Information Week

Good intentions can still lead to software, AI, and other IT resources that run amok within an organization. Implementations of new platforms can stack up in unintended ways, potentially going unnoticed until a logjam occurs. So, where should CTOs start to sort out layers of tech that may have been necessary one moment, only to jumble into digital sprawl down the line? How should business and operations leaders convey to tech leadership which resources remain essential and what amounts to clutter?    Margaret Dawson, CMO of Chronosphere, and Samya DasSarma, CTO of Iterable, responded to those questions and more in this episode of the podcast. They also collaborated in a round of “Question Ideas ‘R’ Us” tabletop exercises, where they tried to help the fictional company survive its latest IT misadventures. The gremlins of team Let’s Break Stuff and the COBOL Kobolds had other ideas… source

A significant part of transformation goes beyond the technology that serves as the catalyst of change. Adoption of a new resource that touches many departments can lead to organizational shifts within a company. Beyond the need to retrain teams, entire departments could shift in purpose or even be eliminated. Furthermore, business customers may require some preparation to integrate with new platforms for contracts and sales. What must CIOs take into account when mapping out how new technologies might cause ripples in the organization? How does the operations side of business adapt and find ways for leadership and team members to work under new directions in technology? Dan Carpenter, Amplitude’s CIO, spoke to these questions and others, then took on a few tabletop exercises where he spoke to the importance of humanity amid the potential for chaos when new tech is on deck. source

Finding top-quality IT talent is a daunting challenge in an era of rapidly emerging technologies, such as AI, quantum computing, nuclear-powered data centers, and advanced robotics. To find IT leaders and team members qualified to handle tasks in these and other hot-topic areas, CIOs must become more creative and persistent.  CIOs today are looking for IT talent that possesses skills in AI, automation, cloud technologies, cybersecurity, and data analytics, says Byron Love, cybersecurity program director at security and intelligence solutions provider Nightwing. “However, there’s fierce competition for this elite talent, causing a significant gap between talent requirements and the candidates available on the market,” he notes in an online interview.  Overcoming Challenges  Today’s biggest challenge is finding candidates with both deep technical expertise and broad systems knowledge, says Chase Snuffer, CIO at the Rayburn Electric Cooperative, a not-for-profit electric cooperative in Texas. “Too often, we encounter individuals who are highly specialized — strong in one vertical, such as cybersecurity or networking, but who lack exposure to integrated systems across a complex enterprise environment,” he observes in an online interview.  Related:2026 Budgets: What’s on Top of CIOs’ Lists (and What Should Be) Maintaining cultural alignment — and finding individuals who can thrive in an IT culture with adaptability and forward-thinking skills — is essential, Snuffer says. “We’re not a massive enterprise, but we move fast, and we invest early in modern platforms,” he states. “This can be a tough adjustment for candidates coming from slower-moving or highly segmented organizations.”  It’s hard to spot great talent when your recruitment teams are flooded with resumes, especially if you haven’t honed an efficient, skills-focused screening process, observes Justice Erolin, CTO at BairesDev, which specializes in software development, software outsourcing, and staff augmentation services. In an email interview, he notes that top tech talent is in high demand, which makes finding qualified job candidates an increasingly difficult challenge. “Big Tech is no longer the only place where great engineers can work,” Erolin says. “Companies of every size and in every industry need those specialists to bring their projects to life.”  Coping Tactics  Successful CIOs build high-performing teams that embrace collaboration, chemistry, and the trust necessary to weather future technology disruptions, Love says. “Yet they also face the dilemma of hiring personnel quickly to fill gaps or waiting to find candidates who fit both technically and culturally.”  Related:A Tech Leader’s Guide to Reputation Management “We found success by taking a proactive, pipeline-first approach,” Snuffer says. “Our internship program has been a real asset — three out of four interns we’ve hosted since 2017 now work here full time.” Snuffer adds that to attract a wider candidate pool, he’s also recruiting nationally and offering flexible, hybrid arrangements.  Snuffer believes that his proactive approach places practicality over perfection. “Rather than search endlessly for unicorn candidates, we’ve invested in upskilling and internal development,” he explains. “We cross-train aggressively, support continuing education, and rely on peer mentoring.”  