Key Challenges for CIOs in 2026: Strategy, Governance, and AI at Scale
This summary draws on a Global CIO community panel discussion on how the CIO role is changing as AI moves from experimentation to execution. Across industries and regulatory environments, AI was framed not as a standalone technology agenda, but as a business issue shaped by governance, security, operating models, workforce readiness, and the ability to scale with control. A central theme was that CIOs are no longer expected simply to support implementation. They are increasingly expected to align technology with business priorities, manage risk, and turn AI ambition into business results.
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Project Samruddhi
The hotel business in Uzbekistan is growing and digitizing: the hotel management system, ticket offices, online sales channels, mobile keys, smart devices in rooms, active social networks. Along with this, the risks are also growing. We talked to Ilkhom Begmatov, a regional representative of the Softline Group of companies in Uzbekistan, about how to build protection without losing speed and convenience for guestsSoftline.
The Uzum digital ecosystem became the first technology "unicorn" in Uzbekistan in 2024 and continues to grow. The GlobalCIO editorial team spoke with Roman Lavrentiev, COO of Uzum. An IT leader with a product background, he has built companies whose solutions operated from North America to Africa. Today, his experience in scaling global IT products is helping to build a key digital ecosystem in Uzbekistan.
Industry research shows that the growth rate of the information security market in emerging markets remains below projected values, averaging 20-25% per year. Experts cite the lack of local solutions as one of the reasons, which complicates budgeting and the implementation of new systems.
Alexander Kuliev, an expert in data-driven transformation, talks about the successful implementation of a digital management system in the Burger King chain with more than 800 restaurants. In three years, the company moved from expert solutions to a full-fledged data-driven model, achieving efficiency growth of up to 9% in certain segments. The author shares the key stages of transformation and the main lesson.
In a context of rising costs and stringent regulatory requirements, effective management of IT economics is becoming a key success factor for any modern organization. But how can this be achieved if even mature companies struggle to achieve cost effectiveness in their IT spending? Is IT truly a "black box" from which predictable and manageable results are difficult to extract? The answer to this question can transform a business's approach to IT management and increase profitability.
Traiano Leme presents the strategy "centralize the core, localize the periphery" for 160 international markets. The expert with 30 years of experience proposes a product-oriented IT model with global standards and local adaptations, including shadow IT management and IT department transformation.
Data backup is often perceived as something abstract or simply as another task pushed by an overzealous IT department. Managers frequently dismiss it with a wave of the hand: “What are those tech guys up to now?” In the hustle of daily operations, the pursuit of profit and solving immediate issues, this critically important topic often gets pushed to the sidelines. But take it from years of hard-earned experience: backup is not a whim. It is a fundamental matter of business survival. No exaggeration.
Low-code is not news or a trend, today every second (if not the first) platform provides opportunities for low-code customization. Why this is not always for the good, we understand in the article.
The Global CIO editorial team continues its series of articles on the conditions in which the IT business operates in different countries. We spoke with our partners about the development of the IT sector in their countries, specific challenges and opportunities they face, as well as the key success factors in each market. Today, we present one of the fastest-growing economies in Central Asia – The Republic of Uzbekistan.
In recent years, digital twins have become an integral part of the development strategy of leading industrial enterprises. This technology is transforming the approach to production management, asset maintenance and security.
Key insights from a panel of HR and engineering leaders working across Sub-Saharan markets. With 700,000 developers and growing startup ecosystems in countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, and Morocco, Africa is becoming a strategic region for global IT hiring. Tech giants such as AWS, Google, and Microsoft are opening development centers, while remote opportunities continue to drive cross-border employment.
In a fast-changing tech landscape, creativity is no longer a “nice to have” — it’s what keeps IT teams functional across borders, time zones, and pressure. At a recent session hosted by Global CIO and moderated by executive coach Ekaterina Belyatinskaya, tech leaders from different industries came together to explore what creative leadership really looks like in action — and why it matters now more than ever.
Now many companies have reached the stage of implementing AI assistants, but not everyone has an understanding of where exactly to start and how to build a useful corporate service based on the new fashionable technology.
VIVEST's CIO Mr. Alex Galho led a 12-month AI transformation deploying Microsoft Copilot across 28 initiatives with documented ROI of 30% in health processing. The case study reveals that successful enterprise AI adoption requires structured people enablement and cultural change, not just technology implementation. Key lessons include moving from mass training to 1-on-1 mentoring and treating AI as continuous transformation rather than a finite project.
The CIO role is transforming from technical specialist to strategic business leader, requiring strong communication, negotiation, and change management skills alongside technical expertise. At a Global CIO networking session on June 10, IT leaders from multiple countries discussed how to develop these essential "soft skills" for driving digital transformation and revenue generation.
How often do you find that some processes in your life do not go according to plan? And the thought constantly pops into your head: why didn’t I predict this, it could have been avoided.