In 2022, most Chief Information Officers (CIOs) prioritize hybrid work, cybersecurity, and digital enablement, with talent attrition and COVID-related disruptions identified as significant challenges. While the majority expect IT budgets to remain unchanged, about 30% anticipate an increase, particularly for AI/ML and business intelligence implementations. Many CIOs also intend to focus on developing their leadership skills and believe 2022 will be a successful year professionally.

1. CIOs: 2022
Priorities
Most CIOs are prioritizing hybrid work and cybersecurity in 2022, with
digital enablement the top area of focus overall
The majority of CIOs don’t expect a change in the IT budget in 2022, though half
of those who expect an increased budget anticipate a greater than 5% increase
The emerging technologies most CIOs will be implementing in 2022 are AI/
ML and business intelligence (BI)
Talent attrition and Covid-related disruption are the most widespread
anticipated challenges
Most CIOs plan to develop their leadership skills in 2022, and most believe that
they will have a successful year from a professional point of view
One-Minute Insights:
Data collection: Jan 18 - Mar 27, 2022 Respondents: 100 CIOs
Most (61%) CIOs are prioritizing hybrid/flexible work infrastructure in 2022. Over half
(52%) are prioritizing cybersecurity, while for 46%, digital transformation is a priority.
Most CIOs are prioritizing hybrid work, cybersecurity
and digital enablement in 2022, and most feel 2022
will be a success
Are you prioritizing any of the following in 2022?
Hybrid/flexible work
infrastructure/support
Cybersecurity
Digital transformation
Digital enablement
Reducing costs
61%
52%
46%
45%
45%
Business growth/scaling 44%, Talent management (hiring/retaining the right skill sets) 32%,
Technological innovation 30%, Customer retention 29%, Cloud migration 27%,
Improving executive relationships 11%, Change management 10%, Mergers/acquisitions 7%,
None of these 0%, Other 0%
n = 100
is the top area of focus for most CIOs in 2022
Digital enablement (25%) From the same list, what is your top
area of focus in 2022?
Digital enablement
Business growth/scaling
Hybrid/flexible work
infrastructure/support
Digital transformation
Cybersecurity
25%
14%
13%
13%
11%
Reducing costs 9%, Talent management (hiring/retaining the right skill sets) 6%,
Technological innovation 4%, Change management 2%, Mergers/acquisitions 2%,
Cloud migration 1%, None of these 0%, Other 0%
n = 100
“Cybersecurity is the single
most important work in 2022.”
“Our main priority is
cost reduction.”
- CIO, healthcare industry,
5,000 - 10,000 employees
- CIO, finance industry, 5,000
- 10,000 employees
“Cybersecurity always has a
top place on our lists.”
“Will prioritise rollout rather
than development of new
features.”
- CIO, finance industry, 5,000
- 10,000 employees
- CIO, software industry,
1,000 - 5,000 employees
Looking at challenges in 2022, most CIOs identify talent attrition (64%)
and Covid-related disruption (60%).
Talent attrition and Covid-related disruption identified
as the top challenges in 2022, though most CIOs feel
they have the business support to pull through
Which of the following do
you think will pose a
challenge to achieving your
goals in 2022?
Executive relationships 19%,
Supply chain disruptions 18%,
Team morale 18%,
Wider economic issues 16%,
None of these 2%, Other 0%
64% 42%
29%
31%
60%
Talent attrition (the
“Great Resignation”)
Budget
restrictions
Organizational cultural
resistance to change
Technical
debt
Ongoing/recurrences of
Covid-related disruption
of CIOs believe they have the
business support to achieve
their goals in 2022.
To what extent do you agree with the
following: “I have the business support
I need to achieve my goals in 2022.”
78%
8%
Agree
Strongly agree 2%
Disagree
0% Strongly disagree
12%
Neutral
n = 100
n = 100
86%
“2022 will see many initiatives
started in 2021 bearing fruit,
some were delayed due to
multiple COVID waves.”
- CIO, healthcare industry,
1,000 - 5,000 employees
“The talent market will
continue to be competitive
and volatile in 2022.”
- CIO, software industry,
10,000+ employees
“The key focus will be talent retention. Secondly, innovation
needs to accelerate and solutions need to be agile to adjust to
changing VUCA [volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and
ambiguity] environment.”
- CIO, software industry, 10,000+ employees
“While covid disruptions / WfH situations do not directly impact our
priorities and projects, it still has [a] ripple effect on our customers
and prospects and as such, affects my IT budget indirectly.”