Skills Matter  Look beyond the traditional tech profile and focus on a candidate’s abilities, Erolin advises. He suggests evaluating prospective talent based on what they can do. “Simulate real-world problems and assess their skills.”  Love recommends cultivating employee performance and satisfaction. Encourage and incentivize employees to refer candidates who are not only technically qualified but also fit strongly with the culture, he says. “Our technology managers are expected to be both technically proficient and effective people leaders with the emotional intelligence, cultural awareness, and team-building skills required to create cohesive teams capable of performing with resilience under pressure.”  Related:The Power of Optimization: Turning AI into Enterprise Efficiency Long-Term Planning  CIOs have to think long-term, Snuffer says. “It’s all about building a resilient, future-ready team that can scale with the business,” he explains. “Our role as CIOs is to cultivate an environment in which people grow, systems evolve, and IT becomes a strategic driver — not just a cost center.”  CIOs who treat hiring as a one-off transaction are missing the strategic dimension, Erolin warns. “Continuous investment in internal career tracks, team culture, and learning opportunities, can transform your organization from ‘just another job’ site into a top destination for top tech talent.”  Today’s CIO role demands not only technical expertise, but also strategic vision, Love says. He believes that strong leadership and having the ability to drive cross-departmental digital transformation is crucial. “Organizations that prioritize team cohesion and leadership development, alongside technical acumen, will be best positioned to attract and retain top talent and to weather future technology disruptions.” source

Reputation is one of the most valuable — and vulnerable — assets a tech company holds. Studies show that a high percentage of a company’s market value is tied to its public perception, and a single reputational incident incurs major costs in lost revenue, diminished trust, and long-term brand damage. For brands and tech executives alike, reputation management must be approached as a necessary strategic function, not an afterthought. It’s not enough to deliver innovative products; companies are expected to demonstrate transparency, ethical leadership, and operational integrity. In this environment, proactive reputation management becomes a competitive advantage and a safeguard against volatility.  People Buy from People — Not Just Companies  In the B2B tech world, where decision-makers are typically solving very specific pain points, buying decisions go well beyond product features and price points. Prospects are evaluating the people behind the brand just as much as the brand itself. Trust begins with a digital search, a LinkedIn scroll, or a ChatGPT query, and in that first moment of truth, perception is shaped not just by what’s said, but who is saying it.  This is why building the reputation of your executive leadership is equally important as building brand equity. Executives need to show up as thought leaders, consistently contributing meaningful insights and fostering trust long before the first sales conversation. In a world of increasing noise and content saturation, people gravitate toward credible, authentic voices. A respected leadership team may be the deciding factor in winning a deal or closing a sale.  Related:2026 Budgets: What’s on Top of CIOs’ Lists (and What Should Be) That trust is also reinforced through networks. Once a potential customer identifies your company as a contender, they’ll do what any smart buyer does — they ask around. They tap into peer networks and look at which companies are already using your product. That word-of-mouth credibility is irreplaceable, and it can’t be bought. It must be earned through consistently delivering value and cultivating positive experiences.  Reputation Is Built in Layers, and Can Be Lost in Seconds  Tech leaders must understand that reputation is multi-dimensional and fragile. It’s shaped by culture, leadership, customer service, your solution and the value it creates, as well as the smallest actions. A careless comment, a poorly handled support ticket, a sales person overselling capabilities, or an underwhelming customer experience can have outsized consequences. You could spend years building credibility and lose it in a matter of moments.  Related:CIOs’ Top Hiring Challenges Today, and How to Solve Them One of the most underappreciated tools in managing reputation is the feedback loop. Net Promoter Score (NPS) filters out mediocrity by acting as an honest gauge of how your customers perceive you. When you understand that the threshold for excellence is high and unforgiving, you start to build systems around exceeding expectations.  True reputation management also means making hard choices about which customers to serve. If a potential partner’s expectations don’t align with your capabilities or values, the best decision might be to walk away. Taking on misaligned customers for short-term gain leads to poor outcomes, miscommunications, and ultimately, reputational damage. Being selective isn’t arrogance — it’s strategic protection.  