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As the pace of change increases, the role of the CIO continues to evolve. A recent article on CIO.com outlines nine critical project areas that are shaping the priorities of IT leaders today. The article can be found here:
https://www.cio.com/article/3992816/9-projects-top-of-mind-for-it-leaders-today.html
I was pleased to be quoted in the piece and wanted to share a few reflections on what these themes mean for my own work and for IT leadership more broadly.
1. From IT Projects to Business Transformation
The article highlights an important shift. We are not simply delivering IT projects. We are leading business transformation efforts that rely on technology to succeed. In my work at WHSmith, SoftBank Robotics, and Fast Retailing (Uniqlo), this distinction has been clear. Success is not measured by implementing a system. It is measured by how the business changes, how operations improve, and how growth accelerates.
2. Value Creation and Revenue Focus
CIOs are increasingly being evaluated on their ability to create value. The article notes that many organizations are now directing investment toward monetizing data and developing new digital revenue streams. For me, this shift reinforces the need to align all technology programs with measurable business outcomes, whether they involve new customer engagement channels, loyalty initiatives, or improved retail experiences.
3. Scaling AI for Real Impact
Impactful AI continues to rise on priority lists. The article suggests that the age of pilots is fading and CIOs are now concentrating on enterprise level adoption, governed data pipelines, and models tailored to specific use cases. In my experience, the foundation matters most. Data, pipelines, governance, and model discipline must come before the question of what can be automated or predicted next. Trust and value both depend on that groundwork.
4. AI Security and Governance
The potential of AI comes with new risks. Many CIOs are treating AI as a new security frontier that covers model transparency, vendor oversight, and adversarial threats. From my perspective, governance and security need to be part of the design from the beginning. They cannot be bolted on after momentum builds.
5. Enterprise Security
Security remains a constant priority. Even as innovation accelerates, strengthening the overall security posture continues to sit at the top of CIO agendas. This reinforces something I have believed throughout my career. No matter how forward leaning the roadmap is, the foundation must be strong. You cannot build advanced capabilities without protecting the core first.
6. Customer Experience (CX)
Improving customer experience remains a defining project area, and it frequently sits at the intersection of digital, operations, and culture. The article cites examples such as automated quoting, AI enabled support, and self service capabilities. In retail and F&B environments, I have seen that the technology used by store teams and customers is only as strong as the systems behind it. Real time data, analytics, integration, and reliable infrastructure matter just as much as the features that appear on a screen.
7. The IT Foundation
While emerging technologies receive much of the attention, the foundational elements remain essential. ERP modernization, cloud optimization, integration layers, and API strategies are still at the center of effective transformation. In my roles, ensuring that the foundation is stable and current has always been a priority. Innovation only scales when the core environment can support it.
8. IT Modernization
For many organizations, modernization is both the engine of change and the enabler. It often involves retiring legacy systems, introducing modern platforms, moving toward cloud first strategies, and enabling better scalability. The article includes a quote that captures this direction well:
“Retiring old legacy systems that are slowing us down, introducing modern solutions… everything we do will support our data initiatives and will give us the data we want for AI and allow us to scale and the business to grow.”
This reflects much of what I have focused on in large scale retail and global operations environments.
9. Reimagining IT for the Future
One of the most important shifts is a forward looking mindset. The focus is no longer on what the company needs today but on what it will need two, three, or five years from now. The article references my work in future proofing IT environments and improving scalability by implementing solutions that are efficient, flexible, and designed to support long term growth. This is central to the CIO role. We are not only supporting current operations. We are shaping the technology landscape that the business will rely on in the future.
My Reflections for IT Leaders
- Be strategic first. Projects should be framed around business impact, not technical activity.
- Align every initiative with a measurable outcome such as revenue growth, margin improvement, or customer experience.
- Build the foundation early. Innovation only succeeds when data, security, governance, and core systems are strong.
- Look ahead. Modular architectures, scalable operating models, and global flexibility are no longer optional for competitive organizations.
- Lead with confidence. CIOs are not simply maintaining the business. They are helping to reinvent it.