Speaker, InterVision‘s Strategic IT Advisor and author of “Amplify Your Job Search: Strategies for Finding Your Dream Job.”
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To be successful in 2023, CIOs need to protect the organization, have the ability to create change and provide data insights to their companies. Part of this involves keeping up with predictions and trends.
Common predictions I’ve already seen for the coming year range from focusing on AI and metaverse to digital immune systems and industry cloud platforms. Since many CIOs will be experimenting with and implementing some of the technologies identified in the trend reporting, I found myself curious about what was on the mind of the mid-market CIO as I read these predictions. What are they focused on for 2023?
To answer that question, I surveyed the 250 members of The Indy CIO Network, a CIO networking group I founded in 2010. The members were asked to force rank a list of topics they wanted to discuss in 2023 and could add other topics not listed.
The results surprised me. While anecdotally, attracting and retaining is often one of the most important things on their mind, the top five topics identified by the survey were cybersecurity, driving change in an organization, creating the culture you want and need, digital transformation, and AI and predictive analytics.
Cybersecurity In 2023
In 2023, more organizations will likely turn to increased security measures such as continuous penetration testing combined with penetration testing as a service due to the continuing rise in ransomware attacks. Most of these attacks take advantage of known vulnerabilities that have not been remediated. Improvements in pen testing will provide organizations with near real-time identification of issues and confirmation that they have been resolved.
2023: The Year Of Driving Change
CIOs recognize (perhaps more often than their peers) that change is happening at an ever-accelerating pace. They realize they must be the catalyst of change to enable the business to survive and thrive in the digital economy.
Throughout 2023 and beyond, CIOs will likely begin developing a team of leaders in their organizations. Digital skills are becoming imperative for businesses, and IT will lead the way in teaching and coaching their peers. New technologies, such as AR and VR, will be introduced to facilitate continuous learning and feedback.
You can start by reflecting on your vision to build your team of leaders. What does the future hold? What skills (hard and soft) will be needed in your organization to fulfill that vision? Who has those skills today? Who can learn those skills? Is it a gap that should be filled by external hiring? You can build a roadmap to ensure you and your team have the skills needed for your vision.
The Culture Of 2023
CIOs are realizing they must be involved in creating the culture within their teams and the broader organization. Culture has been pushed to the forefront of many businesses as they struggle with the new realities of remote work and hybrid work models.
Employees want more from their work than a paycheck. They want to see purpose and meaning in their work. They want a sense of community (even when highly distributed). 2023 will see more CIOs creating culture plans, like project plans, to create the culture their organization needs. New technologies emerging as part of the metaverse may play a role for them.
2023 And Accelerating Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is moving out of the hype and into reality for many organizations. CIOs and digital leaders have realized it is not a one-and-done initiative. It is a mindset.
The fact that driving change and creating culture ranked higher on the list shows CIOs know they must bring the digital transformation mindset to the organization. CIOs can leverage their experience with agile methodologies and expand those methodologies throughout their business. Technology will play an important part as we create an intelligent enterprise.
Mainstream In 2023: AI And Predictive Analytics
Trends in these two related disciplines will be among the most impactful as businesses become more data-driven. CIOs can use their change management chops to help their colleagues understand what it means to be data-driven and the impacts on the decision-making processes.
In 2023, more technology teams will focus on putting data and actionable insights in the hands of the entire workforce. AI will process the enormous amount of data generated by every organization, external data sources will be leveraged to gain even more insight and data governance will become a priority for more organizations.
2023 And Beyond
CIOs and other technology leaders must keep an eye on the future. The technology trends being identified by the analyst firms are coming their way, and they must be ready. At the same time, they have to manage the day-to-day of their business and their department.
Navigating 2023 will require CIOs to become even more adept at having the foresight to create the future for their organizations while addressing their current needs. It will require organizations to become data-driven and transform into the digital economy. The CIO must protect the business’s digital assets, influence change and create a culture to engage employees and customers.
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