In an era defined by rapid technological advancements, there is near universal agreement among leaders and information workers at modern enterprises that innovation is urgent - 98% and 90%, respectively.1 But the path to developing and delivering innovative products or services isn't always clear.
In addition to offering insight into how people view innovation today, our recent report 'Risk vs. Reward: Innovation in modern enterprises' highlights the roadblocks that get in their way. Some of the most significant include technological obstacles (e.g. legacy technology) and organizational challenges (e.g. siloed teams), according to nearly one-third of both leaders and information workers.
Large organizations are counting on their technology leaders to drive sustainability initiatives.
Can a company embrace digital innovation and become more sustainable at the same time?
In the past, business leaders sometimes accepted the idea that being on the leading edge of technology came at a price to the environment. And those who made 'going green' a top goal resigned themselves to thinking that they would need to forgo using some advanced technology.
A growing chorus of companies, however, are saying that they have no choice but to embrace both innovation and sustainability at the same time. More than that, they are coming to believe that IT might hold the key to reaching their environmental goals.
73% of board members believe they face the risk of a major cyber attack in the next 12 months, a notable increase from 65% in 2022, according to Proofpoint. Likewise, 53% feel unprepared to cope with a targeted attack, up from 47% the previous year.
The emerging risk of AI tools
This year-over-year change may reflect the ongoing volatility of the threat landscape, including lingering geopolitical tensions and rises in disruptive ransomware and supply chain attacks. The emerging risk of artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT may also be contributing to these sentiments: 59% of board members believe generative AI is a security risk for their organization.
Board members have those concerns even though 73% view cybersecurity as a priority, 72% believe their board clearly understands the cyber risks they face, and 70% believe they have adequately invested in cybersecurity.
With expectations to innovate higher than ever, IT leaders must ensure they have the right culture, skills, and alignment with business value when pursuing innovative IT initiatives.
Years into digital transformation, and decades into the IT function itself, many CIOs still fall short when it comes to innovation.
Tech debt, budget constraints, and overloaded staff schedules are among the top reasons IT leaders cite for scuttled innovation attempts.
Indeed, 50% of C-suite execs surveyed for a 2023 report on digital transformation from fintech company Broadridge admitted they struggle to balance innovation with daily tasks. And 83% of leaders surveyed for tech company Lenovo's 2023 Global Study of CIOs said they were concerned that they'll have insufficient funds to properly invest in innovation and transformation.
IT leaders cannot lead without willing followers. The best way to build this vital circle of your professional network is by empowering them.
Your strategy's only as strong as it is implemented well. And you can implement it well only to the extent that your followership is strong.
Your followership is the most potent circle of your professional network, and it, perhaps more than anything else, empowers you to influence and implement, with or without authority.
Brett Lansing, CIO of multibillion-dollar home healthcare provider AccentCare, has written the playbook on building followership. That expertise and his own followership has landed him a chief technical role several times and earned him Dallas CIO of the Year in 2022.
Using generative AI to automate scripts seeking unprotected endpoints, ports and infrastructure security gaps, cybercrime gangs offer bounties for targeted organizations' employee digital device passwords and identities. As many recent attacks show, putting any trust in identities is a breach waiting to happen.
Notably, digital and physical crime in healthcare has long been converging and growing into a pandemic. Healthcare providers warn their employees not to leave their laptops in their cars unattended. The Coplin Health incident in which 43,000 records containing personal health information (PHI) were compromised after an employee's laptop was stolen from their car is still a concern boards mention regarding identity security. A stolen laptop with unencrypted PHI data can often lead to a $1 million settlement based on HIPAA violations alone.
Summary
Join episode 805 of CXOTalk for a candid dialogue with Aaron Levie, the CEO and co-founder of Box, examining the transformative role of artificial intelligence in the enterprise. As the driving force behind a leading cloud content management platform, Aaron cuts through the noise to provide a clear overview of current market conditions for AI.
The episode navigates the terrain of enterprise AI by laying out its current state and examining how it has evolved over time. We also explore the nuances of running a business in today's complex environment, drawing on Aaron's firsthand experiences and lessons learned.
This conversation extends to the boardroom, recounting discussions Aaron has had with other CEOs and CIOs. It addresses the uncertainties that accompany the integration of AI into business processes and provides concrete management strategies for successful implementation.
In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, the role of a chief information officer is anything but static.
From ensuring operational efficiency to embracing new technologies such as artificial Intelligence, the modern CIO has a multifaceted role that spans both strategic and operational aspects of a business.
'The role of the CIO today has changed so much from what it's been over the last five or 10 years,' said Jay Upchurch (pictured), chief information officer of SAS Institute Inc. 'Boards are looking for digital dividends now from the investments that CIOs are taking. I think that there's a lot out there about, obviously AI, the investment of AI, how to use that to best scale up human productivity and the decision-making process. And then a lot of companies are turning towards, how do we become more resilient and how do you use data and AI to achieve that?'
Frost & Sullivan forecasts that by 2030 global infrastructure investment needs will increase by 50% over the next decade driven in part by advances in cyber-physical systems, advanced computing, mobile, analytics and cloud technologies that facilitate smarter infrastructure solutions.
FutureCIO dialogue with senior technology and finance executives reveals a general interest among enterprises of all sizes and industries in Asia to use public cloud services - barring regulatory constraints.
Gartner predicts that global spending on public cloud services will reach US$591.8 billion in 2023. Sid Nag, vice president analyst at Gartner cautions that despite the allure of cloud in part for its agile, elastic and scalable nature, cloud consumption can be contained if overall IT budgets shrink.
Over 70% of CISOs feel that the importance of information security is not recognised by senior leadership, according to BSS.
The CISOs said their top four highest investment priorities in 2023 are change management (35%), information security resilience (34%), data security (32%), and information security assurance and testing (32%). These findings suggest a certain amount of information security maturity from organizations of all sizes, but the basics should never be underestimated, and multiple challenges are scuppering progress.
Poor attitude towards information security
Of the 150 information security decision makers surveyed, 28% of CISOs agreed that the value of their role was recognised by the board. 22% stated that they are actively involved in wider business strategy and decision making.
Julia Anderson, chief technology and information officer at Campbell Soup Company, and Kristen Lamoreaux, president and CEO of recruitment firm Lamoreaux Search, join CIO.com's Maryfran Johnson to discuss talent development, the benefits of shadow IT, and enabling a culture of support.
Having joined Campbell's in January 2022, Julia Anderson's enterprise-wide responsibilities run from digital workplace services, IT platforms, and architecture, to cybersecurity oversight, business analytics, and transformation projects and programs.
When she arrived, a business transformation was already underway. 'There were two divisions structured and a central supply chain-very clear areas to partner with, but we weren't set up to partner,' she says. 'We were more of a services organization, so I had to create an organization that had architecture, data, and an analytics focus, but also digital partners. We make that our culture; to be together and succeed together with quick wins.'
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