A Gartner survey said 48 percent of digital initiatives meet or exceed their business outcome targets.
Gartner’s annual global survey covered more than 3,100 CIOs and technology executives, and more than 1,100 executive leaders outside of IT (CxOs).
Gartner analyst Jaime Capella presented Gartner’s 2025 CIO Agenda at the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo.
Highlights from the Gartner survey:
Digital Initiative Success Rate: Only 48 percent of enterprise-wide digital initiatives meet or exceed business targets.
“Digital Vanguard” Excellence: A group of top-performing CIOs and CxOs, known as the “Digital Vanguard,” achieves a 71 percent success rate in digital initiatives.
CIO and CxO Collaboration: Successful digital transformations depend on CIOs and CxOs co-owning digital delivery, breaking away from traditional IT-only ownership.
Increased Technology Investments: Over 80 percent of CIOs plan to increase investments in AI, cybersecurity, data analytics, and integration technologies by 2025.
Collaboration Frequency: Digital vanguard CxOs meet with their CIOs four times more often than the rest, emphasizing close collaboration in digital projects.
Decreased Legacy Infrastructure Spending: 43 percent of CIOs plan to reduce investments in legacy infrastructure and data centers, largely due to the shift to cloud solutions.
Technology Workforce Development: Only 16 percent of CIOs prioritize building a technology-skilled workforce across the enterprise, limiting broader digital success.
Business Staff Involvement in Tech: Digital vanguard companies involve 35 percent of business area staff in technology work, compared to 21 percent in other enterprises.
CIO and CxO Interdependence: CIOs’ success is increasingly tied to CxOs’ leadership in digital initiatives, making co-leadership essential for both roles.
Digital Leadership Beyond IT: Just 18 percent of CIOs plan to share technology leadership across business units in 2025, which could stifle broader digital progress.
