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ZDNET Highlights
- Experts fear that automation could mean fewer paths to the top.
- In a competitive labor market, future digital leaders must stand out.
- Seize opportunities, collaborate with your teammates, and take responsibility.
There is general consensus that the rise of AI means the technology has never been more important to business. However, the central role of digital and data does not mean that IT professionals have increased opportunities to reach senior management positions.
Experts are concerned that the increased capabilities of General AI and agents could mean that many tasks previously completed by professionals will become automated. Add increased decentralization to IT decision making, and what was once a structured climb up the career ladder from junior developer to CIO has become significantly more complex.
Also: Fear of AI job cuts? 5 Ways to Future-Procure Your Career – Before It’s Too Late
However, what is already clear is that companies will still need talented technologists to keep humans in the loop and oversee digital transformation initiatives. If you want to put yourself in the right position to land one of these roles in a competitive labor market, here are five areas to focus on in 2026.
1. Talk about possibilities
Art Hu, Lenovo’s global CIO, said it’s important not to focus too much on job titles. Although budding IT professionals may aspire to become a CIO, what is more important than the role they play are the capabilities they possess.
“People who have that fluency, who have command of both technology and business areas, are comfortable at the intersection, and can help bring people together, I think the interdisciplinary aspects of this are important,” he said.
Hu told ZDNET that senior IT professionals who are focused on running data centers are unlikely to continue climbing the career ladder.
“I don’t think it’s a super-exciting role,” he said. “But the ability to bring people together and discuss what possibilities are opening up is the interesting part.”
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The possibilities are huge for people who excel in these fields. Hu is a member of Lenovo’s executive board, and he said the best senior IT leaders could also become future CEOs because business success is tied to extracting value from emerging technology.
“As the digital index and the AI index go up, I think the potential opens up,” he reiterated about how CIOs and other senior IT professionals can take multiple career directions. “I’m not stuck on titles because people call these responsibilities different things. I think titles mean less because it can imply that digital and AI are only part of the bottom line.”
2. Take advantage of the AI hype
Paul Neville, director of digital, data and technology at The Pensions Regulator, said he feels positive about the future role of the digital leader.
“I’m biased when I say this, but I think the digital leader needs to be in the top spot because IT is the key enabler, and at the same time, cybersecurity is becoming a bigger part of the risk profile,” he said.
“Unless you have someone at the top who can understand both the opportunity and the risk, and can work with colleagues at the executive level to drive those changes in a business- and customer-oriented way, then I think that’s a problem.”
Like Lenovo’s Hu, Neville sits at the executive top table, and he suggested to ZDNET that he’s eager to continue this growing trend.
Also: 5 ways aspiring IT professionals can future-proof their tech careers in the age of AI
For the next generation of IT leaders looking to make an impact by 2026, Neville said it is important to take advantage of technology’s high-profile role in modern business operations.
“AI has helped that process because it’s highlighted that we need people who understand those new opportunities,” he said. “Most businesses I meet don’t understand both the risks and opportunities, or don’t see AI as relevant to them. So, senior IT professionals have to work to convince organizations of all types that digital is important and requires leadership.”
3. Hone Your Collaborative Craft
Ankur Anand, CIO of global technology and talent solutions provider Nash Squared, also acknowledged that the increased responsibilities of the modern CIO mean that the best digital leaders often have a direct line to the boardroom.
His firm’s annual Digital Leadership Survey reported that nearly two-thirds (65%) of CIOs are members of the executive team.
Like other experts, Anand told ZDNET that the modern digital executive role is shifting from title-based executives to results-focused leadership.
“They are working more closely than ever with business product owners who have become more involved in driving digital strategy,” he said.
Also: 5 Ways to Escape Middle Management and Speed Up Your Journey to the Top
Anand said that successful digital leaders ensure that enterprise silos are broken down, and he encouraged emerging professionals to hone their collaboration craft.
“Empathy, communication and influencing skills are key. These abilities help the CIO ensure there is clarity across the team about each individual’s role and responsibilities,” he said.
“The extent to which the technology function is locked down depends on the maturity of the organization – this is still an issue in some businesses. But the art of the modern CIO is to bring people together, working together to drive digital and business strategy.”
4. Move towards the center of change
Anand’s colleague, Bev White, executive chairman of Nash Squared, suggested that, while more is being asked of the CIO, the same is true of other board members.
“We are all being asked to step up our game, move faster, deliver more – this is the way things are today,” he said.
White told ZDNET that potential next-generation leaders need to be aware of this pressure, but also of the opportunities that come from moving into a senior IT position.
“In my view, CIO is a great job right now,” he said. “There’s a real opportunity for digital leaders to step up and add real business value. In terms of the C-suite, they used to be largely on the outside looking in. Now, they can be at the center of things.”
Also: Struggling to manage it all at work? 5 Ways to Delegate Like a Pro – and Lighten Your Load
White cited a combination of factors that attack people running modern businesses, from macroeconomic issues to geopolitical challenges and supply chain complexities.
“All CEOs are asking what the implications of this are for their business. The CIO can be at the forefront of the response, leading data gathering and scenario modeling,” he said.
5. Learn to read the room
Diana Schildhouse, chief data and analytics officer at Colgate-Palmolive, said the importance of communication skills for budding IT professionals cannot be underestimated.
“This is one of the most important areas,” he said. “So, it’s clarity of communication to your organization about what the vision is, what direction you’re moving in, how they’re working up to your overall strategy as a leader of the function, and then the overall strategy of the company.”
Schildhouse told ZDNET that telling a clear story about what the organization is doing, why it matters and what the outcomes will be is critical to IT leadership success.
“When I give career advice to people who are just getting into this field, I encourage them to focus on some of the softer skills,” she said. “Of course, technical expertise is important, and even more so in some specialized roles. But being able to understand the business, understand people and read the room in meetings is just as important today to succeed in senior management positions.”
