“CEOs' top business priorities show cautious stability. Growth is their #1 priority, followed by technology.”

“Risk is on for 2024. Some of this is macroeconomic concern, but it’s also a question of what is going to happen with technology disruption.” 

“CEOs know they need to start making their big moves. Investors won’t accept the ‘uncertainty’ excuse for inaction for much longer.” 

“If we look at investment parameters and how they’re shifting, 57% of CEOs say that they need higher returns in this next year. For some organizations, inflation has artificially driven up profitability.” 

“Heading into next year, CIOs need to find the foundations of what their post-crisis business strategy will look like.”

“CEOs are talking with their boards about generative AI, and they’re much more concerned with AI as a growth engine than AI as a headcount reduction.” 

“The CIO is the executive committee member that the CEO is relying on the most to unlock the value of generative AI.”

“Two thirds of CIOs are increasing modernization spend.”

“Systems remain in use but are too costly to change because the underlying technologies no longer have support/knowledge to sustain them. AI can help with this by reducing the cost to modernize assets.”

“Reduce the risk of undocumented code and increase developer productivity.”

“Systems are interwoven into the broader IT landscape, making it very complex to coordinate dependencies when changing/scaling them. AI can help with this by coordinating and automating infrastructure.”

“Reduce the effort of manual configuration and increase transparency into cloud costs.”

“IT portfolios that cannot be managed at the speed of business model shifts can turn into an optimized portfolio for business fit with the help of AI.”

“Optimize application fitness and simplify application footprint.”

“By 2028, there will be at least a 25% decline of women in IT leadership roles, undoing decades of progress.”

“88% of women leaders in IT agree that the pandemic has made them rethink the place work should have in their life.”

“Sponsors have the most impact on driving career progression advancement.” 

“Sponsorship is an act of a senior, more powerful leader using their personal influence to speak up and advocate for a more senior person to enable the latter’s advancement into key roles.”

“Many organizations have formalized mentorship and what it means to be a good mentor, but the same has not been done with sponsorship.”

“If you want to stop the decline of women in IT leadership, you need to create awareness on the path for sponsors.”

“Don’t stop building awareness about bias. Entrust senior leaders with the accountability to mitigate them.”

“Boards want to know how CIOs will manage the risks and opportunities of cybersecurity, AI, talent, social responsibility, environmental impact and supply chain.”

“Demonstrate how your cyber risk strategy and appetite align with your enterprise. Be transparent about security controls and technologies, while also detailing crisis plans and activities.”

“To increase the board’s comfort level with AI, explain how it works and use potential use cases to bring it to life. Set realistic expectations regarding enterprise readiness and technology maturity, while addressing the range of risks.”

“Demonstrate how technology is facilitating social data collection and analysis. Present data showing progress on social issues and explain how technology is increasing stakeholder transparency around social responsibility.”

“Align environmental sustainability activities with enterprise strategy. Advise the board on environmental risks to operations and technology, as well as how technology can be used to optimize consumption and reduce costs.”

“Boards are focused on competitive, strategically prioritized and tech-enabled talent. Ensure future staffing needs are based on enterprise strategy and that you have plans to fulfill it.”

“Define your supply chain technology strategy. Focus on initiatives that will increase productivity and efficiency, as well as investments in supply chain resiliency and security. Demonstrate where the business would benefit from innovation.”