Austin, Texas, USA, December 11, 2024
In late 2024, Futurum Intelligence surveyed 119 leading CIOs from Fortune 500 and Global 2000 organizations worldwide to understand their strategies, challenges, and priorities for IT investment, cloud workloads, AI adoption, cybersecurity, and digital transformation.
Most organizations (71%) plan to reevaluate their cloud workloads in 2025, focusing on optimizing placement between private and public clouds. Top drivers for workload changes include improved control and security (55%) and compliance or regulatory requirements (20%).
AI Adoption and Experimentation
Generative AI tools, such as Microsoft Copilot (39%) and ChatGPT/Azure OpenAI (37%), are among the most widely tested solutions, with Salesforce AI (25%) also gaining traction.
The primary goals of AI adoption include automation (96%), productivity improvements (77%), and enhancing customer experiences (69%). However, data security risks (80%) and lack of explainability (67%) remain significant concerns.
Most organizations (79%) start with discrete AI pilots, while 71% have a well-formed plan for AI implementation, signaling a balanced approach to experimentation and regulation.
Cloud Workloads and Investments
Shifting cloud workloads remains a priority, with 66% of CIOs planning to migrate on-premise storage and applications to the cloud. Cloud modernization (51%) and maturing cloud strategies (10%) reflect continued investments in hybrid and public cloud infrastructure.
Budget expectations for 2025 show optimism, with 45% anticipating a 5-6% increase in IT spending, driven by cybersecurity, digital transformation, and emerging technology adoption.
Cybersecurity and Digital Transformation
Cybersecurity (90%) leads IT investment priorities, followed by driving digital transformation (89%) and adopting emerging technologies (80%). These initiatives are crucial for addressing evolving threats and maintaining competitive advantage.
Data privacy and protection (47%) and system integration (32%) remain key hurdles as organizations prioritize modernization while navigating regulatory requirements and legacy systems.
The survey underscores the dynamic priorities of CIOs in 2025, with strategic investments in AI, cybersecurity, and cloud technologies serving as foundational pillars for innovation and operational resilience.
“Generative AI is about to navigate the inevitable disillusionment phase, a phase marked by overhyped expectations and early-stage challenges,” said Dion Hinchcliffe, VP of CIO Practice at The Futurum Group. “However, the latest data shows that as the ecosystem matures and consolidates, enterprises will move beyond experimentation to strategic implementation, and the technology’s transformative benefits will steadily materialize. These will drive rapid advancements and reshaping of business operations in the coming years.”
About Futurum Intelligence for Market Leaders
Futurum CIO Insights IQ service provides actionable insight from analysts, reports, and interactive visualization datasets, helping leaders drive their organizations through transformation and business growth. Learn more here: https://info.futurumgroup.com/cio-insights-2025.
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