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1. We treat tech as an enabler but...
Tech must be the core of everything we do.
CEOs have spoken: product and service innovation is their top priority over the next three years. But tech leaders have a confession: only 43% say their organizations are effective at delivering differentiated products and services. And more than half (53%) say other execs in their organization view tech as no more than moderately important to product and service innovation. This disconnect between technology and the business suggests a massive change is needed.
Organizations need to break free from a fast-follower cycle of perfecting existing ideas. Tech leaders must look ahead for technology-fueled big bets—shifting from a project emphasis to a customer focus, from endless ideation to execution. Tech executives will need to encourage senior leaders to look beyond near-term concerns such as efficiency, cost takeout, and modest incremental gains.
2. We say we are working together but...
Our collaboration is only skin-deep.
Two-thirds of CEOs say that a strong partnership between tech CxOs and CFOs is critical to their organization's success. Tech leaders agree—CIOs, CTOs, and CDOs each rank the CFO as either the first or second most important relationship for driving their individual success. But the tech-finance relationship is still evolving from intention to practice. Only 39% of tech execs say they collaborate with finance to embed tech metrics into business cases.
To drive organizational performance, tech leaders must pivot from informing to collaborating with finance. They need to make themselves indispensable to finance and demonstrate their commitment to fiscal responsibility. At the same time, finance leaders need to meet tech halfway, looking beyond return on investment to understand how technology contributes to operational outcomes.
3. We hope it will be a magic wand but...
Generative AI could break our organization.
Nearly three in four CEOs say their organizations’ digital infrastructure enables new investments to efficiently scale and deliver value. But tech leaders have a different view: 43% say their concerns about their technology infrastructure have increased over the past six months because of gen AI.
To ready for AI transformation, organizations need a thoughtful infrastructure renovation, repurposing what’s useful but also investing for the future. They need an architectural framework that helps them intentionally optimize business value through technology while addressing the entire technology estate: platforms, security, AI, cloud, and data.
4. We want it to be trustworthy but...
Our AI may be irresponsible.
The majority (80%) of CEOs say transparency in their organization’s use of next-generation technologies such as gen AI is critical for fostering customer trust. What they may not realize—but tech executives know—is that their foundation for trustworthy AI is shaky. Tech CxOs acknowledge that they aren’t delivering on key responsible AI practices such as explainability, transparency, fairness, and privacy.
Responsible AI is no longer a choice. It’s a cultural imperative. Tech CxOs must consider and communicate the risks of scaling AI beyond a use case to full-blown integration. At the same time, a wait-and-see approach means missed opportunities. Poised at the helm, tech leaders can attack AI risks head-on to turn potential liabilities into differentiating advantages.
5. We talk about data as currency but...
Our data could be a liability.
Two-thirds of CFOs say their C-suite has the data needed to quickly capitalize on new technologies.* But only 29% of tech leaders strongly agree their enterprise data meets the quality, accessibility, and security standards that support the efficient scaling of generative AI. Too few organizations have implemented critical data capabilities such as a data fabric architecture or enterprise data standards.
It's past time for technology leaders to escalate the data management discussion beyond their own circles and into the enterprise spotlight. One way to bring all the parties to the table is to collaborate on governance, risk, and compliance (GRC). GRC standardizes data management around a set of core practices and can position organizations to turn data management into a competitive differentiator.
*2024 IBM IBV CFO survey
6. We think our team is strong but...
We’re still fighting yesterday's talent battle.
Two-thirds of CEOs say their teams have the knowledge and skills to incorporate new tech such as generative AI. Only half of tech leaders share this optimism. For generative AI expertise specifically, 40% of tech CxOs say their anxiety has increased over the past six months. On the front line with their teams, tech CxOs face a vexing reality when it comes to talent: 58% say they are struggling to fill key roles.
Tech CxOs need to spark an epiphany across their organizations: the future of work isn’t just about finding more people—it’s about unleashing the full potential of existing talent. This requires radically rethinking roles, learning pathways, and work processes. It's about fundamentally changing the operating model to harness the power of new technologies and innovative ways of working.
