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This article was written by Steven Norton, Co-Head of Research, Media and Executive Networks, at Metis Strategy.
As AI shifts from experimentation to enterprise-scale execution, the expectations placed on technology leaders are expanding in both scope and intensity. In San Francisco, senior executives from ConocoPhillips, Cloudflare, Grainger, Zscaler, NRG, T. Rowe Price, and Walgreens gathered for Metis Strategy’s Technology Leadership Institute (TLI) to work through what that shift requires of the modern CIO.
The discussion focused on a central challenge: how to lead effectively as the role continues to expand across strategy, execution, and enterprise influence.
As organizations move from AI pilots to scaled, embedded capabilities, technology leaders face mounting pressure to deliver measurable business outcomes. Participants emphasized the need to define and track value and to maintain tight alignment with the business as initiatives scale.
Uncertainty around AI’s impact on work makes the people dimension of any technology leader’s remit more critical than ever. Indeed, many CIOs today are tasked with raising the AI IQ of the entire organization, overcoming barriers to adoption, and bringing teams along through consistent communication and deliberate skill development.
At this level of leadership, many of the biggest challenges are people-driven. Navigating different working styles and shifting organizational dynamics is a core part of any CIO’s role. Building strong peer relationships and credibility across the enterprise becomes the foundation needed to move big initiatives forward. For aspiring CIOs, that means expanding learning and development beyond the latest tech and making sure to have a solid understanding of business context and enterprise-level decision making.
Staying close to the technology is equally important. It helps leaders maintain a hands-on understanding of evolving tools and better guide their teams.
Defining a strategy and building a roadmap is just the start. Effective C-level leaders must be able to explain what that strategy means in practice and how it connects to business priorities. That clarity shapes how decisions are made and how support is built across the organization.
Whether in technical conversations with engineers or delivering a tight 10 minutes to the board, “the best technology leaders meet every audience where they are and translate technology into outcomes the business understands,” said Steven Norton, Metis Strategy’s Co-Head of Research, Media and Executive Networks.
This shift requires a deeper understanding of the business and greater fluency in financial and operational concepts as technology leaders are expected to influence across business functions and contribute to enterprise strategy in a more direct way.
Leaders spoke about the difficulty of defining long-term strategy in an environment where change feels constant. While challenging, leaders today must think and operate across multiple time horizons, making deliberate and informed bets on the future while continuing to deliver in the near term. The biggest risk: standing still and embracing business as usual.
As the Institute concluded, several themes emerged for leaders navigating the next curve of technology-driven change:
Across these discussions, one theme held throughout. Leading through the next curve requires more than technical expertise. It demands the ability to connect strategy to outcomes, operate across time horizons, and stay closely connected to how work is evolving on the ground.
As organizations continue to navigate this next phase, leaders who can translate complexity into clear direction and bring their organizations with them will be best positioned to define what success looks like.
