Tim Murphy
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Articles by Tim Murphy
CIOs walk AI tightrope as CEOs demand innovation
Where do you want your CIO to move quickly, and where cautiously? Understanding the security piece must be of paramount importance all the time, but beyond that, CIOs need to understand -- and this is very vertical-specific -- but in our vertical, we view [AI] as a threat to our business.
CEOs press CIOs to rethink IT's role in the AI era
Keeping systems running and protecting the business from cyberthreats have long been CIO responsibilities. In the AI era, business leaders want more. CEOs want CIOs who can help change how the business operates, identify opportunities for growth and lead AI adoption across the organization. Some executives see a gap between those expectations and IT’s traditional focus on prioritizing stability, security and cost control.
Infotech launches CIO Analytics platform, acquires Zluri
Membership access and setup The Service Desk Analytics and Application Discovery modules are available through eligible Advisory+ seats at no additional module fee. Members connected to either module can also access AI-Assisted Advisory. The Identity Governance and Administration module costs extra, with pricing based on the organization's employee count, Zehren said. Members retain their existing research and advisory services whether or not they connect their systems to CIO Analytics.
Zapier explores extra pay for employees driving AI gains
Deciding how to share AI gains The compensation requests have pushed Zapier to reconsider how it rewards business results. "I have people on the marketing team now asking to be paid a percentage of pipeline that comes in because they're able to create it so much more efficiently," Slagen said. The second you add in, 'Oh, it's a person asking for it,' ... all the alarm bells start to go off and finance freaks out.
Is AI making the CIO role harder? IT leaders respond
CIOs are used to technological change, but the pace of AI innovation is increasing the pressure for even the most seasoned IT leaders. AI is putting pressure on CIOs to deliver business value faster while adding new risks around security, data, spending and governance. IT leaders also must keep up with rapidly changing tools while helping business teams decide where AI belongs and who is accountable when it fails.
New book urges CIOs to envision better futures
The Hopeful Futures Framework: Building better futures The Hopeful Futures Framework is a tried-and-true way of hopeful futures thinking being applied today. It's something you can refer to, adjust, and remix for your organization. Its aim is to be simple and additive to the work you do today. It's a framework for embedding a hopeful futures mindset in your organization and its teams and their projects while tapping into their wisdom.
AI gives OneDigital more capacity, but ROI remains to be seen
Adoption was a challenge Building the AI coworkers was only part of the challenge. Getting employees comfortable working alongside them took time. Some employees initially felt that using AI was a shortcut or even "cheating," Sullivan said. Concerns about AI hallucinations also made people hesitant to rely on AI coworkers for important work. Those concerns have eased as the technology has improved and employees have seen the quality of the work it can produce.
CIOs must rethink third-party risk as AI creeps into tools
Borrow from highly regulated industries Agentic governance is relatively new, and best practices are still developing. However, CIOs don't need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to managing the risks of AI capabilities added to third-party software. In the autonomous agents session, Mehrotra suggested that IT and risk teams look to highly regulated industries, such as pharmaceuticals, for governance practices they can adapt to AI.
Is AI really paying off for companies? CIOs weigh in
Is AI paying off yet? Yes, it's paying off, but not yet at the scale many expected. The technology has largely proven itself. What's holding organizations back is the challenge of operationalizing AI responsibly. Governance frameworks, security controls, data readiness, regulatory compliance and clear accountability are often lagging behind the pace of innovation. At the same time, many employees remain uncertain about how AI will affect their roles, which can slow adoption.
Gartner warns traditional IT controls won't keep up with AI
Autonomous AI is breaking traditional IT controls Autonomous agents lack common sense, so they sometimes take bizarre paths to reach a goal. Mehrotra referred to a case in April involving the software company PocketOS, where an agent was asked to improve code in a staging environment.
Why hope is a CIO leadership skill
CIOs spend so much time preparing for what could go wrong that they can lose sight of what could go right. Futurist Nikolas Badminton argues that CIOs have an important role in helping their organizations envision a positive future as AI reshapes workflows. Data, he says, is the "wild frontier." As AI gives people new ways to work with data, CIOs must help create a culture around its use and get data scientists, analysts and all other employees on the same page.
The human in the loop is falling asleep
Human-in-the-loop has become the gold standard response to AI risk. But what happens when the human isn't actually paying attention? CIOs and CISOs increasingly rely on human approval as a safeguard for AI agents. However, recent testing by the UK's AI Security Institute showed how an AI agent could undermine that safeguard. An AI agent created fake online identities and tried to socially engineer a human into approving malicious code.
Why AI enablement teams shouldn't live within IT
AI deployment is a business problem, not just an IT project. CIOs are increasingly tasked with helping their organizations adopt AI. But handing that responsibility entirely to IT can create a disconnect between the technology and the business. IT may know how to build and deploy AI, but it may lack sufficient insight into day-to-day business operations to identify which use cases will deliver meaningful results.
