What C-Level Executives Were Reading in 2023

In 2023, Evanta, a Gartner Company, hosted over 400 in-person and virtual gatherings and facilitated more than 27,000 executive connections for our exclusive, C-level communities around the world. Outside of these engagements, members continue to share insights and learn from one another by participating in and engaging with community-led content. 

These are some of the hottest topics, most-read articles and most listened to podcasts on Evanta.com last year.

Hottest Topics:

Generative AI
Market disruption has always existed, but nothing has shaken the business world since the introduction of the Internet quite like the release of ChatGPT and generative AI. For the entirety of 2023, this groundbreaking technology dominated the conversation at Evanta’s community gatherings, and executives have been racing to discover how they can safely incorporate it into their business strategy to advance innovation and productivity – especially as the economy continues to be in flux. 

Our members expressed an eagerness to learn how their peers are addressing this topic, and we conducted a Community Pulse Survey on AI and the impact on business to aggregate their thoughts. The results from the survey were some of the most-read pieces of content on our site last year, and you can view the top 3 takeaways from the survey in this blog. For the complete findings, check out the infographic for each C-level community here: C-suite, CIO, CISO, CHRO, CDAO. 

Talent Strategy
There have been many talent crises over the past few years, but the lingering effects of an unstable economy, rapid technology advancements and shifts in workplace culture and return-to-office policies have had a serious impact on how business leaders attract and maintain a highly-skilled workforce. 

Talent has always been a top priority across our communities, and over 1,100 Evanta members participated in our Community Pulse Survey on talent strategy this past fall. Their responses detailed how the latest disruptions are affecting their ability to recruit and retain employees and the strategies they are implementing to address areas of concern. Read the blog outlining key trends from the survey, or view the infographics to see the complete results for each community: C-suite, CIO, CISO, CHRO, CDAO.
 

Most Popular Podcast:

What Should Enterprises Be Doing with AI?
In 2023, we released four new episodes of The Next Big Question Podcast, where we ask C-level executives for their take on a pressing business matter. With generative AI top of mind for executives across the enterprise, it is no surprise that our most popular episode focused on this issue. Here, Ellen Nielsen, Chief Data Officer at Chevron answered the question, “What Should Enterprises Be Doing with AI?,” and she explained the challenges and opportunities for AI at an enterprise-level and how to pivot adoption strategies as the technology landscape evolves. Be sure to listen to this episode and the entire series featuring C-level leaders from Fannie Mae, EY and UL Solutions here.
 

Top 3 Member-Driven Articles:

Evanta members share actionable insights and lessons learned through interviews for our Leadership Profile and Peer Practices series and by guest writing on our Executive Blog. Here are the top articles driven by Evanta members in 2023:

Leadership Profile: How Culture Contributes to High Performance at Northern Trust
Executive Vice President and CIO of Northern Trust and Governing Body Co-Chair of the Chicago CIO Community, Tom South is a firm believer in the impact of culture on high performance teams. In this Leadership Profile, he shares three principles that contribute to a great culture, how to embrace a “culture of caring” and how he is navigating the hybrid workplace.

Peer Practices: Driving Long-Term Business Value through Data-Driven Culture at Ulta Beauty
In this Peer Practices, Krish Das, VP, Enterprise Data Officer at Ulta Beauty and Governing Body Member of the Atlanta CDAO Community, details his strategy for transforming the data culture at Ulta Beauty. Read how his team gained executive sponsorship across the enterprise, continues to build momentum along the change journey and measures the effectiveness of a data-driven culture.

Executive Blog: Rethinking Cyber Talent: Take a New Approach to Recruiting
Supply and demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals has been out of balance for years, and recent talent shortages, along with the expanding threat landscape, have only exacerbated the situation. In this Executive Blog, Steven Aiello, Security and Compliance Practice Director (CISO) of AHEAD, and member of the Detroit CISO community, recounts how traditional recruitment channels were not meeting their qualifications, shares his unorthodox approach to building a cybersecurity talent pipeline and cites three lessons he learned from utilizing this new method.
 

Top 3 Blogs:

The Evanta Blog features insights from our proprietary surveys, community programs and Evanta thought leaders, and all content is driven by C-level executives and for C-level executives. Here are the top 3 blogs from 2023:

1. 9 CIO Trends in 2023 -
   Evanta’s annual Leadership Perspective Survey identifies the mission critical priorities and challenges for each C-Level community, helping to inform the agenda for community programs throughout the year. Over 1,000 CIOs participated in the survey, and here, we examined the top trends for CIOs in 2023.
2. Top 3 Areas of Focus for CISOs in 2023 -
   At the beginning of 2023, we explored three key themes we expected CISOs to be focused on throughout the year. They included: advancing the business value of security, protecting critical infrastructure against advanced attacks and investing in company culture to attract talent and empower staff.
3. Top 8 Trends for CHROs in 2023 -
   Here, we analyzed the initial results of our annual Leadership Perspective Survey and found 8 trends in CHROs’ enterprise priorities, functional objectives and planned spending areas for 2023.
    

To connect, share and learn with your C-level peers, apply to join your local Evanta community today. If you are already a member, check out MyEvanta to view your upcoming programs and register for your next community gathering.