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Tech must be the core of everything we do.
CEOs have spoken: product and service innovation is their top priority over the next three years. But tech leaders have a confession: only 43% say their organizations are effective at delivering differentiated products and services. And more than half (53%) say other execs in their organization view tech as no more than moderately important to product and service innovation. This disconnect between technology and the business suggests a massive change is needed.
Organizations need to break free from a fast-follower cycle of perfecting existing ideas. Tech leaders must look ahead for technology-fueled big bets—shifting from a project emphasis to a customer focus, from endless ideation to execution. Tech executives will need to encourage senior leaders to look beyond near-term concerns such as efficiency, cost takeout, and modest incremental gains.
Our collaboration is only skin-deep.
Two-thirds of CEOs say that a strong partnership between tech CxOs and CFOs is critical to their organization's success. Tech leaders agree—CIOs, CTOs, and CDOs each rank the CFO as either the first or second most important relationship for driving their individual success. But the tech-finance relationship is still evolving from intention to practice. Only 39% of tech execs say they collaborate with finance to embed tech metrics into business cases.
To drive organizational performance, tech leaders must pivot from informing to collaborating with finance. They need to make themselves indispensable to finance and demonstrate their commitment to fiscal responsibility. At the same time, finance leaders need to meet tech halfway, looking beyond return on investment to understand how technology contributes to operational outcomes.
Generative AI could break our organization.
Nearly three in four CEOs say their organizations’ digital infrastructure enables new investments to efficiently scale and deliver value. But tech leaders have a different view: 43% say their concerns about their technology infrastructure have increased over the past six months because of gen AI.
To ready for AI transformation, organizations need a thoughtful infrastructure renovation, repurposing what’s useful but also investing for the future. They need an architectural framework that helps them intentionally optimize business value through technology while addressing the entire technology estate: platforms, security, AI, cloud, and data.
Our AI may be irresponsible.
The majority (80%) of CEOs say transparency in their organization’s use of next-generation technologies such as gen AI is critical for fostering customer trust. What they may not realize—but tech executives know—is that their foundation for trustworthy AI is shaky. Tech CxOs acknowledge that they aren’t delivering on key responsible AI practices such as explainability, transparency, fairness, and privacy.
Responsible AI is no longer a choice. It’s a cultural imperative. Tech CxOs must consider and communicate the risks of scaling AI beyond a use case to full-blown integration. At the same time, a wait-and-see approach means missed opportunities. Poised at the helm, tech leaders can attack AI risks head-on to turn potential liabilities into differentiating advantages.
Our data could be a liability.
Two-thirds of CFOs say their C-suite has the data needed to quickly capitalize on new technologies.* But only 29% of tech leaders strongly agree their enterprise data meets the quality, accessibility, and security standards that support the efficient scaling of generative AI. Too few organizations have implemented critical data capabilities such as a data fabric architecture or enterprise data standards.
It's past time for technology leaders to escalate the data management discussion beyond their own circles and into the enterprise spotlight. One way to bring all the parties to the table is to collaborate on governance, risk, and compliance (GRC). GRC standardizes data management around a set of core practices and can position organizations to turn data management into a competitive differentiator.
*2024 IBM IBV CFO survey
We’re still fighting yesterday's talent battle.
Two-thirds of CEOs say their teams have the knowledge and skills to incorporate new tech such as generative AI. Only half of tech leaders share this optimism. For generative AI expertise specifically, 40% of tech CxOs say their anxiety has increased over the past six months. On the front line with their teams, tech CxOs face a vexing reality when it comes to talent: 58% say they are struggling to fill key roles.
Tech CxOs need to spark an epiphany across their organizations: the future of work isn’t just about finding more people—it’s about unleashing the full potential of existing talent. This requires radically rethinking roles, learning pathways, and work processes. It's about fundamentally changing the operating model to harness the power of new technologies and innovative ways of working.
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Originally published 19 August 2024