Hunting the Elephant: From Tech Trends to Tangible Results

In a bustling office tower overlooking the city, David Matthews—known to his team as “Dave”—sipped his coffee, pondering the rapid changes he had witnessed over his 15-year journey as a CIO. When he first stepped into his role, things were steady, almost predictable. His main objective back then was to manage vendor relationships and ensure that IT systems aligned, albeit at a distance, with the larger business goals. Back then, the CIO’s role was straightforward: deliver on promises, keep the lights on, and ensure the tools worked as expected. Dave had time to meticulously plan, review, and assess, with technology rollouts stretching comfortably over months and sometimes years.

But then came the digital wave. Over the next few years, Dave watched as his role evolved into a digital transformation driver. Suddenly, he was overseeing the digitization of data and automating workflows—pushing the business toward more efficient, digital processes. His calendar filled with strategic meetings about optimizing processes, not just keeping systems running. He became a part of cross-functional projects, working with heads of operations, finance, and HR to embed digital change across the organization.

Just as he began to catch his breath, the cloud transformation rolled in. At first, it seemed simple enough—move systems to the cloud and reduce on-premises infrastructure costs. But the cloud transformation wasn’t a one-time migration. Instead, it opened an endless discussion of options: multi-cloud, hybrid-cloud, interconnected-cloud solutions. As quickly as he implemented one solution, another approach emerged. This phase pushed Dave to build not only a digital strategy but also a cloud strategy, with multi-layered considerations about security, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness.

Then, as his company became more cloud-native, the SaaS boom hit. New, easy-to-implement applications were now being marketed directly to every department, bypassing IT entirely. What seemed like quick wins for marketing or finance soon created a chaotic landscape of scattered applications, leading to shadow IT and data silos that Dave struggled to corral. Governance and compliance were already complex, and now they required constant vigilance as teams used, shared, and discarded these SaaS tools without notifying IT.

And then came Covid. His company went into survival mode as employees dispersed, setting up makeshift offices at home. With distribution at this scale, Dave’s IT team raced to support a remote workforce, shoring up cybersecurity and reimagining productivity in a digital workplace.

Just as the pandemic dust was settling, GenAI surged into the spotlight, igniting a frenzy that felt unlike any transformation before. This was the first technology that his users adopted and experienced without his guidance. Team members were already exploring how AI could streamline their work before Dave could even assemble a strategy. CXOs and board members pressed him with questions about generative AI’s possibilities and risks, expecting him to be the expert. For the first time, Dave found himself in a place where IT wasn’t leading the learning curve.

Feeling the pressure, he swiftly channeled resources into AI initiatives, launching pilots, partnering with vendors, and integrating AI features across the organization’s platforms. But questions of ROI loomed large. Was AI a fad or a force multiplier? The board expected to see results, but many projects remained in experimental phases, far from generating the tangible outcomes he had once promised with ease.

One morning, after a late night wrestling with yet another AI rollout plan, Dave had an epiphany. His role had shifted from planning meticulously and delivering on promises to becoming a perpetual change manager, running projects that seemed to have no real end. He was chasing “strategies” for every new technology that appeared, but for what purpose? As he sipped his coffee, it dawned on him: “We don’t need an AI strategy. We need an outcome strategy.”

He realized that his focus needed to shift from acquiring and implementing new tools for the sake of keeping up with trends, to honing in on the outcomes that drove real business value. His path forward wasn’t about proving the company was “using AI” but showing how each step advanced the organization’s vision and delivered on its goals. Dave smiled to himself, feeling an unusual calm—a rare sensation in the midst of the constant, turbulent evolution of his role. Finally, he had clarity.