Virtual Roundtable: CIO Imperatives for Leading the Recovery
The past year demonstrated how resiliency was a priority for Canadian organizations. Many had to rapidly adapt to disruptions by leveraging digital capabilities to restore business operations and capitalize on the changed conditions. The businesses that effectively used digital technologies to focus on their customers, employees, and communities were better able to weather the storm and are poised to be leaders as the world recovers from the current crisis.
CIOs must maintain an accelerated digital transformation speed while ensuring that investments satisfy strategic roadmaps and business goals. Compounding this challenge is the shadow of higher scrutiny on technology spending.
With these principles in mind, The IT Media Group brought together 14 cross-industry IT executives for a virtual roundtable entitled 'CIO Imperatives for Leading the Recovery.' The session provided an opportunity to focus on the top data, design, and innovation issues that CIOs are facing during the recovery.
Moderating the roundtable was Jeff Ishii, Chief Technologist at The IT Media Group. Also participating were executives from the session sponsors Benchmark Corporation, experts at accelerating digital transformation, and Vertica, a world-leader in providing analytics at scale.
The interactive session included a combination of live-polling and panel discussion about the challenges and best practices for the following topic areas:
1. Tactics to monetize investments in data
- Identifying pain points that impede value generation
- Linking digital investments with business strategy
2. Effective digital transformation during budgetary challenges
- The risks of incurring technical debt
- Making the TCO of digital investments transparent and predictable
3. Strategies to combine data science and design
- Benefits of using a combined approach
- Making it easy for developers to embrace analytics
4. Methods for selecting the best digital approaches
- Addressing the executive skills gap
- Determining the art of the possible
Colin Mahony, SVP and CEO of Vertica, observed, "It was fascinating to hear different perspectives from leaders representing a diverse set of enterprises. It was also great to see how bullish everyone is about the Canadian market." He added, "It's an exciting time to be involved with data to help solve business problems. Organizations who do that well certainly outperform those that don't."
Luc Villeneuve, President of Benchmark Corporation, noted, "Technology vendors are introducing new features and solutions at a rapid pace. This velocity is a challenge because it creates both knowledge and skills gaps that are difficult to close." When asked how to address this, Luc offered, "It's important to find a partner that specializes in taking advantage of these changes and can act as a trusted advisor to coach an organization on where they need to go." Shlomo Bielak, CTO of Benchmark Corporation, added, "Experience and intellectual property can significantly shorten an organization's journey to the cloud. By bringing in the right partner, a company can greatly accelerate the realization of value."
All participants will receive a strategic insights report highlighting tactics and best practices discussed during the roundtable.
Post session interviews
Luc Villeneuve, President, Benchmark Corp
Colin Mahony, SVP and CEO, Vertica
Shlomo Bielak, CTO, Benchmark Corp
Session highlights videos
Monetizing Investments in Data
Addressing Technical Debt
Making the Case for Digital Investments
Combining Data Science and Design
Bridging the Digital Skills Gap
The Art of the Possible
The IT Media Group's CIO roundtables are among the most successful event programs for IT executives in Canada, bringing together scores of senior-level peers for thoughtful private discussions around the top issues facing enterprise IT. For a better understanding of these events, please visit our Video section.
The IT Media Group is an award-winning producer of events and content for senior IT executives. Based in Toronto, our leadership team includes some of the most experienced and well-respected media, technology, and business professionals serving Canada's IT executive community.
Having an AI advisor that provides recommendations based on your direction can be helpful. But an expert actor that can make decisions and operate with minimal human intervention is even more powerful.
Insights from Nasheen Liu on the AI Future Leaders Podcast.
AI is no longer experimental. It’s operational. It’s funded. And it’s expected to deliver. Yet a new global study from Hitachi Vantara reveals a hard truth many CIOs already suspect: AI success is being limited not by algorithms, but by data infrastructure.
Cyber incidents are no longer isolated IT events. They are enterprise-level crises that can halt operations, trigger regulatory scrutiny and erode customer trust overnight. Yet too often, planning for how to respond is treated as a compliance checkbox or delegated piecemeal across functions.
Having an AI advisor that provides recommendations based on your direction can be helpful. But an expert actor that can make decisions and work without oversight is even more powerful.
Artificial Intelligence is no longer a buzzword; it's a daily boardroom reality. CIOs are tasked not only with adopting AI but also with translating their "AI promise" into operational and financial value. However, despite board-level urgency and growing enterprise investments, many AI programs still fail to deliver—not due to lack of ambition, but because of a strategic value gap.
AI is transforming industries at warp speed, with companies across sectors driven by its potential to accelerate revenue growth, boost operational efficiency and customize customer experiences.
Salad.
The Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector is witnessing a rapid AI adoption surge, but this digital acceleration comes with significant challenges. According to the
Why Flexible Infrastructure Consumption is in High Demand and Driving Business Growth