Where should CIOs invest next? IT leaders weigh in
If your IT budget increased 10%, where would you invest first? I'd double down on the AI infrastructure monitoring, ROI and security piece. This space is evolving quickly, and I'm seeing some really cool, innovative technology showing up on the AI infrastructure side -- the Anthropics, OpenAIs, Googles and Metas. They're creating all this opportunity in their ecosystems around building out these solutions to continue to better manage them.
CIOs say data engineers, AI architects hardest roles to fill
What's the hardest IT role to hire for today? It's always changing, but today, it's folks who have deep expertise in AI infrastructure, a lot of data engineering folks, a lot of data science and business intelligence engineers. Those folks are starting to transition into that AI world. A lot of them have made the transition, but finding someone with a lot of experience in best practices, benchmarking -- someone who's seen things at scale -- that's harder to find.
AWS launches FinOps agent, expands Bedrock cost tracking
FinOps Agent moves into public preview AWS introduced the AWS FinOps Agent in public preview as an AI-powered system that analyzes cloud spend, investigates anomalies and surfaces optimization recommendations within engineering workflows. The agent lets AWS users ask about cloud costs using natural language, said Bradford Lyman, director of product management at AWS, in his portion of the keynote. It can detect anomalies, generate custom reports and identify optimization opportunities.
AI Kill Switch Act raises questions for CIOs
An AI kill switch might be challenging for developers to implement, but lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are calling for more AI oversight. Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas) introduced the AI Kill Switch Act on July 23, 2026, days after OpenAI disclosed that some of its AI models escaped a controlled environment and hacked into Hugging Face's systems.
OpenAI-Hugging Face incident raises AI liability concerns
While humans can make mistakes, AI agents can make the same mistakes thousands of times faster. CIOs need to understand who is liable when those mistakes cause real-world harm. In July 2026, OpenAI models escaped a controlled testing environment and hacked into another company's systems. While the incident involved a frontier lab testing its models, it raises broader questions for enterprise CIOs deploying AI systems of their own.
How CIOs are responding to AI oversight uncertainty
How are you responding to Trump's December 2025 AI executive order? "The biggest effect it had on clients was that it really showed the stance of the executive branch. There have been a lot of talks about how America really wants to win the AI race, whatever that means, but seeing the executive branch actually put out that order, it became clear they're going to put their money where their mouth is and try to stop states from creating a regulatory regime that could hinder the progress of AI.
How CIOs can navigate federal, state AI regulation uncertainty
A framework for AI governance While AI regulations remain in flux, organizations can build governance programs that adapt to changing requirements. Organizations should first create a cross-functional governance committee with representatives from IT, legal, security, risk, compliance, HR and any other relevant business units. The group can review proposed AI use cases, evaluate risks, establish policies and oversee internally developed systems and third-party tools.
How to use generative AI for sales
Generative AI won't replace sales representatives, but it can change how they work. Since ChatGPT's public launch in late 2022, CRM vendors, such as Microsoft, Salesforce and HubSpot, have released generative AI (GenAI) capabilities for their sales offerings. Use cases for sales fall into three broad categories: content generation, data analysis and task automation.
CIOs face IT knowledge loss as baby boomers retire
Critical IT knowledge often walks out the door when experienced employees retire. As baby boomers reach retirement age, CIOs face a growing risk of losing employees who keep critical systems running. Organizations will lose any undocumented expertise, judgment or historical context that those employees carry. Similar to technical debt or cybersecurity vulnerabilities, knowledge loss can quietly accumulate until it causes an outage or failed migration.
When should CIOs care about quantum computing?
Quantum computing is still years away from widespread adoption, but CIOs in some industries should start paying attention now. Quantum computers process information differently from traditional computers, using quantum bits, or qubits, that can represent multiple possible states simultaneously rather than just 0 or 1. This allows them to solve certain complex problems more efficiently than conventional computers.
How CIOs can navigate federal, state AI regulation uncertainty
A framework for AI governance While AI regulations remain in flux, organizations can build governance programs that adapt to changing requirements. Organizations should first create a cross-functional governance committee with representatives from IT, legal, security, risk, compliance, HR and any other relevant business units. The group can review proposed AI use cases, evaluate risks, establish policies and oversee internally developed systems and third-party tools.
How CIOs are responding to AI oversight uncertainty
How are you responding to Trump's December 2025 AI executive order? "The biggest effect it had on clients was that it really showed the stance of the executive branch. There have been a lot of talks about how America really wants to win the AI race, whatever that means, but seeing the executive branch actually put out that order, it became clear they're going to put their money where their mouth is and try to stop states from creating a regulatory regime that could hinder the progress of AI.