Beyond product and performance, companies enhance their reputations by fostering their customer community. This is especially powerful in tech, where many companies are solving similar challenges, sometimes in heavily regulated environments or spaces marked by ongoing disruption. Building a customer community encourages knowledge sharing and creates a support system where customers help one another. The value multiplies — and so does the loyalty.  Related:The Power of Optimization: Turning AI into Enterprise Efficiency But community doesn’t just happen. It needs to be intentionally built and led by people who genuinely care. That starts with a “customer-first” mindset and extends into a philosophy I call “plus one.” Plus one is about creating value beyond the transaction. If you’re meeting a customer and are stopping at a coffee shop on the way, offer to bring them their favorite drink. If you see someone in need on your way to a meeting, stop and help — and let your customer know why you’re running late. These human touches reinforce your values and leave lasting impressions.   When your customers see you as a partner who adds value across all dimensions, trust and loyalty deepen — and your reputation grows stronger. To safeguard and strengthen reputation, tech leaders should:  Encourage executives to regularly publish thought leadership content to build personal and brand credibility.  Monitor NPS and act on customer feedback to close experience gaps proactively.  Invest in digital listening tools to track brand mentions, sentiment, and competitive comparisons.  Develop customer communities that foster peer-to-peer support and loyalty.  Adopt a “plus one” approach of their own to customer engagement to enhance human connection and trust.  Be selective about customer partnerships to avoid misalignment and protect long-term reputation more than “quick” deals.  Actively manage online reviews and brand references to ensure consistency and accuracy across platforms.  Reputation isn’t just a public relations concern — it’s a leadership imperative. When managed with intentionality and heart, it becomes one of your greatest strategic assets.  source

AI continues to command attention, yet most organizations are frustrated by the gap between potential and real-world execution. Predictive models forecast demand or detect anomalies, but optimization answers the vital question: “What action should we take?” Without it, AI often stays in the lab. McKinsey’s 2025 report on AI adoption, The State of AI, reveals that firms embedding AI at scale are redesigning workflows and centralizing governance. They’re creating the structured infrastructure that elevates AI from experimentation to enterprise impact, especially when paired with optimization frameworks Expert Insight: Gurobi on Optimization in the Real World In a recent AI Think Tank Podcast discussion, Jerry Yurchisin, Sr. Data Scientist at Gurobi, highlighted that optimization is no longer niche, it’s central to modern decision systems. He explained that optimization bridges the gap between predictions and business outcomes by translating probabilistic insights into constrained, goal-driven recommendations.The big change isn’t the math, it’s the connection: Optimization brings clarity by making decision assumptions transparent. Each outcome can be audited, and each constraint traced back. That level of explainability is essential in modern governance regimes. Related:2026 Budgets: What’s on Top of CIOs’ Lists (and What Should Be) Optimization methods vary based on complexity. For scheduling and resource allocation in logistics or manufacturing, discrete approaches like integer programming are delivering fast, measurable results. One global airline cut crew scheduling costs by 12%, all while staying compliant with union rules. In sectors like finance or healthcare, convex optimization provides predictable and scalable decision frameworks. It supports portfolio balancing or risk scoring under constraints like fairness or regulatory limits. For more stubborn problems, like hyperparameter tuning in complex AI systems, enter derivative-free techniques like Bayesian optimization. One financial firm realized an 8% accuracy boost and cut model development cycles in half by adopting this approach. Embedding Optimization in the Enterprise To scale optimization, leaders must first identify decision domains suffering from inefficiency, complexity, or manual intervention, areas such as pricing, inventory, or workforce planning. These “hotspots” become the focus of cross-functional teams that define variables, objectives, and constraints. Gartner’s 2025 Magic Quadrant report for data science and machine learning platforms notes that market-leading tools, from Google Vertex AI to Databricks, now embed solver-based optimization as a core capability. This evolution enables AI platforms to not merely analyze, but decide, automate, and adapt in real time. Related:CIOs’ Top Hiring Challenges Today, and How to Solve Them Optimization creates inherent transparency. Each decision is derived from explicit objectives and constraints, exposing what was prioritized. This makes compliance and auditability easier in regulated industries like finance or healthcare, compared to opaque AI black boxes. Additionally, optimization supports adaptability. As business