CIO In The Know – Continuing the Velocity – Insights That Move CIOs Forward

Happy New Year!

2026 kicks off with a bang…and a long list of subjects to cover. The CIO Playbook for 2026 is out and covers a wide gamut of topics CIOs are facing in 2026. TL;DR: It’s more than AI and technology.

CIO Think Tank Launch

Before getting into the details of this week’s newsletter, I want to share a bit of news. For years, I’ve had fellow forward-thinking transformational CIOs whispering in my ear asking to form a group of like-minded individuals.

So, back in February we launched the CIO Think Tank as a quiet space where leading transformational CIOs could congregate, share ideas, get help and network with like-minded, forward-thinking CIOs. No vendors. No pitching. No hidden agendas. For CIOs by CIOs. We started with a dozen CIOs and ended the year with almost 100 CIOs actively participating in the Think Tank. It’s been an honor to have the trust of these amazing IT leaders. Thank you to each and every one of them.

Onward to 2026…

Looking ahead to 2026, there are several changes coming. In last year’s mid-year CIOitk newsletter, I addressed the topics of ‘to AI or not to AI’ and who would be the *the* AI platform. While the topics were AI-centered, there were undercurrents that drove other discussions among executives that led to significant changes in thinking. Those changes were a precursor to the current theme of refocusing on business outcomes over technology while not forgetting operational resilience.

A few strategic themes to consider in 2026:

• Theme 1: The 2026 CIO Agenda – Operational Resilience: CIOs are rethinking their role in the organization especially as their function becomes more critical to the business and cross-functional. Resilience crosses the organization, architecture and technology decisions. It starts with leadership and how the organization is positioned to accelerate their capabilities to match that of the broader organization.

• Theme 2: Generative AI Gives Way to Agentic AI in the Enterprise – Reality vs Hype: There is still a lot of fluffy and squishy (technical terms) discussions when it comes to AI. From the vendor perspective, how much of it is real and how much of it is achievable? Those are two separate questions. From the enterprise perspective, how much of it is moving the needle in the right direction? What metrics are being used to gauge value? Does it align with specific business objectives? The reality is that there is a lot of opportunity that agentic AI brings to vendors and the enterprise. The key is to use a structured way to orient thinking and separate the signal from the noise.

• Theme 3: Cybersecurity Posture in a Composable World: As we move to more flexible and complicated ways to compose infrastructure, architecture, data flows and applications, our thinking around cybersecurity must evolve too. No longer can we take a siloed approach. Changes in XDR, SIAM, SOAR, identity management, authorization and risk management are driving organizations to wholly rethink their approach.

• Theme 4: Speed with Governance – The New Velocity Chain: Our organizations need to increase velocity. At the same time, we need to ensure that we maintain governance in this increasingly complicated environment. The Velocity Chain is one approach to create a flywheel for business acceleration.

Playbook Spotlight – How CIOs Win in 2026

The bottom line is moving from tech-centric to business-centric. Get familiar with the organization’s business outcomes that the board and c-suite are aligned on. Those are likely tied growth, acceleration and efficiency. IT plays a key role in all three of those…and they are called out in the CIO Playbook for 2026.

Acceleration plays out in terms of decision making and moving from ideation to execution. Organizational acceleration is key and needs to start with a clear assessment of the current organizational capacity.

At the same time, you can’t run with scissors and need to consider the consequences to acceleration. Governance, trust and regulatory requirements are still in play…and likely to get more complicated in 2026. Just look at the current tussle between US State AI legislation and Federal AI legislation. Guess what? CIOs are going to get caught in the middle of the mess. What’s the plan of attack? This isn’t checkers. You are playing chess with a lot of money on the table. Having a gameplan is key…and there are ways to mitigate the messy table being set.

Use the playbooks from 2024, 2025, and 2026 as guidance on where to focus your time and efforts. Consider how to align your thinking and organization for maximum impact.

Latest Content

Since the last CIO In The Know newsletter, new posts went live including several new CIO In The Know podcast episodes.

Blog Posts

• NiCE Ups the Ante in CX AI – Cognigy Deal Puts Rivals on Notice
• Businesses are about to see significant leadership changes which will greatly impact tech strategy…and tech leadership

CIOitk Podcast Episodes

• The importance of people and how not to be a mushroom with Cindy Stoddard
• How life as an inverted tree leads to technology optimism with Gaurav Singal
• Counterintuitive thinking, the chief context officer and creating space with Eduard de Vries Sands

Now It’s Your Turn!

There are three things you need to do:

1. Subscribe!: Subscribe to both the CIO In The Know newsletter and to the CIOitk podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to ensure you don’t miss an update.
2. Join the Conversation: Like, share and engage. What’s your perspective?
3. Forward: Help grow the community and forward to a friend or colleague.

2025 was an incredibly busy year and 2026 looks to be on a similar tact. Look for a marked uptick in the content coming…and be sure to subscribe!

Happy New Year!