What CIOs Are Talking About Most in 2023


Community Blog
Written by Clara Howell

JUNE 27, 2023

IT leaders spent the first half of 2023 uniting with their peers virtually and in person to discuss top of mind priorities and challenges. The Evanta CIO communities across North America have gathered a total of 71 times during 13 executive summits, 13 inner circle dinners, 5 peer roundtables and 40 town halls.

Cybersecurity strategies, data and analytics and digital business were top of mind priorities for CIOs across the states. These topics and more were represented across all first half agendas. 

Check out some of the highest rated sessions at CIO Executive Summits:

Authentic Leadership in Times of Change

Mike Robbins, author and thought leader, led an engaging keynote session in San Francisco to share practical tips for executives. Robbins shared the value of transparency, building trust and connections and effectively managing change within teams. 

Here’s what a few executives had to say:

          Excellent.”

          Terrific presentation!”


Striving for Human Excellence Regardless of Work Location

This breakout session in Toronto, led by Gary Sorrentino, Global CIO of Zoom Video Communications, focused on building a collaborative and innovative culture in the work environment, regardless of working remotely or in the office. The presentation touched on upskilling employees and future trends and predictions.

Executives were engaged in this presentation, with one CIO saying:

The entire presentation was relatable, and some examples are easily implementable.”


Innovation & Optimization — How to Do More with Less

IT leaders gathered during a small roundtable discussion in Southern California to discuss how to do more with less during tumultuous times. Discussion leaders Raymond Lowe, SVP & CIO, AltaMed Health Services, and Louis Zhan, SVP, Enterprise Solutions & Services, Beachbody, led an engaging discussion regarding sustainability, communicating innovation to the board and managing technology costs while uncovering solutions for cost savings. 

The audience provided this feedback:

Very informative discussion topics covered in this session.”

Very helpful to hear the perspective from the larger, more mature IT organizations.”


Shifting the Paradigm for Recruiting IT Talent

Denver executive Chris Meyerpeter, CIO of Ardent Mills, shared a talent case study to the audience, showcasing a recruitment strategy Ardent Mills has implemented. Through this non-traditional recruiting method, executives learned a new way to hire diverse talent by changing recruitment requirements. 

Here’s what participants had to say: 

            Great info and outline for IT recruiting.”

Chris is a great presenter; he's straightforward and easy to learn from!”


Most Read Articles

At Evanta, we regularly share insights from peers and thought leaders in our communities. These are a few of our most popular pieces from the first half of the year.

  1. 2023 CIO Leadership Perspectives - This infographic provides a snapshot of results from the 900+ CIOs who responded to our annual Leadership Perspective Survey.
  2. Three Key Themes for CIOs in 2023 - Each year on our blog, we write about 3 themes we think CIOs will be focused on in 2023.
  3. 9 CIO Trends in 2023 - Once our Leadership Perspective Survey results come in, we explore the trends we observe in their top priorities and challenges for the year on our blog.

As the first half of Evanta gatherings come to an end, CIOs are already looking forward to future programs: 

        Excellent event, looking forward to the next one.”

- Southern California IT Leader

Great event, well organized, great speakers, and the ‘right’ topics.”

- Toronto Technology Executive

           It was a great event!”

- Denver CIO


Captivating agendas are already in the works for the second half of the year. Executives who are interested in attending an upcoming CIO gathering can visit their community page to register for a powerful networking and learning experience.

Clara Howell headshot

Clara Howell

Content Manager at Evanta, a Gartner Company