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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Key trends such as artificial intelligence, automation and cloud technologies are opening up new opportunities. The main goal is not just the introduction of technology, but the creation of a culture in which employees accept changes and develop together with the company. With over 30 years of IT experience, Pernod Ricard's CIO brings a compelling perspective on digital transformation.
Increasingly, people and organizations are overwhelmed by the abundance of information. One of the most "affected" industries is information technology. IT specialists are at the forefront of the development of new technologies and, as a result, are bombarded with a huge amount of information and produce it themselves. What effective strategies exist to help in dealing with stress and information overload?
Representatives of FMCG companies and the agricultural sector discussed the reality of digital transformation in their industries at the panel discussion. The main question was whether there is a real transformation of business models, or if this term masks regular process optimization? The participants shared examples of digital technology implementation, discussed the impact of automation on personnel issues and data monetization opportunities.
Any organization, regardless of its scale and specifics of activity, makes purchases: from office supplies to components for complex production. How to understand that purchasing activities are organized effectively? Purchasing specialists themselves usually rely on three criteria: cost, that is, the ability to save the company's money, compliance with delivery dates and satisfaction of internal business customers. For company management, the main thing is that purchases are carried out as transparently as possible and in accordance with legal requirements.
Expert Andrey Golub presented the results of implementing generative micro automation in various industries: the technology increases productivity by 20-30% and reduces costs by up to 25% with proper integration.
In today's world, where customers expect instant and high-quality service, an omni-channel approach to interacting with consumers is becoming not just a trend, but a necessity. Companies that want to succeed must ensure uninterrupted customer support through a variety of platforms-from social networks and instant messengers to traditional communication channels.
Latin America’s tech scene is flourishing, but the region faces a pressing challenge: the demand for skilled IT professionals far exceeds the available talent pool.
As New Year approach, we are delighted to share warm greetings and wishes from the members of our community – IT executives and digital transformation leaders from around the world.
AI has become a key digitalization trend, transforming approaches to business. Andrey Golub, an independent expert in strategic planning and digital transformation of the fashion industry, visiting professor at the Presidential Academy, examined the evolution of automation approaches: from traditional robotic process automation (RPA) to micro-automation using AI.
DISC personality model: boost IT leadership by understanding your team's communication styles for better project outcomes.
Author: Egor Kopylov, founder of Topspace project, more than 10 years of experience in Tech leadership, developer of five Yandex services and dozens of own IT projects.
Viktor Sirenko, Head of Cloud Services Development Department; IT Division, IT Infrastructure Directorate, OTP Bank, spoke about the team's experience in developing a PaaS platform based on Kubernetes within its private cloud.
The presentation by Petr Lukyanchenko, head of the machine learning department at ecom.tech, is dedicated to recommendation systems and the specifics of their work within e-commerce. The speaker analyzes existing models and presents the company's development in the form of a virtual assistant.
Digital transformation in Central Asia is advancing rapidly, delivering world-class projects and fostering unicorn companies. Global CIO presents the special issue on “IT Development in Central Asia”, showcasing key developments from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
Andrey Kuznetsov, IT Bastion Product Development Specialist:
“The modern technological enterprise is trying, though not always of its own free will, to “digitalize”, but process management through dozens of handshakes and approvals has not gone anywhere, and file transfer via usb-carriers or data recording in notebooks in a box is almost the established norm in conditions of isolation of network segments. Moreover, not everyone realizes that the process of digitalization of production must automatically be accompanied by the process of information security: the more computers there are, the more profitable it is to break them”