Welcome to the latest edition of the CIO In The Know newsletter. Insights that move CIOs forward.
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It’s been a minute since the last newsletter and a lot has changed. Of course, AI is still taking top billing in terms of conversations. However, the aspects of how AI is being discussed among CIOs and what is important is changing.
Between my group conversations and 1:1s with fellow CIOs including the CIO Think Tank, several specific topics have bubbled to the surface.
In Discussion: What is on the minds of CIOs?
The good thing is that the frothy nature of the AI conversation is starting to pass and focus is coming back to the ‘big 3’: Customer Experience, Employee Experience and Business Operations. The discussion is less about technology and more about business outcomes that align with the rest of the organization. That is a good thing!
That is not to say that technology and AI are no longer a topic among CIOs. They are. More specifically, the topic has matured to look at agentic AI and personal agents…but in a balanced way. No longer is it just about the positive opportunities. Now it is about balance between opportunity and risk.
AI personal agents
Seemingly overnight, personal agent platforms popped up starting with OpenClaw. It seemed like the wild, wild west with so many installing the application and freely giving it their credentials with little to no consideration of risk. At one point, it was deemed that 800 of OpenClaw’s skills were outright malware. I recently wrote about these risks. Then others came to market including Anthropic (Claude CoWork), AWS (Quick), Google (Gemini Spark), and Microsoft (Copilot Cowork). I’ve had a chance to work with the AWS team and take a deeper dive into Quick. It is a great, approachable solution but also brings the guardrails needed to protect the enterprise. I recently had a briefing with Microsoft demonstrating how Copilot Cowork is taking a similar approach.
Moving from bright, shiny objects to outcomes
One good sign in the broader AI conversation is that CIOs are largely moving away from the flashy AI punchlines and refocusing on business outcomes…and specifically oriented to one or more of the big 3. Transformational CIOs have stayed consistent to ensuring balance between opportunity and risk. It is good to see the rest of the market starting to follow that lead.
Cost vs value
I’m starting to see cracks in the armor where the AI conversation was squarely focused on cost and moving more to value.
Value = Opportunity – Cost
There is more to this equation that factors in outcome and risk. I’ve been engaging with the FinOps Foundation and TBM Council who are both trying to mature the conversations around value of cloud, AI and beyond. There is more work to be done and will require collaboration among end-users, providers and the organizations evolving the frameworks. I recently attended the FinOps X event last month in San Diego and will have more on my thoughts coming out of that event soon. Companies like AWS, Google and IBM are all heavily involved in the process and working to help customers navigate this complicated space.
Major AI-driven cybersecurity event in 2026?
There is a groundswell of concern among leading CIOs that a major cybersecurity event, driven by AI, could happen before the end of the year. In a weird way, this could be a good thing. Beyond the impact of the event, it could take some of the super-heated AI conversations down a few notches and focus on the intersection of AI and cybersecurity. AI is opening new threat vectors that enterprises are not considering. At the same time, AI is providing new opportunities and insights to cybersecurity teams. Just look at the work with AI that companies like Cisco and Google are doing around cybersecurity right now.
Quantum on the horizon (today?)
Companies like IBM have been talking about Quantum for some time. IBM Research has done some phenomenal work advancing the accessibility of quantum. Others such as AWS have also advanced their work with quantum computing. Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) is just one aspect. Quantum is not a faster classical computer. It is based on a whole new set of algorithms that solve different kinds of problems. The effort to bring quantum closer to commercial applications is accelerating. PQC is just one aspect I wrote about recently that is impacting CIOs today.
What’s News
There is a lot of change happening and hard to consume in one bite. Here’s the latest on what I’m seeing and what I’ve been writing about.
New blog posts
- Is token based pricing the right model for enterprises?
- Agentic AI agent identity is raising critical issues for enterprises
- CIOs must take post quantum cryptography seriously today or risk future peril
- IBM drives enterprise change through innovation in both AI and quantum
- AWS moves further into enterprise applications with Quick, Connect Talent, Connect Decisions and Connect Health
- The AI Hypercomputer: Why Google is No Longer “Just Another Cloud”. Key takeaways from Google Cloud Next 2026
- The Trojan Horse in Your Inbox: Why Personal AI Agents are a CIO’s Newest Nightmare
- Is SaaS dead? The reports of SaaS’ death are greatly exaggerated
- Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing customer engagement strategies for contact centers and service management
- Beyond the Hype: 9 Cybersecurity Realities CIOs Must Face at RSAC 2026
- Cisco AI Summit Expands and Elevates the Enterprise AI Conversation
- Why AI is failing in the enterprise and two ways to correct it
- Three Moves in 30 days: How ServiceNow is Rewriting Its Value Proposition for CIOs
New CIO In The Know podcast episodes
Upcoming Events
July and August offer a bit of a break from in-person events. That doesn’t mean that the action stops! Take a look at my webinar coming up next week.
I’m joining Cornerstone and Stacey Harris, Chief Research Officer of Sapient Insights for a discussion on ‘Keeping your workforce ready amidst constant reinvention’. Join us for the webinar on Thursday 7/16 @ 9am PT/ 12noon ET.
Register here: https://go.cornerstoneondemand.com/wbr-nam-202607-keeping-workforce-ready-registration.html
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The first half of 2026 was incredible, and the second half looks just as exciting! Look for more content coming your way…and be sure to subscribe!
Questions, comments, suggestions for the newsletter? I’d love to hear from you!
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