role next year.   “I am already seeing an increase in CISO salaries and soon the role will evolve to bring in greater ownership and accountability, to help other CXOs ensure cybersecurity controls are effective within their functions,” he explains.   He adds he expects shorter CISO tenures, due to the demanding nature of the role.  “Organizations that support this difficult role through executive support and organizational structures, including liability insurance will see more stability and retention of qualified and competent staff,” Sarkar says.   Scobey points out that in 2024, CISO attrition was notably high and says it’s still uncertain whether this trend will stabilize as new talent takes on security leadership roles with a clearer understanding of their scope.  “Organizations should prioritize development and succession plans for CISOs, just as they would for CEOs, CFOs and other senior leaders,” he says. “As cybersecurity becomes more crucial to corporate success, ensuring resilience against CISO turnover has become essential.”    source

Technological evolutions always take away some jobs, but then create more. That will be true with artificial intelligence, too.   A look back at history should be reassuring. The rise of personal computing and the Internet, for instance, destroyed 3.5 million jobs starting in 1980, McKinsey estimates, but then created 19.3 million jobs. Typists were gone. Software developers arose. More than 2.5 million app developer jobs were created, up from virtually none a few decades earlier. The advent of spreadsheets displaced many bookkeeping jobs, but jobs in accounting and analysis took off. The rise of ATMs resulted in fewer tellers per bank branch. With fewer tellers, it became cheaper to open branches. Banks did so and teller jobs multiplied.   Bottomline: AI will create more jobs than it takes.  Here’s why: When we create a step function increase in productivity, we create more jobs in technology and related off-spins. The reason: Technology is not a zero-sum game. Every iteration requires building on top of the previous iteration. The more you build, the more there is to build on top.    The same thing will happen with AI and custom software. AI will help to drive down the cost of custom software. This reduced cost will lead to an increase in the number of problems that people can solve — using software — and spill over to create more and new jobs we cannot even now imagine.     Related:Note From the Editor-in-Chief I fully expect to see AI-infused tools that make teachers more productive in leading students and then ending up with students who’re better prepared as workers to create opportunities for others. Imagine AI-infused tools helping to reduce costs for solar power so more solar panels get installed or water treatment becomes less expensive, so more treatment facilities get built around the world. That will create more jobs to install and build such systems.   Expect new AI-inspired software solutions to help address climate change, healthcare costs, and logistical bottlenecks. Out of each of those, new skills and new jobs are likely to arise. Also, if you reduce costs and the time it takes to produce something, you can produce more of something that is affordable for more customers. The whole pie grows, even if one sliver of it, say a particular job function, shrinks.   Gradual But Substantial  No doubt, AI will kill some work and some jobs. OpenAI research found that 80% of US workers “could have at least 10% of their work tasks affected” by generative AI, while 19% could see 50% of tasks impacted.  If that happened overnight, that would be highly disruptive. That’s not likely. An MIT study focused on computer vision found that “US businesses would choose not to automate most vision tasks that have “AI exposure” and that only 23% of worker wages being paid for vision tasks would be attractive to automate.”    Related:CISOs in 2025: Evolution of a High-Profile Role So, while AI displacement could be “substantial,” it will also be gradual, the researchers surmised.    At the same time, new jobs are already being created. The job-focused researcher, Indeed, this summer reported a tenfold increase in the number of generative AI job postings over the past year. Its research also found that, of 2,800 unique work skills, none are very likely to be replaced by generative AI. Instead, Indeed’s take is that generative AI is “more likely to support workers than replace them.”  All told, the World Economic Forum predicts that, by next year, 85 million jobs “may be displaced by a shift in the division of labor between humans and machines, while 97 million new roles may emerge that are more adapted to the new division of labor between humans, machines and algorithms.”  AI: Unleashing Productivity    One industry where the shift in the division of labor is already evident is in software development, one of the first industries to be heavily impacted by generative AI.  At least two studies on the impact of AI on software developers have been overwhelmingly positive: Developers are more productive, up to 88% more productive, and they’re happier with their work because the AI tools reduce the drain of more menial tasks and leave more time for higher value work. As those workers engage in higher value, look for more innovative solutions pointed at solving more problems, as I noted earlier.  Related:Gelsinger Out as Intel CEO as Chip Giant Struggles to Regain Footing Humans Needed    What AI won’t do, or cannot yet do, is match human creativity, inquisitiveness, and judgment-making ability. I don’t know if AI will ever get there. But it is advancing fast, and it is giving every worker a huge toolkit to help improve their performance and quickly dispose of lower value tasks. As a result, humans are free to do more creative work and, thus, create innovation and jobs.  Making the Transition  In the meantime, companies, schools, and organizations need to take steps to help workers find their way through the transition from a world in which AI is mostly an experiment to where it will continually work alongside humans. More investment is needed to reskill and upskill, whether that be around skills particular to AI or to other fields of interest. Enabling fluidity in the workforce will help people with needed skills in one country fill jobs in another. In short, generative AI is a tool that can lift all boats, companies and workers alike, just like previous technologies have done throughout the centuries.    source

