FEATURE: CIO PRIORITIES
modelling and proactive market response. With this in place, they will then be positioned to not only innovate, but also gain a strategic edge, using data to both anticipate disruption and build adaptive responses into their operating models.
Resilience must also be baked into IT infrastructure. This means designing systems that can self-monitor, self-heal and adapt to change without interrupting core services. Generative AI, for example, can now be deployed to automatically detect and resolve issues, significantly reducing downtime. Autonomous systems that manage themselves not only improve reliability, they also free up IT teams to focus on innovation rather than firefighting.
But laying these foundations is only the beginning. As new innovations are layered on top, CIOs must recognise that they are building in multiple directions simultaneously and solving challenges requires deep collaboration across disciplines. That’ s why DXC merges analytics and engineering expertise with application delivery into a unified consulting and engineering capability.
Managing Tech Debt
As cybersecurity risk grows in intensity, quantification will be of great help in the mitigation battle. The ROC will be pivotal in bringing the right data and knowhow together to shield the enterprise from the worst its adversaries can throw at it. As we move through a turbulent 2025, one thing is clear: companies that make risk operations a core capability today will be the ones best positioned to lead tomorrow.
Seelan Nayagam, President, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, DXC Technology
Innovation and resilience are often presented as complementary, but the pace of AI – and datadriven innovation can potentially weaken resilience if organisations don’ t first ensure the quality, security and ethical use of data. AI depends on good data, and the data itself increasingly depends on AI to manage it. It’ s a circular challenge that demands a strong foundation before anything else.
For CIOs, the first step must therefore be to build a robust AI-ready data foundation. This isn’ t just about enabling new technologies, it’ s about establishing the groundwork for real-time analytics, predictive
Critically, if resilience is to be prioritised through rapid innovation cycles, the risk of technical debt must be top of mind. Unlike many transformation efforts, this isn’ t a problem CIOs can solve just once. Managing tech debt requires continuous commitment – it’ s iterative, strategic, and never fully‘ done’.
To manage it properly, CIOs must lead the creation of a cross-organisational roadmap that accounts not just for technical systems, but for business processes, people and culture. This roadmap should include a technical plan for modern architecture, an organisational debt reduction strategy embedded in every initiative, and an offset plan to balance new development with the retirement of outdated systems. Importantly, it should also balance short-term quick wins with longer-term strategic outcomes, allowing early gains to help fund the journey ahead.
THE CIO TODAY IS MORE THAN A TECHNOLOGY
CUSTODIAN.
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