Voices of the CIO

To highlight key parts of the 2025 State of the CIO research and hear voices of the CIO, Foundry partnered with IDC/CIO Executive Council, for an exclusive discussion with IT leaders. John Gallant, Foundry’s Enterprise Consulting Director, is joined by colleague Zachary Miller, Executive Director of the IDC/CIO Council, Devon Valencia, CIO, CareSource, and Satya Jayadev, VP & CIO, Skyworks Solutions, Inc. 

What are CIOs saying about technology budgets?

Technology has proven to be a constant necessity in order to drive the business forward, and CIOs are not largely concerned with their technology budgets being reduced. In fact, 89% of CIOs expect their tech budget to either increase or remain the same this year.

Satya notes that this increase in IT spending is largely fueled by the growing impact of AI. “It is operations, modernization and the transformation that is all driving the cost up to make sure that we deliver AI where the organization feels it and see it from that perspective.” 

Zach follows up by saying that 2025 is the year of AI investment. He states, “it’s the investment in preparing for AI” that’s leading to the rise in technology budgets. 

In a fast-moving industry, embracing AI isn’t optional. Devon remarks, “AI is obviously top of mind for everybody…our approach to AI is it’s here to stay. It’s not going away.”  With AI being the leading factor for increased technology budgets, it’s essential that CIOs not only embrace AI, but know how to effectively use it or else competitors will beat them to it.  

How is AI changing the role of the CIO today?

John prompted the CIOs to find out if organizations are moving too quickly or too slowly when it comes to AI. Specifically, how is this focus and urgency around AI alone changing the CIO role today? 

Devon emphasizes that AI isn’t a temporary thing; it’s embedded in everything we do. With AI enabling many of the conversations IT leaders are having today, CIOs are moving to much more of a strategist role. “It’s problem-solving in a very different way. It’s not like known solutions…and I think it’s changing the dialog between our organizations.” 

Satya agrees that Devon hit the nail on the head. “For the first time, I feel like technology has no limitation in terms of what it can do. And I think we’re also starting to see the role of the CIO change pretty, you know, significantly, right?” 

IT now adds value through AI; technology systems are now being significantly changed by what AI can do in terms of productivity. 

He goes on to say, “It’s a very interesting time to be a CIO…I think this is only going to get better as we start seeing some of these mainstream use cases come to life. And I think that’s where you’re going to see that the IT organization is a significant value adder within the business.”

Are CIOs being viewed as a changemaker?

According to the State of the CIO research, 81% of CIOs view themselves as a changemaker, increasingly leading business and technology initiatives. To further solidify this statement, 56% of line of business (LOB) executives view the CIO as a business leader. 

Reflecting on how her role has evolved, and where it’s headed, Devon shares the excitement she and her team feel about shaping the future in one of the most dynamic and influential industries: technology. 

“I am in every deal conversation because technology is native to like everything we’re doing. It’s a competitive advantage for everything we’re doing where it used to be sort of like hey, well, let’s talk about the cost structure of IT…I do think it’s changing where it used to be, sort of a functional role. It’s certainly a strategist.” 

Satya agrees and thinks this boom in the technology landscape has given IT leaders a lot of credibility. “We became more of the drivers…and I think we are seen more as people who understand the business and technology and how do we bring that to the business.  

Is there a gap between current and future CIO responsibilities?

When CIOs were asked about their current day-to-day focus in this year’s study, the top four responses are all operationally focused: security management, improving IT operations, modernizing infrastructure, and aligning IT initiatives with business goals. However, when looking to the future, the mix of priorities changes. In the next one to three years, CIOs report that they hope to spend their time driving business innovation. 

Regarding how CIOs are navigating modernization, Satya notes that the first step is to identify that there are gaps. Then, you start fixing them. “There’s a lot of importance in investing in the right systems and building or harmonizing the processes you go through, which will reflect in your data.” 

Devon adds how “Storytelling to your board and your CFO to make sure that that funding is always available…I just think every CIO has got to convince your board, CFO, CEO, you have to have an n-minus-one kind of a strategy where it’s just part of your day-to-day.” 

Are CIOs effectively working with line of business around AI?

Although AI has been used by organizations for decades, it’s a toolset and technological advancement that is high on organizations’ radar since the addition of Gen AI. The 2025 State of the CIO research found that 75% of CIOs anticipate they will become more involved with AI/machine learning in the next year. 

Seventy-five percent of CIOs also agree that they’re working more closely with LOB on AI applications, especially as line of business is pushing the adoption of AI-enabled products and solutions. This creates a huge opportunity for the CIO, but the first step is education. 

From Devon’s perspective, the conversation is changing from a transactional “I have this problem, I know I need to buy software and so help me pick it” to “I think there’s this emerging capability I want to build. So, it’s a different conversation, which I think is fun for us and also fun for our business partners.”  

Satya supports this and then goes further to say “This is a time where we can become very relevant or become very irrelevant in terms of how we see it…and I think that’s where, you know, the secret sauce is. How do you understand this? How do you demystify this to the board? And how do you demystify solutions to the senior members of the, you know, executive team? All of that becomes very, very important.” 

What challenges are CIOs facing?

One question in the State of the CIO study asks what challenges are most often forcing CIOs to redirect their time and focus away from strategic and innovative tasks. Our CIO guests have some input. 

Staff and skills shortages tops the list as the number one answer holding CIOs back from achieving their goals. Devon addresses the challenge of finding, training and keeping employees by saying “I’m competing against 100-billion-dollar companies for the best talent. So, you have to be a place where people are dying to work for you and feel like they have opportunity and career growth and that it’s fun, right?” 

Satya replies, “Sometimes I feel that the “I” in CIO stands for inspiration to make sure that we are the ones that are trying to kind of help the organization see what it is.”