The Top CIO Challenges, According to 12k+ of Your CIO Peers

Technology innovation continues to outpace many organizations' ability to adapt. In fact, 50% of CIOs say their IT function cannot keep up with the pace of change, while 85% of IT leaders plan to deliver AI-enabled business services within the next three years. 

As AI, cloud and edge computing become foundational to growth, CIOs must decide which investments will create lasting business value and how to modernize enterprise architecture for greater speed, scalability and adaptability.

Gartner helps CIOs evaluate emerging technologies, benchmark capabilities and prioritize investments that position technology as a strategic growth driver rather than a constraint. Tools such as Gartner IT Score, AI Maturity Assessment and AskGartner help leaders make faster, more confident decisions.

Talk to a Gartner Executive Partner. As a client, you can work directly with an EP mentor. Learn more today.

Disruption is becoming the norm. 70% of boards identify geopolitical instability and international conflict as the largest external threat to their organizations, while only 24% of CIOs report being highly effective at creating operating models that flex with changing business needs.

At the same time, Gartner predicts that 50% of enterprises will fail to realize measurable business value from AI by 2028 because their operating models were not designed for AI-enabled execution.

CIOs are rethinking organizational structures, governance, sourcing strategies and operating models to improve resilience, agility and long-term performance. Gartner helps leaders identify gaps, benchmark effectiveness and build operating models that can withstand ongoing uncertainty.

Legacy environments remain one of the largest barriers to agility, innovation and AI adoption. Yet modernization carries significant operational and business risk if executed poorly. 

The opportunity is substantial. Gartner expects application modernization costs to decline by 30% through 2028 due to GenAI, and 90% of software modernization projects will use AI-augmented tools by 2029. Meanwhile, 73% of organizations plan to increase modernization investments over the next two years. 

CIOs are focused on identifying where to modernize first, minimizing disruption and ensuring modernization efforts directly support business outcomes. Gartner provides roadmaps, benchmarks and expert guidance to help organizations modernize with confidence while maintaining continuity.

Technology transformation is increasingly a workforce challenge. 51% of CIOs identify the gap between evolving AI skill requirements and available talent as their biggest obstacle, yet only 40% of organizations have a strategy to prevent skills atrophy.

Leading organizations recognize that AI success depends on more than technology adoption. It requires new operating models, new skills and new approaches to human-AI collaboration. At the same time, 56% of enterprises are focused on augmenting employees rather than replacing them. 

Gartner helps CIOs and their teams assess workforce readiness, identify capability gaps and build practical strategies to develop an adaptable, resilient and AI-ready workforce.