AI, Data & Innovation: What Every CIO Must Prioritize in 2025

With AI and automation reshaping industries, CIOs must align IT with business goals, ensure data readiness, and lead innovation. Discover the key questions CIOs should answer to navigate digital transformation in 2025.

The past four years have transformed how companies and customers use technology for daily operations. Whether we realize it or not, the pandemic fueled innovation and rapid experimentation to adopt technology faster than any time in the past 35 years that I have been around in the tech field.

The launch of ChatGPT in late 2023 created excitement that we have not seen before and opened up unlimited possibilities to transform how we work. AI took almost 30 years to mature and transition from academia to mainstream, primarily due to the advent of tools and platforms that hide many of the complexities and make it easy for people like us to build solutions. In many organizations, non-IT folks are creating solutions, and IT is playing catchup. The demand from business for data and technology is faster than the speed at which IT is able to deliver.

As CIOs look to meet this demand and lead organizational change, they must change how IT operates and lead with a clear plan. The entire company’s leadership must embrace innovation to transform the company’s products and services and the customer experience, which will drive revenue growth. They must walk the talk, hire the right talent, and reward the innovators who deliver this promise.

CIO Priorities in 2025

McKinsey’s Critical Questions

I recently read a McKinsey article that highlights eight critical questions that tech officers should be ready to answer in 2025. These are:​

  • What are the 3 to 5 tech initiatives that are crucial for your company to execute its strategy—and is your team aligned around them?

  • What is your approach to applying tech to fundamentally change the cost structure of both the business and the tech function?

  • How do you make resiliency a real muscle so you can commit to—and deliver against—expectations of zero downtime, including business processes and vendor support?

  • Do you have a vision for what a GenAI agent–first organization looks like, and how are you getting ready to harness it rather than be taken over by it?

  • Is your tech estate really ready to deliver the high ambitions of AI, including data, modern tech platforms, operating model, and talent?

  • Which mergers, acquisitions, or IPOs could have the biggest impact on your organization, and how have you prepared the technology team to benefit from them?

  • What steps have you taken to protect the business from top geopolitical risks?

  • What initiatives will you put in place to understand how emerging tech, such as quantum technologies, can generate value for the business?

Sri Raju, Smartbridge CEO

In many organizations, non-IT folks are creating solutions, and IT is playing catchup.

– Raj, Smartbridge CEO

Critical Questions, done the Smartbridge Way

As the head of Smartbridge, I interact and work with many business and technology leaders at our clients and prospects. My teams work with clients to create innovation and modernize their digital capabilities.

As a result, I have the unique opportunity to observe the challenges companies face, assess their technology maturity, and recommend strategies using industry trends, personal experience, and best practices.

From what I see in the real world, I strongly believe that this slightly adjusted set of questions is more appropriate for most companies that are at various stages of digital maturity.

  • What are the 3 to 5 tech initiatives that are crucial for your company to execute its strategy—and is your team aligned around them?

  • What is your approach to applying tech to deliver innovation that will fundamentally change how the business operates, develop new products and services, and grow revenue?

  • How do you make security and resiliency a real muscle so you can commit to and deliver against? Did you map out the core functional processes that must operate at 100% uptime to secure the business – spend where it is critical?

  • How mature are your data management and analytics capabilities? Have you modernized your data architectures and analytics platforms to support advanced analytics and AI needs?

  • Do your organization’s data and analytics strategy and capabilities maintain a central focus on understanding everything about your customers? Hopefully, it is not focused primarily on operations and finance.

  • Are you ready with your AI and GenAI strategy and use case development capabilities? Have you invested in acquiring the right skills to deliver the promise of AI and Gen AI?

  • Are your people and processes equipped and ready with the changes required to absorb the rapid influx of technology (automation, AI, and GenAI) that is about to happen?

It does not matter which list CIOs focus on; they need to “plan the work” and “work the plan” to deliver business value and transform the company, led by tech excellence.

Keep Reading: Navigating Rising AI Costs: Strategies for Enterprises

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