Over the past season of Soul of the CIO, we’ve had the privilege of speaking with an extraordinary group of technology leaders — from Formula 1 and Wall Street to Silicon Valley, national security, and the U.S. Marines.
Despite operating in radically different industries, a clear pattern has emerged:
The CIO is no longer the head of IT. The CIO is now the architect of competitive advantage.
When Jason Conyard (formerly CIO at VMware) said, “Technology is the vehicle. It is not the destination,” it perfectly captured this shift. Technology is no longer the point. Infrastructure, uptime, cloud migration — those are table stakes. The real question is: how does technology move the business forward?
Rachel Wilson (Morgan Stanley) reframed cybersecurity not as perimeter defense, but as geopolitical risk management. Rachana Kumar (Etsy) described a “craft marketplace” that is, in reality, a massive data intelligence engine. Gary Foote (Haas F1) explained how digital infrastructure can directly influence lap time in Formula 1. Nina D’Amato (Lenovo), drawing from Marine Corps leadership, emphasized distributed decision-making and empowerment.
Across every conversation, the role has expanded.
The CIO is no longer a service provider to “users”
In fact, Conyard intentionally renamed his function “Colleague Experience & Technology” because the word “user” reinforced a divide. The modern CIO designs experiences, reduces friction, and aligns technology with human performance.
AI featured heavily in these discussions — but with surprising maturity. None of these leaders approached it with hype. Wilson warned that AI lowers the barrier to entry for cybercriminals. Kumar spoke about deploying AI only where it meaningfully serves the business. Conyard reminded us that technology must serve people, not the other way around. And Foote cautioned that in Formula 1, technology must never sterilize the sport.
The message was consistent: AI is transformative, but leadership is still decisive.
Another common thread? Data.
In Formula 1, half a million data points per second can influence race strategy. In banking, threat intelligence protects financial systems at global scale. At Etsy, machine learning drives personalization across millions of sellers and buyers. The chain is simple but powerful: Data → Insight → Speed → Advantage. And the CIO sits at the center of that chain.
Perhaps the most striking takeaway, however, is this: technology may evolve, but people remain the differentiator. Foote hires for energy and mindset over credentials. Wilson built elite cyber teams by identifying raw potential in unexpected places. D’Amato learned in the Marines that empowerment, not control, drives performance. Kumar reminds us that you don’t have to be the most technical person in the room — but you must guide the room.
The CIO of 2026 and beyond won’t be defined by servers or service tickets. They will be strategists, risk diplomats, culture builders, and data orchestrators. They will sit at the executive table not because they run systems — but because they shape how the organization competes.
If this season of Soul of the CIO has shown us anything, it’s this: The CIO is no longer supporting the business, they’re shaping it.