IT leaders: train within the organization to meet AI head on

4 goals to target when building AI skills

Having discovered the frightening costs of hiring AI experts from outside the organization, some CIOs have developed ways of building skills in house — not just within the IT department, but across the enterprise. Many of the early movers targeted four distinct methods that should now be considered for AI training programs in any organization.

Increase office productivity

Construction services company Arco set up its first AI training to help people use Microsoft Copilot to transcribe meetings, create action items, and insert them into Microsoft Planner. They started with a limited group of executives and executive assistants, and brought in experts from Microsoft to conduct the training. “Our intention was to make sure people understand how to use the tools and know how to set the privacy so none of the meeting transcripts go outside our company,” says Robin Patra, Arco’s director of data and AI.

Product or feature? A key AI debate could leave CIO strategies in limbo

The rapidly evolving AI ecosystem, where new products and services seem to appear daily, presents CIOs and IT purchasing leaders with increasingly challenging decisions, in part because of uncertainty about where the AI market may ultimately be headed.

One major debate, with implications for CIOs and IT buyers, is whether AI will primarily be a product or a feature after the AI market sorts itself out.

How IT leaders can say yes without killing projects — or their careers

Last December, when discussing the hard truths of the CIO role with CIO.com’s Mary Pratt, West Monroe managing partner Marc Tanowitz observed: “The great CIOs always say yes. They say yes to what the business wants, but they say, ‘But here are the implications. … You have to be OK not doing these other things.”

It’s a conversation IT executives are all too familiar with, especially now, with technology moving at ever faster speeds and paradigms like citizen IT, low- and no-code apps, agile, and IoT taking center stage, often without guardrails and other IT quality assurance checks.

Explore our Latest Stories

AI skills every CIO needs now: Leadership, strategy & upskilling | What IT Leaders Want Ep. 7

As generative and agentic AI reshape the enterprise landscape, what are the new skills that IT leaders will need in order to succeed? In this episode of Global Tech Tales, host Keith Shaw is joined by Matt Egan (Foundry’s Global Content Director) and Carl Friedmann (Executive Editor for EMEA) for a global conversation on the rise of AI literacy, digital transformation, and leadership strategy.

New US CIO appointments, May 2025

Congratulations to these 'movers and shakers' recently hired or promoted into a new chief information officer, senior IT, or board role.

Transformation to the core at Southern Cross Travel Insurance

Cathy O'Sullivan, editorial director for CIO in Australia and New Zealand, sat with Southern Cross Travel Insurance CTO Alex Smart to discuss how a great team culture and healthy conflict leads to success, and that structure dictates transformational strength.

CEOs’ top priorities for IT leaders today

With economic uncertainties and geopolitical tensions rising, CEOs see CIOs as key players in reducing risks, bolstering the bottom line, and transforming the organization for the future — with AI a key emphasis for getting there.