“As AI becomes integral to business strategy, CIOs are being forced to reconsider how and where it’s optimal to deploy compute resources. The need for low latency, cost efficiency, and compliance in AI applications is driving a rapid shift toward hybrid and multi-cloud strategies. For IT leaders, this means 2025 will be a pivotal year for a comprehensive realignment of their infrastructure with the realities of the AI era.”
Enterprise IT in 2025 is entering a period of profound reinvention as CIOs push AI beyond isolated functions, wrestle with the immature foundations of agentic AI, and escalate efforts to counter suddenly looming post-quantum threats. Futurum’s Q2 2025 CIO Insights survey reveals 89% of IT leaders driving AI for strategic transformation, 80% elevating quantum-resilient security to board-level priority, and 71% rethinking optimal cloud environments under intensifying AI workload pressures.
Three primary reasons are driving this change.
Dion Hinchcliffe is a distinguished thought leader, IT expert, and enterprise architect, celebrated for his strategic advisory with Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies. With over 25 years of experience, Dion works with the leadership teams of top enterprises, as well as leading tech companies, in bridging the gap between business and technology, focusing on enterprise AI, IT management, cloud computing, and digital business. He is a sought-after keynote speaker, industry analyst, and author, known for his insightful and in-depth contributions to digital strategy, IT topics, and digital transformation. Dion’s influence is particularly notable in the CIO community, where he engages actively with CIO roundtables and has been ranked numerous times as one of the top global influencers of Chief Information Officers. He also serves as an executive fellow at the SDA Bocconi Center for Digital Strategies.
Insightful #CIO graphic from @dhinchcliffe
We are starting to get clarity on the business models of AI-led organizations.
A good breakdown that helps survey the space for digital officers looking for the best ways to build AI revenue ...streams…
Hearing from multiple sources including AWS that their compute capacity is likely sold out beyond 2028, due to AI demand.
This shifts power further toward the hyperscalers. AWS customers face higher... effective prices as older long-term contracts roll off and reprice closer to
I’m looking at tools this weekend that let CIOs control agents and manage the downside.
A new development: @Veeam has just launched Intelligent ResOps for @Microsoft365, including file-level AI ...Undo.
The bigger shift? Agent governance is moving beyond permissions and kill
Lots of employment data out there but this is one the more interesting: Entry-level jobs increasing in AI-intensive firms.
It could just be boats rising, but we’ll see. This data will be watched ...closely for large-scale employment shifts.
My take: It’s both boats rising + new
New Research: The future of work isn’t about making people 30% faster at yesterday’s jobs.
I believe it’s about making entirely new kinds of work possible.
One person directing swarms of ...agents. Small teams conducting groundbreaking, original R&D with frontier AI. Mission
IT leaders still on the hunt for @VMware alternatives
There have been veritable explosion of alternatives over the last 24 months. My take: The real issue is finding a vendor they will trust again.
IT leaders still on the hunt for VMware alternatives
Facing price hikes and end of perpetual license support, nearly every CIO wants a way out of VMware’s grip on ...
www.cio.com
A growing list of major companies are blocking consumer AI agents from using their services, when they can even tell.
It’s the same old tired mistake.
It’s a key business opportunity in ...disguise (API revenue at absolute minimum), but they simply can’t see it that way.
Design
JPMorgan Chase just blocked Instinct and Muse
We’ve now seen blocking as an official policy (or at least reported behavior by users) from: Amazon, Yelp, Resy, United, eBay and so many more
However, with great pain points come great opportunity!
That is the beauty of capitalism
@dhinchcliffe #CIOChat A4: stochastic agents (time+context+user+event constraints) with infinitely variable linear regression algos. Think of it as Jev for IAM
Looks like another fun #ciochat topic coming up. Scorecards are scorecards, but our communication around them is one area where a little more multi-/cross-cultural sensitive can be a good thing. ...Sports metaphors don't always translate. 😇
A3. Aggressively deploying MFA (and I don't mean SMS LOL) & #zerotrust helps harden access points & identities.
Short-lived credentials using Diffie-Hellman, etc., don't mean squat: a ...#QuantumComputer isn't just "fast at enumerating": it literally solves all cases at once via
@dhinchcliffe #CIOChat A3: Hybrid cryptography with Abac/Rbac/sub-second timeouts and routing agents with backout/rewind and introspection - all using agentic choreography with a finite gate ceiling.
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VP, Custom Research · The Futurum Group
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