conditions shift, whether due to market changes or regulatory updates, models can be reoptimized quickly without a full rewrite, providing strategic agility. The Measurable ROI of Optimization The financial upside of optimization is clear. Organizations deploying it in operations often report cost reductions between 10–30%, while AI workflows gain 5–15% performance boosts and faster deployment cycles. Deloitte’s 2025 supply chain analysis emphasizes how AI, combined with decision frameworks like optimization, enhances forecasting, inventory alignment, and operational responsiveness. It shows that optimization is not just technological; it’s a tool for business-level transformation. CIOs and CTOs should elevate optimization to a strategic level: A core component of digital transformation, alongside cloud, governance, and AI ethics. Begin by cataloging decisions ripe for optimization. Pilot use cases in targeted domains can deliver quick wins and organizational confidence. Long-term success comes from cross-disciplinary teamwork and a feedback loop that keeps models aligned with business dynamics. Related:A Tech Leader’s Guide to Reputation Management While many chase the promise of AI, optimization quietly powers some of the world’s most effective decision engines. It transforms prediction into production and strategy into scale. With insights from optimization pioneers like Gurobi and current evidence from leading research, we can confidently say: In the AI revolution, optimization isn’t optional, it’s essential. Enterprises that embrace it now will shape the future, not chase it. source

Successful AI implementation requires treating systems as a living asset that requires continuous monitoring and governance. Too often, IT leaders overlook important qualities such as risk assessment, data quality management and contingency strategies during the planning stages, unveiling hidden costs down the road. In this interview, technologist and educator Daryle Serrant discusses the often-overlooked risks and potential financial fallout associated with implementing artificial intelligence in business environments. Serrant points to real-world examples where well-meaning AI project managers underestimated the time required to maintain high-quality data sets, prepare for regulatory requirements, or run AI complex business solutions. He also provides advice on how to avoid these costly mistakes by continuously monitoring AI technology post-implementation. source

CIOs and CTOs gearing up for 2026 budgeting season find they’re having to adapt to the times. On a macro level, geopolitical unrest is making them cautious in their approach to 2026 budgeting, while rapid AI advances are affecting the tech stack and human capital.  “The amount of change we’re seeing is unprecedented and happening in so many areas. We’ve got all kinds of research that shows the pace [of change] is increasing,” says Bill Briggs, CTO at global professional services network Deloitte, who adds that continued advances in AI’s capability that feel like they happen week to week, certainly quarter to quarter, and year to year.  “There are ways we can invest in architecture and team relationship building to give us more optionality over time, [so we are] able to adapt as [AI] advances and players potentially drop out,” Briggs says.  Meanwhile, the real-world effect of extreme volatility is causing CIOs to diversify their vendor base, as opposed to relying on a single vendor. Their caution extends to any given architecture.  Bill Briggs, Deloitte “[CIOs] know change is coming, which nets out to investing in engineering that gives you fungibility, portability, and the ability to swap out big change over time,” Briggs says.  now tends to be immediate in target areas.   Related:CIOs’ Top Hiring Challenges Today, and How to Solve Them Where CIOs Should Invest  So much competitive advantage is going to whether or not you have full-stack engineering capability with cyber and cloud AI embedded. “Have you invested in tooling and platforms, so your teams don’t have to do everything from environments and pre-configured cloud hosting to the tool chain for your full CI/CD?” Briggs asks.  “It’s basically investing in the platforms and products codifying our IP, industry or functional knowledge to help our clients get outcomes faster,” he continues. “It’s investing in our people to build AI and software capabilities. We’ve been doing it for a long time, but we had a marked increase in investment in the last two or three years, and that’s continuing [in 2026].”  CIO shops are becoming outcome-based, which makes them accountable for what they’re delivering against the value potential, not how many hours were burned.  “The biggest challenge seems to be changing every day, but I think it’s going to be all about balancing long-term vision with near-term execution,” says Sudeep George, CTO at software-delivered AI data company iMerit.  “Frankly, nobody has a very good idea of what’s going to happen in 2026, so everyone’s placing bets,” he continues. “This unpredictability is going to be the nature of the beast, and we have to be ready for that.”  