The Heller Report: CIOs: AI’s Presence Means We Must Test Strategic Moves Before Executing Them

For decades, companies could afford the gap between strategy and execution. AI has erased that buffer. Matt Keane, a data and AI executive, explains why organizations must test strategy at prototype speed and how executives can eliminate the structural misalignment – what he calls “an alignment tax” – that slows learning and surrenders advantage. “Companies that eliminate it will redefine the pace at which they compete,” he writes.

IT organizations often promote from within people with little training to be effective leaders, writes Tony Qualls, a Regional CIO. Qualls argues that CIOs have to break that pattern – starting by modeling personal development. “Without that commitment, we are setting our organizations up for failure in an AI-driven world that will demand more from IT leadership than in any previous era,” he writes.

To grow into the CIO role, aspiring IT leaders must shift from being order-takers to being business influencers, says Kelly Dolyle, managing director at Heller, told CIO.com for a recent article offering advice for aspirants. “They know the technology inside and out, but they haven’t built the business acumen that allows them to connect the dots, anticipate needs, and translate tech investments into business outcomes,” Doyle tells the magazine. 

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