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• STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP IN TIMES OF DISRUPTION
THE FIRST POST-COVID, IN-PERSON EDITION OF GARTNER ITSYMPOSIUM/XPO WILL TAKE PLACE IN BARCELONA THIS FALL, WHERE YOU CAN EXPECT TO HEAR ABOUT HOW THE DISRUPTION THAT CIOS FACE IS NOW BIGGER THAN EVER. THIS MAKES GARTNER ITSYMPOSIUM/XPO A RATHER SPECIAL EVENT FOR CIOS. EXECUTIVE PEOPLE SPOKE TO CONFERENCE CHAIR TOMAS NIELSEN ABOUT WHAT AWAITS DELEGATES IN BARCELONA.
Written by: Marco van der Hoeven
“As conference chair of Gartner ITSymposium/Xpo 2022, I would first just like to say: Welcome back, we really missed you,” Tomas Nielsen begins the interview with Executive People on the upcoming edition of Europe’s biggest event for CIOs. “And to those coming for the first time: You have made a great choice by joining your peers. We’re going to give attendees an experience that will immerse them in new insights, new ideas, new visions. And they will go home with inspiration for themselves and for their business for the years to come.” Nielsen explains how the emphasis will be on interaction and sharing knowledge. “It’ll be like one of those old bookstores, where you walk in to find a book about strategy or a book about technology leadership, but as you walk around, you find other things that might not be what you were looking for, but inspire you anyway.”
WIDE RANGE OF VIEWS
He continues, “We have four days to show off the best of Gartner, in a way that provides insights, through a unique program that addresses a wide range of views. We have the strategic top ten, the top technology trends, keynote speakers, interactive sessions in the workshops, round-table discussions, and so on. We are trying to create an experience where CIOs can get answers to their questions, but also answers to questions they didn’t even know they had.”
The overarching theme this year is: Meet the moment, make the difference. Nielsen explains, “The vision behind this theme is that CIOs and other technology executives are strategic leaders in times of disruption and in times of growth. You could probably say this about many periods, but certainly in the last 30 years, I don’t think we have ever seen so much disruption and change occurring so quickly. And in such a concentrated way, either. We are dealing with a conflict on a scale that we haven’t seen in Europe for 40 or 50 years. That is, of course, a huge disruption.” “On top of that, we are now seeing interest rates rising. After ten years of practically 0% interest, money is suddenly starting to cost money again. We are seeing inflation returning, too, so there’s a whole new leadership paradigm at play.”
MULTIPOLAR WORLD
This whole level of disruption is marked by a shift from the borderless globalization after the Cold War to a much more multipolar world. “The CIO is the leader who can steer us through unprecedented challenges. In a world like this, in a situation like this, we can’t just fly on autopilot. We need to take a step back and make really enlightened choices. That’s why we want to help people define those choices: Meet the moment, make the difference. What do we need as an organization? There are a great deal of trends, but CIOs and IT managers need to look at all the trends that matter to them and then leverage them for their own organization.”
HEART OF THE MATTER
What role does technology play in meeting the demands of this day and age? “I don’t think that technology has ever been as crucial as it is today. We’ve seen that not least over the last two years dominated by COVID-19, when remote working has put CIOs and technology managers in the spotlight in their businesses, since it is technology we have to thank for the work model we needed to stay afloat during the pandemic.” “But now there are questions about how we will go from here; there are discussions about how tomorrow’s organization should look in terms of working remotely, in terms of a globally distributed organization. So, technology really is at the heart of the matter.”
DIGITAL BUSINESS
“Moreover, there has been this underlying push toward more digital business for the past ten years. Technology and business are becoming one. We are increasingly seeing that technology is no longer the reserve of the IT department, but being run by people on the business side. So, CIOs and executives are now facing what we have long known as the democratization of technology. This means that the whole technology landscape is becoming more and more complex, while also becoming increasingly essential for businesses.” In Nielsen’s view, technology is becoming more accessible to more people, and this means that public-sector companies and organizations increasingly find themselves in a situation where work without a digital or technological vision becomes impossible. “We can’t stop using technology; we must embrace the fact that everyone is using technology now.”
CONDUCTING AN ORCHESTRA
The other question is: Does this mean that the CIO will disappear? “No, they won’t, that’s for sure. Because business technology users worked based on existing technology platforms, based on guidelines from an enterprise architect, and they rely on best practices. The CIO is the best person to conduct the orchestra. There is technology landscape has changed, but the underlying trend that technology is becoming increasingly important to publicsector companies and organizations is still there.” “We have since heard from a lot of clients that technology is now proving useful in the fight for future talent. Suddenly, technology is also being seen as part of the employee value proposition. Anyone who has the technology to allow employees to work remotely or at least hybrid can recruit people anywhere in the world. The role of technology has never been more crucial.”
ENERGY
This will also affect how the Symposium/ Xpo is organized. “For me, the value is in meeting people, the energy, the discussion, having all the random conversations in the corridors. Your colleagues are there, and you meet your customers there, too. Chance encounters can turn into highly inspiring connections. We have become so accustomed to working from home over the last two years, with a fully scheduled diary. I’m looking forward to getting away from that and being inspired in these random meetings that suddenly give you a completely different perspective.” “It’s kind of like executive leadership training, based on new research and new insights. I don’t know anywhere else you could get such a concentrated wealth of input. And it does a tremendous amount of good to get out of your day-to-day environment. We all know that when you’re working from home, sometimes even going out a walk will improve your productivity. The symposium is like that, but on a bigger scale; somewhere you can immerse yourself in a learning environment. It’s almost a custom-built campus for CIOs, but one that’s there for three or four days only.”
