4 Opportunity Areas That Are Critical To Today’s CIOs

In today’s tech-powered world, every company is a software business. This makes the CIO an even more critical role for a company’s success. This makes it much simple for marketers and brands to reach this crucial group of IT leaders.

Reaching out to these CIOs with all the new needs, disruptions, and up-and-coming innovations can be challenging. We’ve done all the hard work.

We know what is most important to today’s forward-thinking CIO thanks to a combination of Forbes’ proprietary research with insights from top CIOs at the 2022 Forbes CIO Summit. CMOS and CIOs often have the same goals. This makes it essential to work together.

We’ve identified the opportunities that CIOs today are discussing to help marketers get involved in the conversation, from cybersecurity challenges to customer experience changes.

4 Opportunity Areas That Are Critical To Today’s CIOs

There are four areas of opportunity that CIOs today are most interested in, ranging from cybersecurity challenges to CX changes.

Customer Experience

Today’s CIO, much like CMOs today, wants to improve the customer experience.

Tony Fadell is the author and principal of Future Shape. Customers need to be listened to, and solutions are found. Fadell stated that no matter the answer, bring a painkiller to customers and make them feel like a brand again.

According to Forbes CxO Growth Survey 2.0, 45% of respondents say they use customer analytics software, while 43% expand digital sales channels.

CIOs may be looking at the metaverse for digital sales channels. At this year’s Summit, Ben Groom, a chief digital officer of MillerKnoll, stated that if you sell products that need visualization on an online storefront, there is a good chance that you will soon require 3-D models.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is not only a topic of top concern for CIOs, but it is also an important conversation.

Nearly two-thirds of five (38%) CIOs believe cybersecurity and risk management are the most critical challenges they will face as technology leaders over the next twelve months. Cyber Threat Alliance president and CEO Michael Daniel explained why this might be. He said adversaries run their operations like businesses and have integrated vertically and diversified. Our adversaries are more organized than ever.

Nearly 9/10 (86%) of CIOs believe they are always looking for new or additional cybersecurity solutions. 37% are improving cybersecurity to protect customer data and provide the best customer experience. CMOS will be responsible for communicating these solutions.

Tech Inequality

Many C-suite leaders recognize the dangers of technology being biased. CIOs are seeking ways to fix that. Rashmi Kumar (SVP & CIO, HPE) pointed out that the digitalization process is faster in the private sector than in the public sector. We must ensure equal access to all to have a broader impact.

Businesses must be more aware of their models to ensure equal access. Aparna Dhinakaran (co-founder and chief product officer of Arize AI) stated that many companies don’t know if their models have biases or not at the Summit.

“The model will not need to know your race to determine race, ethnicity, or age. You can’t simply say that your model is unaware of these facts and therefore can’t be biased.

One idea? Teach people about the possibilities of technology–like Moderna. Marcelo Damiani, chief of digital & operational excellence at Moderna, and his team created an AI academy to help the entire organization understand AI. Damiani explained that this allows them to educate people and help them understand the problems it can solve.

Digital Transformation

While digital transformation is not a new priority for CIOs and CMOs, it is gaining momentum.

77% of CIOs responded faster than last year when asked about how digital transformation initiatives would move over the next 12 months. Forbes also asked about scope. 64% of CIOs responded that the range would be more extensive.

CIOs should focus on gathering data and using insights to guide digital transformation (39%), clearly defining roles and responsibilities (32%), and encouraging cross-team collaboration (31%).

Sabina Ewing is Abbott’s global CIO & VP for business & technology services. She suggests democratizing technology when it comes down to collaboration. Ewing stated that she firmly believes that technology must be democratized. “It’s not only IT that must understand technology–in this age, everyone has to play a part.”

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Samatha Vale
Samatha a senior writer for HC's entertainment team. She is an entreprenuer, mother and an excellent writer. She's also an avid reader, music enthusiast and all around inquisitive person - which is just a nice way of saying she's nosy.

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