The pressures CIOs face in 2025

CIOs are always under a lot of pressure, but it could be argued that — as we head into a New Year — that has reached a whole new and unprecedented level. While Gartner predicts an increased 9.3% spend on software and IT services in 2025, CIOs are still operating in cautious budget environments and being asked to achieve more with less. Plus, this must happen against a backdrop of greater regulation, a growing security threat, and the need to ensure that technology helps an organisation be competitive, with content employees and satisfied customers. 

By any stretch of the imagination, that is a lot to ask of any CIO. Yet now is also a perfect time to create or correct the appropriate foundations and strategies so that organisations are in a strong position to take advantage when the market upturn begins to appear on the horizon. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with many CIOs in recent months, and while some are struggling with where to turn next, equally, many have a clear idea of what needs to happen next. Here are some of the best practices they are adopting. 

Take AI, with which just about every CIO on the planet must be experimenting, yet the focus is often just on the productivity gains delivered by generative AI. While that has tremendous value, it misses the bigger picture. What matters is how AI will drive value. If an AI tool does not understand a customer’s query and so takes too long to solve it, leaving that person dissatisfied, how can that be changed? How can AI be improved? When should that query have been automatically routed to a person? Like any other business tool, the effectiveness of AI needs to be held accountable against some clear metrics. 

A Focus on AI to Change Software Testing 

For instance, AI will revolutionise software testing, which has long been one of the biggest bottlenecks in the software development lifecycle, yet very necessary. Automated testing and low-code/no-code have gone some way towards improving the situation, but in 2025, AI will change testing completely. Ultimately, people will no longer need to write test scripts; instead, they will just describe them in plain language, which an AI tool can use. Consequently, those people can shift their focus to a higher level, such as what the test coverage needs to be, rather than spending time writing code. Plus, enterprises will be able to measure how AI-driven testing improves software quality and time-to-market velocity. 

Testing is also an example of how AI will change how people work, and that also needs to be a priority. Yes, AI can remove many mundane, repetitive, and error-prone tasks that take up so much time for many individuals, but that must be balanced against their career development. What skills do they need to equip themselves with if they no longer need to write code, yet they still need to understand when AI gets it wrong? If the tasks that junior developers have traditionally performed are removed, how will those individuals learn on the job? How do we ensure we bring on the next generation of senior developers, engineers and system architects? All these factors must be considered, especially when enterprises can again hire more talent. 

In the meantime, strategic use of AI can support existing teams while also helping organisations weather the highs and lows, such as peaks and troughs in seasonal activity or be better prepared to deal with unforeseen events. On this topic, it is no surprise that CIOs spotlight security, risk and compliance management more than ever. Not only are security risks escalating, but so is the volume of regulatory requirements, globally and locally, and they change constantly. Compliance is not a fit-and-forget activity. In 2025, being as prepared as possible for shifting compliance means being vigilant and keeping abreast of what is coming next. Relying on a reactive back-foot stance is massively risky. 

Data Quality and Complex IT 

Better compliance, security, and AI management also depend on effective data quality, discovery, and control. Data has been called the new gold, but its actual value can only be realised if it is mined and maintained properly. Many organisations have vast data monoliths that make providing data to test environments difficult but, using tools that can break these down into manageable bite-sized chunks is a step forward. Data privacy, especially in an AI-driven world, remains a paramount concern, so using techniques such as data masking to protect sensitive data (especially those in non-production environments) is essential. 

Many CIOs are also grappling with vast, complex IT estates made up of legacy systems and applications involving large numbers of vendors, often not interconnected and far from ready to take organisations forward. While the media may be full of the latest technological innovations, many IT teams are struggling with what they already have, with simple tasks like finding and fixing bugs challenging. In those situations, adding yet another new tool is not going to be the answer and may make everything worse. 

Instead, the New Year is a good time to reassess what remains fit for purposes, to look at how the vendor landscape might be consolidated, how relevant systems and applications could be integrated more effectively and, above all, how all those elements deliver value to the business. Look at the total cost of ownership, whether a solution provides tangible benefits, and whether it can scale when growth happens. Also, work with vendors who take the time to invest in understanding how customers operate, to get inside their businesses and to look at the bigger picture. They may be able to suggest a different approach to tackling a problem rather than just replacing an existing software tool. 

This approach brings us back to the essential point that technology must align with business goals, and in an ideal world, that would mean the rest of the management team is on board with future-facing investments. Many CIOs are dealing with a balancing act of what to prioritise to address external and internal communities. Inevitably, that might mean a trade-off, but some of the wisest CIOs I know are keeping top-of-mind the need to get a solid base-level foundation in place so that when doors start to swing open again, they are set up for success. 2025 may begin as a challenging year, but it can also be one where CIOs lead the charge, tackle some significant challenges head-on, and help their businesses thrive.