Related:A Tech Leader’s Guide to Reputation Management Speed, trust, and depth of expertise are critical as time-to-value expectations continue to increase. The idea is to have a budget that has contingencies built in so IT can be nimble.  Sudeep George, iMerit A lot of companies are coming up with solutions, but not many of them are production grade, so figuring out that dynamic is important,” George says. “I’m pretty sure most CIOs and CTOs are going to be looking at a research part, figuring out how they’re going to make some strategic bets while keeping a budget set aside for R&D.”  AI Advancement Is Impacting Budgets  Marcia Calleja-Matsko, CIO at insurance brokerage, financial services, and HR consulting firm OneDigital, says her company’s customers may be experiencing economic constraints, but they have to address the real question of how a CIO should budget for AI.  Calleja-Matsko says she and her peers are mostly challenged with how [to] budget for AI, thinking about the compute, all those charges, and what the usage will be into the next year.”  “It’s thinking about the different AI models we’re using and how we can appropriately forecast that, she said, adding that her biggest challenge as she looks to 2026, 2027, and 2028 is really shifting her mindset in terms of budgeting.”  Related:The Power of Optimization: Turning AI into Enterprise Efficiency OneDigital has already started budgeting for 2026, and the budget needs to balance investments with what the company wants to achieve.   “For us, it’s really increasing our employees’ productivity and gaining operational efficiencies,” Calleja-Matsko says. “We’re creating [AI] ‘coworkers’ that cut the amount of time it takes to do research on a client and providing that information within seconds or minutes. That’s really where we’re spending a large portion of our investment as we look into 2026 and 2027.”  Like many CIOs, she’s already working with stakeholders to decide what the organization wants to achieve and backing that up with execution.  OneDigital has an annual prioritization process for vetting all the different requests and projects, then taking a look at the ROI behind it and asking if it’s aligned with the longer-term business strategy.  “Connecting those dots is what’s really helped us say, ‘These are our five initiatives that are going to provide that ROI for us,’ and those business cases get reviewed. We’re starting that as part of this annual prioritization process,” she says.  Though the OneDigital prioritization process itself hasn’t changed, aside from the addition of the business-case review, what the executives think about as part of the process has changed radically.  “AI is really turning things on their heads. We’re still focusing on security, data and analytics investment [and] talent investments,” says Calleja-Matsko. With AI, companies can have tools creating application code so they may not need lower-level software developers anymore, but they would still need senior-level developers.  “One of the things we’re thinking about with AI and that component is what our talent is going to look like in the future and where we invest,” she adds.  For example, OneDigital is looking at how autonomous agents could help make employees more productive so they don’t have to do mundane work. Meanwhile, the company has been growing quickly by acquiring property, casualty and wealth businesses.  Marcia Calleja-Matsko, OneDigital “It has always been important to really make sure my team and I are engaged with

When it comes to selecting solutions for remote work, 86.9% of IT leaders put security ahead of performance. But this level of emphasis on safety opens the door to another problem. Employees who have to work with the burdensome functionality of the software become frustrated with slow applications, submit an increasing number of tickets, and have their overall productivity diminished because of restrictive security protocols. This balancing act can be made easier by using proven methods to provide both high-end safety and reliable usability.   Why Security Is a Top Priority  As technology becomes more advanced and more deeply integrated into the personal and professional life of the average person, threats to online safety also increase (phishing scams, ransomware, etc.). Remote workers are particularly susceptible to being targeted by hackers and their bots. A breach of a remote worker’s security not only means access to their personal information and networks but also puts the companies they work for at risk.   To avoid customer harm, class action lawsuits, and damages to service delivery and product integrity, most businesses are more than willing to invest in prevention instead of having to clean up a disaster after a data breach. Data breaches impact an enterprise’s ability to operate, as well as its public reputation as a safe, reliable company to do business with. Safety mechanisms need to be in place to protect the customers, workers, employee devices, and the company itself. This includes effectively communicating and monitoring compliance with security protocols, such as regular password updates and file management strategies, so that any noncompliance can quickly be investigated and defended against.   