Sudhakar Ramakrishna was just days into his new role as SolarWinds chief executive officer when news broke of a historic nation-state hack targeting his company. During “SUNBURST,” a cyberattack spanning nearly two years targeted SolarWinds’ flagship software platform, Orion. The attack struck several US government networks, including the Departments of Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, State, and Treasury. The 2019 attacks were revealed in December 2020. The US suspected Russian state actors were behind the breach. In the ensuing fallout, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit in October 2023 alleging the company and its CISO, Timothy Brown, had committed fraud by failing to disclose the breach sooner. In July, a federal judge dismissed most of the charges in the lawsuit. When Ramakrishna first walked into the SolarWinds offices in January 2021, he faced some tough decisions. The company in 2021 shed a large portion of its workforce in a spin-out of the N-able business, going from a headcount of 3,340 to 2,147. An observability and IT management software firm falling victim to one of the biggest cyberattacks in history took a toll on reputation and customer trust as well. Rebuilding Trust After Catastrophe Related:Note From the Editor-in-Chief Fast forward three years to the present date, and things are looking brighter for SolarWinds. The company’s most recent financials showed a strong third quarter 2024, with revenue of $200 million, a 6% year-over-year jump. Total annual recurring revenue for subscriptions leaped 36%. The company added to its headcount this year as well, bringing the total to 2,305. “The trust of our customers and partners is something I would never take for granted,” Ramakrishna tells InformationWeek in a live interview. “I think the reason we won back trust is that today we are known for the company we have become, versus what happened to us in 2020. The reason I think we got to this point is based on transparency when the incident happened. While it could have happened to anyone, we took responsibility. We did not deflect blame on anyone.” Despite best efforts to move forward, the Sunburst incident keeps drawing headlines. Just last month, the SEC fined four SolarWinds customers with penalties ranging from $990,000 to $4 million. The fresh actions dig up old wounds for SolarWinds as it continues to try to move forward. Ramakrishna says it’s hard seeing SolarWinds grabbing headlines for SUNBURST again “because there is so much more positive stuff that’s going on with us — on the business side, the product side, innovation, customers and results.” Related:CISOs in 2025: Evolution of a High-Profile Role As for maintaining trust, he says, “We earn the trust of our customers every day. SUNBURST almost never really comes up when I discuss things with customers. When it does, it’s in the context of how we can apply the lessons you learned in our environment.” Ramakrishna says that the most recent quarter showed customer retention of 97%. “That is an indication of trust.” Standing Up for CISOs The indictment and prosecution of former Uber CSO Joe Sullivan sent shockwaves through the security community. In 2022, a federal judge sentenced Sullivan to 3 months’ probation and a fine for his response to a 2016 cyberattack that exposed millions of Uber customers’ data. For the first time, the government was coming directly after IT executives. When SolarWinds’ Brown was named in the SEC’s lawsuit, many CISOs saw it as a continued trend of scapegoating security executives. Instead of placating calls to fire Brown, SolarWinds shot back at the SEC publicly, denying the allegations and accusing the agency of victimizing victims. “One of the very first decisions I had to make was, ‘What do we do with Tim,” Ramakrishna says of Brown. “The way I thought about it was it was not an incident caused by one person. That’s an incident that many attribute to a nation-state attack … so, it takes a village, as they say, to keep the company’s assets secure. I don’t think we should be in a world of scapegoating. We should be in the world of learning, iterating, and improving.” Related:Yes, AI Will Kill Jobs, Then Create More Ramakrishna says his decision to back Brown went beyond SolarWinds. “As much as I care about SolarWinds, I also care about the tone we set in the industry as a community … are we going to be in a world of scapegoating, or a world of progress? It was a little bit of a ‘go against the grain’ decision, because I could have taken the simple route. But I would still make the same decision today.” He says he felt vindicated for his stance after the federal judge dropped most of the charges in the case. “I felt very strongly that we were trying to do the right things.” Sullivan, who is now an independent consultant and speaker, applauded SolarWinds and Ramakrishna for standing by Brown. “I think he is a role model for all CEOs,” Sullivan says in an email interview. “CISOs do not operate in a vacuum — they are part of an executive leadership team that should stand together on risk decisions that are shared decisions. It is all the more impressive that Mr. Ramakrishna was not the CEO when the incident happened but has operated with such integrity.” SolarWinds’ Effort to ‘De-Silo’ IT Coming out of the SUNBURST incident, the company needed to focus its attention back on its business. Ramakrishna believes emerging technologies and strained budgets are causing IT departments to become siloed, hindering C-suite communication. “No matter the size of the enterprise, there are far fewer people today … in terms of being able to manage their IT environments, which are exploding into the cloud. The number of applications that a common enterprise is managing is increasing, and complexity is increasing. And nobody is saying their IT budgets are increasing — at best case, they are flat.” SolarWinds’ IT tools aim to help bridge the gap and de-silo the IT