Businesses are about to see significant leadership changes which will greatly impact tech strategy…and tech leadership

A recent study by LHH Executive Search of over 4,600 global c-suite executives found that 6 in 10 are planning a departure from their current role in the next three years.

33% are planning a new role in their existing organization while 23% are looking to change to outside the organization. 20% are looking to start their own business, 9% focused on retirement and 15% looking for a career break.

Executive recruiting company Korn Ferry took the results a step further in their post The C-Suite: Itching to Leave? and shared their own perspective that echoes much of the LHH study.

The impact to technology strategy

The LHH study looked across c-suite executives and did not specifically focus on technology. However, senior leadership changes are likely to translate to shifts in how a business leverages technology.

In an era where CEOs are impressing upon their executive leadership team to transform how they engage with customers, employees and conduct their business operations, technology sits front and center.

The ‘big three’ of CX, EX and business operations drive further discussion among leaders on how they can transform their business to achieve the business outcomes. In case you missed it, I talk about the big three in more detail in The CIO Playbook for 2025.

It is natural for new leaders to want to put their thumbprint on the impact they bring to the transformation process. With technology playing a key role in each of these big three areas, the combination of new leadership with the drive to meet new business objectives puts technology front and center.

Tech leadership changes are accelerating

I’ve written about the difference between the traditional and transformational CIO for years. The demand for transformational CIOs is accelerating while traditional CIO roles are in decline. Why? To shift the focus from technology outcomes to business outcomes.

The rate of transformation within enterprises is increasing. With executive leadership changes, we can expect corollary shifts in technology leadership. Put another way, we can expect to see an acceleration in demand from traditional CIOs to transformational CIOs.

The push from AI

The agentic era is pushing enterprises to rethink how they do business from top to bottom. Boards, executive leadership teams, line of business leaders and CIOs are all asking the question: How do we transform our business and leverage the power of AI.

At the same time, the initial results from AI are proving less than optimal. The 2025 IBM CEO study shows only 25% of AI efforts are proving out their ROI and only 16% going to scale. The MIT AI study that came out this summer suggests an even lower 5% of AI efforts proving out their expected ROI.

There is a lot..a LOT of money and time being spent by enterprises on AI. Unfortunately, the results are not panning out and change is needed.

Change is needed

The pressure on executive leaders is increasing and so is their need to produce results. The challenge is multifaceted. Internally, it includes the organization, tech strategy, architecture, processes and culture. Externally, it means choosing the right technology and services partners to assist with their next stage of your transformation.

What got you here won’t get you there. Just about everything is up for grabs and there are fewer sacred cows. From people to technology, we are in for more change in the short and near term.

The questions for CIOs are: Where are you today? What is your org going to need moving forward? Are you able to adapt accordingly and what changes do you need to make? 

For CIOs, those questions go for the person as much as the role, the organization, your partners and technology.