Related:The Power of Optimization: Turning AI into Enterprise Efficiency Consequences of Ignoring Performance in a Remote Setup  Neglecting security needs can create major problems for any business. Neglecting the usefulness of a remote working environment can be similarly disastrous. Remote work employees consistently complain about issues such as VPN slowdowns, video buffering, call failures, and poorly running applications. These problems can all stem from stringent security measures in their working systems. Nearly 70% of IT leaders agreed. They admitted that security negatively impacted the performance of their networks.    Without an adequate level of functionality for workers, their ability to perform their jobs decreases. Declining product and service quality creates more dissatisfied customers and disgruntled employees. Customers may get exasperated enough with missed deadlines, slow delivery times, be concerned about transaction security, and have clunky technological experiences to look for other businesses to meet their needs. Workers can get overwhelmed enough to seek work at companies with better technology that will help them perform their jobs in faster, less time-consuming ways.  Related:The Hidden Costs and Risks of AI All human beings have limits to what they can tolerate daily. When workers become increasingly agitated by the state of their digital work environment, they inevitably begin to sidestep or modify protocols to make their work easier to do. This can include security compromises such as accessing company systems on unauthorized devices or sharing files to personal accounts in order to edit them. These steps are taken in an effort to bypass the company security that is causing lag, interruptions, barriers to access, or crashes that derail their work. While these methods may mean that these employees are more likely to meet deadlines, exceed quality expectations, and work more quickly, it also means that the security of the files they are working with is compromised.   Focusing mainly on security means sacrificing the quality of work that attracts and maintains new and old customers. Focusing mainly on performance means sacrificing the security of the work that is done each day. Both extremes can lead to wasted time, extra effort, excess spending, and lowered work quality.  Related:Want to Become a CIO? Here’s What You Need to Know How to Achieve a High-Performing, Secure Work Environment  Safety protocols and usability features must work together, not against one another, to achieve a remote work setup that benefits the company overall. This means employees and customers are satisfied with how the product or service delivery process is managed daily.   Intelligent businesses will consider investing in AI-powered zero-trust solutions, packet loss mitigation strategies, and personal secure access service edge (SASE) models.   AI-powered, zero-trust network access (ZTNA) solutions, such as the one provided by Cloudbrink, that can adapt to utility needs are essential for balancing security and performance related to remote work environments. With AI as the backbone of these kinds of systems, much of the heavy lifting related to monitoring needs and modulating resource allocation is done seamlessly and automatically. Since only 19% of organizations report having full visibility of their performance shortcomings, the supervision of AI fills a major gap in the IT aspects of any business. Yet the cost of hiring additional staff is reduced exponentially.   Packet-loss mitigation technology can help reduce the impact of latency. This makes events such as video calls and webinars smoother, easier to facilitate, and more reliable. Creating a more sophisticated communications environment for clients and staff means increasing productivity and customer satisfaction, raising the potential to earn more revenue as well.   Personalized SASE models can be optimized for individual users. No matter where the user is working from or what their specific role may be, these models provide a level of efficiency unlike anything traditional corporate networks have to offer.   Conclusion  Since both security and performance are so critical to remote work, trying to choose one over the other only results in a multitude of complications for businesses, workers, and customers. There is a new generation of network solutions that prioritize both strong defenses and easy accessibility available via options such as personal SASE and ZTNA. Investing in performance-aware security is what separates floundering, struggling businesses from those that are growing and leading in their industry.   source

