Trust, transparency and innovation: The evolving role of the CIO
"The most accomplished CIOs will be those that combine visionary thinking with responsible leadership."
CIOs are no longer walking into boardrooms just to report on system uptime, but also to pitch the next big revenue-driving ideas. According to a report by Foundry, 81% of CIOs agree that their role is shifting into that of a changemaker. The responsibilities of IT teams have expanded beyond offering technical assistance to becoming pioneers in innovation and facilitators of digital transformation.
To do that well, CIOs have to walk a fine line between pushing innovation forward while staying transparent and building trust. So how can we create a culture where collaboration thrives and technology becomes a true cornerstone of the business strategy?
Embedding IT into company-wide strategy
Enterprises today need to create a culture that views IT experts as a strategic business partner that works across departments to spur innovation and produce quantifiable results if they are to succeed in a digital-first environment. This development will continue to be crucial as technology becomes more integrated into modern business operations, stimulating innovation, enhancing productivity, and ensuring that the competitive edge of the company remains.
Research published by PwC reveals that AI has the potential to boost global economic output by up to 15% over the next decade. To unlock such value, organisations must first adopt a fresh mindset, not just from AI, but from the larger wave of digital transformation. Part of this mindset shift involves teams viewing technology as a strategic enabler integrated into every operation rather than as a collection of tools. CIOs are crucial in spearheading this culture shift by encouraging not just the adoption of cutting-edge technology but also a team-wide mindset centred on producing measurable, business-aligned results.
However, with an evolving technology landscape comes the need to apply AI responsibly. With the rollout of frameworks like the EU AI Act, CIOs must look to prioritise accountability, data protection, and transparency. A strong AI governance strategy must be established to align with regulations and ethical standards, whilst simultaneously encouraging cross-departmental collaboration with IT leaders. It is through building responsible AI frameworks that IT leaders can continue to play a proactive role in shaping the future of the business.
CIOs are increasingly expected to serve as strategic partners, guiding corporate decisions via a technological lens. By coordinating IT initiatives with long-term business objectives, they can create new opportunities, manage risk effectively, and prepare their organisations for the future in an increasingly digital environment.
How CIOs can foster innovation without compromising trust
Driving progress as a CIO goes beyond adopting the latest technologies. It demands strong data governance and transparency, whilst embedding ethical considerations into every initiative. As many companies look to capitalise on the power of AI and automation to boost operational efficiency and decision-making, CIOs are tasked with striking the balance between oversight and experimentation.
For example, global manufacturing leader SAPPI introduced a scalable machine learning operations (MLOps) framework to automate AI deployment across its eight production sites. Centralising this approach has allowed SAPPI to deploy AI models faster, simplify maintenance and increase automation across their operations. CIOs should remember that transformation is not just piloting new tools but championing inclusive innovation tools and ethical AI frameworks to ensure fairness.
To deliver lasting impact, leaders must instil confidence and transparency into each level of the decision-making process. This could mean involving cross-functional teams at an early stage when rolling out new AI products or services or being transparent about data usage and limitations. Including the wider company in this journey helps CIOs to demystify complex technology and encourage full-scale adoption. Trust, when embedded from the beginning, becomes a catalyst rather than a constraint.
Building resilient infrastructure in a volatile world
The need for flexibility, viability and security within organisations is growing swiftly to remain competitive in a rapidly changing world, and infrastructure such as edge computing could address these challenges.
Edge computing paves a way to business continuity since it can enable operations to continue seamlessly in situations where cloud connectivity is lost. Processing data closer to the source minimises data transfers which allows leaders to make faster decisions, reducing overall costs. As the surge in IoT devices linked to networks continues to rise, this approach gives organisations a competitive advantage. As we continue to embrace more IoT solutions, we will move from depending on centralised systems to decentralising security, enabling our systems to identify and respond to threats instantly.
For IT leaders and CIOs, this shift will force them to reconsider their infrastructure strategy, prioritising integration, resilience and decentralisation. Early adopters of scalable systems will be more capable to withstand disruptions and develop long-term operational resilience.
The CIOs shaping tomorrow
The role of the CIO actively promotes innovation and resilience. CIOs must maintain a balanced focus on accountability and trust as technology becomes more integrated into all facets of business operations. IT leaders must continue to be business-orientated and future-focused, whether that is by facilitating the adoption of ethical AI, building decentralised infrastructure, or encouraging collaboration across departments.
CIOs have the opportunity to influence the digital advancement of the economy, not just the future of their enterprise. The most accomplished CIOs will be those that combine visionary thinking with responsible leadership.
Hriday Ravindranath is Chief Digital and Information Officer at Orange Business