- CIO, software industry, <1,000 employees
Most CIOs (59%) are not expecting an IT budget change in 2022, although 30% do
expect an increase, compared to 10% who expect a decrease.
Of those CIOs who do expect
a budget increase in 2022,
expect an increase of
greater than 5%.
CIOs expect an unchanged budget in 2022, but some
anticipate a budget increase of greater than 5%
30% 59% 10% 1%
Increase Stay the same Decrease Not sure
Do you expect your IT budget to
change in 2022?
By how much do you
expect your IT budget to
increase in 2022?
50%
23%
Greater than 5%
4-5%
23%
3%
Not sure
2-3%
0% 1% or less
n = 100
n = 100
n = 30
n = 100
n = 100
50%
“2022 will be a challenge
from the point of view of
budget restrictions.”
- CIO, manufacturing industry,
1,000 - 5,000 employees
“High inflation can have a
negative impact on the
budget and plans.”
- CIO, utilities industry,
<1,000 employees
AI/ML (57%) and business intelligence (BI) tools (51%) are the emerging technologies
most CIOs will be implementing in 2022.
AI/ML tops the list of emerging technologies that CIOs
plan to implement in 2022
Excluding cybersecurity, will
you be implementing any of
the following emerging
technologies in 2022?
AI/ML Business
intelligence
Workflow
automation
Hybrid/
Multi-cloud
Low-code/
no-code
tools
57%
51%
44%
38%
32%
Edge computing 25%,
Internet of things devices 20%,
Distributed cloud 18%,
None of these 3%, Other 0%
Looking specifically at emerging cybersecurity technologies CIOs are focusing on
in 2022, AI/ML (41%) and single sign-on (41%) are the most popular.
What emerging cybersecurity technologies
are you focusing on in 2022?
AI/ML cybersecurity tools
Single sign-on (SSO)
Cloud access security
broker (CASB)
Zero Trust Network
Architecture (ZTNA)
Endpoint detection and
response (EDR)
41%
41%
38%
36%
34%
Virtual desktop/Desktop as a service 32%, Secure access service edge (SASE) 30%,
Extended detection and response (XDR) 26%, Remote browser isolation (RBI) 21%,
Passwordless access 14%, Hardware security modules (HSM) 6%, None of these 1%, Other 0%
“We are going to invest more in emerging tech solutions.”
- CIO, finance industry, 5,000 - 10,000 employees
“Our top priority for this year is to increase our focus on
cybersecurity, followed by enhancing our workflow automation and
redefining our company strategy.”
- CIO, software industry, <1,000 employees
CIOs plan on advancing their leadership skills in 2022,
and most believe they will have a successful year from
a personal point of view
is the area most CIOs are looking to
develop in 2022.
Leadership skills (64%) Do you plan on advancing in any of
the following areas of professional
development in 2022?
Leadership skills
Digital leadership
(practicing digital-first
leadership)
Project management
Technical expertise
Business understanding
64%
44%
43%
39%
30%
Personal brand development 30%,
Executive relationships 28%,
None of these 0%, Other 1%
n = 100
of CIOs believe they will have
a successful year in 2022.
To what extent do you agree
with the following: “2022
will be a success from my
point of view as a CIO.”
76%
13%
Agree
Strongly agree
1%
10%
Neutral
Disagree
0% Strongly
disagree
n = 100
89%
“This might be the
recovering year.”
- CIO, software industry,
<1,000 employees
“[I] worry about having the
time to properly implement.”
- CIO, education sector,
10,000+ employees
Respondent Breakdown
Region
North America 61%
APAC 14%
EMEA 25%
10,001+
employees
100%
CIO
<1,001
employees
Company Size
Title
5,001 - 10,000
employees
1,001 - 5,000
employees
20%
21%
37%
22%
This content, which provides opinions and points of view expressed by users, does not represent the views of Gartner; Gartner
neither endorses it nor makes any warranties about its accuracy or completeness.
Source: Gartner Peer Insights, CIOs: 2022 Priorities survey
© 2022 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
CIOs traditionally oversee the IT department within the organization, but as businesses
introduce more digital processes, the CIO role may be expanding. In 2022, CIOs have
many challenges to face, whether that’s the widely-reported “Great Resignation,” the
enablement of hybrid work as some regions lift Covid restrictions, or the myriad
cybersecurity threats.
Amid the need for multiple areas of focus, what are CIOs prioritizing in 2022?
Use these insights to benchmark against your peers.
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