New research shows that chief information officers ( CIOs ) must work together to keep up with the rising cyber threat and internal pressure to innovate and transform their organizations while also struggling with senior leadership’s lack of knowledge.
Nearly half ( 41 % ) of the 1,400 tech leaders and CIOs polled worldwide said cybersecurity is now their top priority, with 77 % choosing it as their top area of investment in the upcoming year. According to IT recruitment specialists Experis ‘ most recent report, , it is now.
However, only 37 % of believe that their company’s overall risk strategy aligns with cybersecurity, which is a significant gap in management because more than half ( 56 % ) of tech leaders believe senior leaders lack knowledge about the CIO role and what is required to succeed.
The disconnect extends even further, as the study revealed nearly a quarter ( 23 % ) of the disconnect.
CIOs still believe they must explain the value of IT to internal stakeholders, with 28 % of IT leaders claiming that managing internal resistance takes the most time from important tasks.
Despite these continual issues, Administrators are still cautious about the upcoming year. Nearly a third ( 32 % ) are excited about the potential ROI from cloud computing and scalable infrastructure as well as the impact of predictive on their businesses.
Most UK CIOs (86 % ) put forth work to align their organization’s investment goals with the transformation objectives, spending more time on average than their global counterparts ( 41 % ) speaking to stakeholders about AI projects. 32 % on average ) and conducting research into new technologies ( 61 % ) 51 % ).
They may also be unintentionally limiting their talent pool, as UK CIOs were found to be the least likely to hire graduates from technical colleges ( 22 % vs. 32 % ).
The study reveals that 76 % of IT companies report difficulty in finding qualified candidates, despite the fact that not just UK companies face challenges in finding the right tech talent.
The majority of CIOs and tech leaders ( 81 % ) have noticed a shift in hiring patterns, with 32 % claiming that their hiring has expanded to areas like cloud computing and sustainability tech, making skilled talent even more difficult to come by.
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More than half of tech leaders ( 52 % ) claim that integrating AI skills into existing roles has become the top challenge for AI adoption, despite the fact that the majority of organizations are either actively exploring ( 33 % ) or already implementing ( 27 % ) AI technologies in some capacity due to the lack of new talent.
Today’s Directors aren’t really playing defense; they are. They are effectively blending technology and security to gain a competitive advantage, according to Kye Mitchell, Experis US head.
The most effective technology leaders are incorporating resilience into their online foundations while also using AI, cloud, and other cutting-edge technologies to outshine their competition.
They don’t make trade-offs, they say; by developing included strategies that promote development rather than hinder it, they are changing their entire approach to technology. ”