#it-leadership

#it-leadership

To all employees, this company takes data protection very seriously. It has a material impact on our operations. The CIO and IT Director are in charge of those policies. If one of them comes to your business unit and gives you an instruction, take it as seriously as you would instructions from any other C-level, including myself. As of this date, know this: If you disregard or otherwise violate any IT instruction, you better pray that they are wrong.

Kirsten Davies has been sworn in as the Pentagon's chief information officer, giving the Defense Department its first permanent IT head during Trump 2.0. Davies was confirmed by the Senate on Dec. 18 as part of a group of tech nominations, which included Ethan Klein to be the U.S. chief technology officer and Pedro Allende to lead the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology office. The LinkedIn page for the DOD CIO office said Davies was officially sworn in on Dec. 23.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the biggest talking point for IT leaders in 2025 - both the emerging capabilities and opportunities from the technology, and the challenges of implementing it at scale and in a way that delivers measurable benefits. For the digital, data and technology leaders that Computer Weekly is privileged to talk to every week, building AI into their wider strategies and managing often over-hyped expectations just adds to the difficulties of one of the most important roles in any modern organisation.

The AI gold rush these days is littered with abandoned enterprise projects, with humans - not the technology itself - being blamed for high failure rates of AI projects. Recent data indicates that stagnant AI projects were often the result of poor vision, mismanagement, and a lack of resources. Eagerness from the top to become "AI-first" companies is also putting pressure on C-suite execs and other IT decision-makers who might not have the budgets, systems, or tools for success.

"I remember waiting every Friday for the officials to call our family's name," Roman recalls. "When they finally did, it felt like winning the lottery."

Research and advisory firm Info-Tech Research Group has introduced LEVEL-UP, a series of half-day, on-site training sessions that are free to IT professionals. Topics covered in the training series, which the company says build on its LIVE and IGNITE events, include artificial intelligence (AI) architecture, cybersecurity incident response, and information technology (IT) leadership. "The LEVEL-UP Series is designed to close critical skill gaps for IT teams in a fast-changing technology environment," Info-Tech Research Group's Chief Research Officer Gord Harrison said in a press release.

"The profound impact of generative AI on operational efficiency has necessitated expedited infrastructure modernization, as outdated systems struggle to support the demands of AI workloads."

Rogers highlighted her contributions towards improving cybersecurity, stating, "I oversaw a staff of 1,000 employees and contractors while enforcing the implementation of critical cybersecurity measures."

SAP's strategy of engaging directly with business leaders rather than IT teams to sell its Rise cloud ERP product could significantly challenge IT leadership in navigating enterprise needs.