This requires evolving the organization’s culture from one that sees change as an occasional event to endure to one that embraces change as an exciting constant, Downing explains.
To do that, Downing ensures workers know the reasons behind changes by communicating the business values they’ll get rather than detailing the technology bits and bytes.
“When we’re driving change, we try to be as transparent as we can,” he adds. “We say, ‘Here we are, here’s where we want to be, and we don’t know the in-between,’ and that allows them to engage and help us come along on the journey together.”
He says the approach is paying off. The company underwent a highly disruptive transformation in 2024 yet surveys found that employee engagement actually went up during the process.
10. Invest in modular architecture
In addition to addressing process and people, transformation leaders also focus on the third part of the PPT framework: technology.
More specifically, they invest in core technologies, architectures, and designs that enable their technologists to quickly deliver whatever transformation the business needs.
In its 2025 CIO Agenda, research firm Garter says high-performing CIOs — who are up to twice as likely to exceed outcome targets on digital initiatives — craft “a compelling platform experience for all technology users across the business, not just those in IT. They prioritize data, integration, and development platforms that make it easier for IT and non-IT technology users to build architecturally sound and secure solutions.”
11. Put customers first
Transformation must deliver outcomes for customers, Lightman says. “If it doesn’t come down to serving customers better, then you have to go back to the drawing board. That’s fundamentally what the organization is there for, to serve customers.”
Another way to speed transformation: Ditch some of the intermediaries that exist between the CIO and the customer, Lardi says.
“I would challenge any CIO on how much time they spend with their customers and how much direct knowledge they get from their customers. In most organizations the touchpoints with customers are the product development teams, marketing and sales teams. CIOs rarely have that touchpoint,” Lardi says. “But one way to accelerate transformation is to understand who the target audience is today and tomorrow, what problems you are trying to solve for them, and what experiences they want, so you’re building solutions for your customers rather than building solutions to be sold.”
CIOs and their IT teams have a plethora of data to gain insights about their customers, Lardi points out. CIOs should also find ways to directly engage customers — something that fits well with the modern work processes, such as human-centered design, that leading CIOs have adopted.
12. Remain flawless on the fundamentals
CIOs must continue to execute the fundamentals flawlessly, because problems with those basics will slow transformation, says Sherwood, the Wolters Kluwer CIO.
“An IT team can’t be taken seriously to move fast if it’s not doing the basic functions well,” Sherwood says.
He points to challenges he encountered while working at a previous company, where business users “were rumbling” about glitches and bugginess in the technology that, although not catastrophic, were annoying and problematic.
Moreover, those issues distracted the business and IT teams from transformative work.
“But once we got those fixed, and we got trust back, we could focus on what more we could do for the business,” Sherwood explains. “It gave us back the ability to be creative and to chase new features.”
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