Many IT team members and leaders hope to eventually become a chief information officer. Unfortunately, most aspiring CIOs fail to understand that joining the C-suite requires knowledge that extends far beyond technical and team management skills. People come to the CIO role from all walks of life; there’s no one-size-fits-all path, says Sharon Mandell, CIO at Juniper Networks. “Some have technical degrees, others don’t,” she observed in an online interview. “What they all have in common is experience, adaptability, and — most importantly — a strong sense of leadership.” Those who want to become a CIO should take the following steps to make sure they develop the skill sets needed for both the business and technical aspects of the job. Adopt Business Focus on the CIO Path Learn about business operations, advises Mike Vance, executive vice president, professional services at data and technology consulting services firm Resultant, in an email interview. He is also a veteran CIO at Steak ‘n Shake, handbag designer Vera Bradley, and Matilda Jane Clothing. “The path to becoming a CIO is about shifting your mindset from asking ‘How do I build this?’ to ‘Why does the business need this, and how can technology enable it?’” Vance says. He believes the sooner aspiring CIOs begin practicing a business-focused mindset, the better they will fit into a C-level IT role. “Form relationships, ask questions, and observe how each department contributes to the company’s overall strategy,” he suggests. This approach is effective because it expands the individual’s perspective beyond a core technical skillset, Vance says. “CIO hopefuls will then gain a deeper understanding of how the business operates, its strategic objectives, and how their role can contribute to those goals.” Related:The Hidden Costs and Risks of AI Mid-career professionals can begin their journey to the C-level by shifting their focus from technical execution to more strategic contributions, says James L. Norrie, a faculty member and peer mentor at Leaders Beyond, an IT professional learning organization where he heads IT professional development programs. “Seek out cross-functional projects, especially those involving functions like finance, operations, or risk management,” he advises in an email interview. Broaden Essential Skills For a CIO, understanding a single technology area isn’t enough, Juniper’s Mandell says. “The CIO role requires you to operate across a wide spectrum — networking, security, infrastructure, applications, and data.” Meanwhile, understanding the business will help professional staffers prioritize more effectively. Related:Security and Performance: The Balancing Act of Remote Work Potential CIOs also need to sharpen their communication skills and gain a command of organizational dynamics, Norrie says. He recommends developing a deliberate leadership posture that’s aligned with the existing internal corporate culture. “Insights into how to achieve this goal can be found by attending advanced executive education sessions, finding an executive mentor, and mastering the context of internal politics,” he says. Understanding business finance needs and operations is essential, Mandell says. “While you don’t have to be a CFO, you do need to understand how IT’s budget fits into the larger company picture,” she states. “The CIO sits at the intersection of technology, business strategy, and people leadership, so it’s not just about knowing the tech, it’s about helping the company succeed.” Networking is critical for anyone who hopes to move into a C-suite role, says Jon Hill, CEO at The Energists, an energy industry recruiting firm. “At the senior leadership level, openings often aren’t posted to job boards,” he notes in an email interview. “Instead, it’s through professional connections or executive search firms, so connecting with other leaders in the industry can be highly beneficial.” Related:Is Your Organization Ready for AI? Attending executive leadership conferences can be a particularly smart move, Hill says. “They give you a chance to engage face-to-face with executives and other key players in your industry.” Along with making connections, such events also give budding CIOs an opportunity to learn about the job’s business side. Avoiding Common Mistakes The biggest mistake novice CIO job seekers make is focusing too much on technology at the expense of the bigger business picture, Vance says. “Without that broader perspective, it is hard to step into a CIO role successfully.” Overemphasizing technical credentials while underplaying leadership skills is another common mistake. Getting hired at the executive level is about telling a compelling story reflective of your own strategic thinking, business impact, and understanding how to transform IT effectively, Norrie says. Final Thoughts Don’t chase a title, chase impact, Norrie advises. “The most effective CIOs are strategic partners, not internal service providers.” Always remember that CIO is a leadership role, Mandell says. “This means reflecting on what does or doesn’t make you an effective leader, then working to close those gaps and getting clear on why you want the job.” source

A successful AI implementation relies on many factors: Aligning technology with business goals, maintaining continuous improvement cycles, and fostering a culture that embraces innovation and experimentation are all a must. Pre-planning strategies are a must: AI modernization projects should be incremental to minimize disruption, with a priority on high-impact business applications. In this InformationWeek video interview, Thoughtworks Americas CTO Thomas Squeo discusses IT leaders discusses traits of successful AI implementation projects and what companies should consider before AI adoption. Successful AI adopters treat AI as a business-aligned transformation rather than just a technical project, Squeo says, with organization culture factors playing a huge role in success. source