Mass automation: A vision for nearly automated companies
A vision of mass automation This book is about a future that's probably nearer than you imagine: mass automation. There, most activities that humans engage in are automated, meaning these activities are run without constant human involvement or supervision. What does mass automation look like? Consider the following scenario. If it sounds like science fiction, think about how much of this is already in place.
Fully automated companies: What CIOs need to know
AI agents can automate individual tasks and processes, but the next frontier may be automating entire companies. Science fiction has long imagined flying cars, autonomous robots and other futuristic technologies. Yet, it rarely explores the organizational details behind those technologies, such as who builds them, who markets them and what a company looks like when much of its work runs autonomously.
Which IT jobs will AI change most? Tech leaders weigh in
What IT job will look most different in three years because of AI? "The biggest shift will not be job reduction but around how IT engineers work. Most of their collaboration will happen with agents rather than people. Engineers will manage small teams of agentic colleagues, while team-level human-to-human collaboration moves up a level, with people staying in the loop for oversight, judgment and coordination rather than execution.
Which IT jobs will AI change most? Tech leaders weigh in
What IT job will look most different in three years because of AI? "The biggest shift will not be job reduction but around how IT engineers work. Most of their collaboration will happen with agents rather than people. Engineers will manage small teams of agentic colleagues, while team-level human-to-human collaboration moves up a level, with people staying in the loop for oversight, judgment and coordination rather than execution.
FinOps for AI: How CIOs are navigating tokenomics
What CIOs can do now Tokenomics remains an emerging discipline, and organizations are still working to understand the fundamentals. While industry groups and vendors continue to develop standards, CIOs can start by improving visibility into how teams are using AI across the organization. "Folks are just trying to get their arms around how to budget for it for next year," Storment said. Recent reports about Uber's AI spending show what can happen when AI adoption outpaces budgeting and forecasting.
Is AI replacing workers? CIOs weigh in
As organizations race to adopt AI, questions remain about its effect on jobs. Four CIOs and an industry analyst share whether AI is replacing workers or helping teams do more. AI may be changing how work gets done, but many CIOs say it is not replacing workers. Organizations across industries are racing to adopt AI to improve productivity, automate routine tasks and gain a competitive edge.
Is AI replacing workers? CIOs weigh in
AI may be changing how work gets done, but many CIOs say it is not replacing workers. Organizations across industries are racing to adopt AI to improve productivity, automate routine tasks and gain a competitive edge. At the same time, high-profile layoffs and claims that AI can replace knowledge workers have fueled concerns about the technology's effect on jobs. For CIOs, the question is whether AI is becoming a substitute for employees or a tool that helps existing teams do more.
AWS launches FinOps agent, expands Bedrock cost tracking
SAN DIEGO -- AI has become both a challenge and an opportunity for FinOps teams, and AWS used this year's FinOps X conference to showcase a series of product updates that align closely with that reality. AWS introduced the AWS FinOps Agent in public preview, an AI-powered tool designed to automate cloud cost analysis, anomaly investigation and reporting, while surfacing optimization recommendations.
How AI is changing software development at JPMorgan Chase
Software engineers aren't being hired to write code anymore. At least, that's how Gill Haus, CIO of JPMorgan Chase, frames the effect of AI on software development. As generative AI and coding assistants automate more of the coding process, Haus argues that the most valuable engineers are not the ones who can write the most code. Instead, they are the ones who understand customer problems, exercise sound judgment and know what to build in the first place.
Is AI reducing IT costs? Tech leaders weigh in
AI has not reduced IT costs in most organizations -- in many cases, it's adding new ones. IT departments are paying new costs for AI model usage, software licensing, system integration and governance, but are not seeing straightforward savings. AI is reducing some costs in specific areas, such as manual work and certain hiring needs. However, these savings rarely offset the cost of AI, especially since it is not a one-and-done expense.
Is AI reducing IT costs? Tech leaders weigh in
Is AI reducing your IT costs, or is it just adding to them? "The honest answer is no. AI has increased the IT costs instead of bringing them down. We made a deliberate decision not to limit AI tools to the developer team only, but gave them to everyone -- operations, compliance, middle office and finance. That's over 700 people, most of whom would be alarmed to be called engineers. That costs more than equipping a handful of developers, and we watch the spend carefully.
Deepfakes are killing biometric trust
The future is layered identity assurance Enterprises are moving away from treating biometrics as proof of identity on their own. Instead, they are building layered systems that combine trusted devices, cryptographic credentials, behavioral signals and contextual risk analysis. The goal is no longer to verify a face or voice alone, but to build higher confidence that the right user is truly accessing a system. This reflects a broader shift in thinking.
Deepfakes are killing biometric trust
The future is layered identity assurance Enterprises are moving away from treating biometrics as proof of identity on their own. Instead, they are building layered systems that combine trusted devices, cryptographic credentials, behavioral signals and contextual risk analysis. The goal is no longer to verify a face or voice alone, but to build higher confidence that the right user is truly accessing a system. This reflects a broader shift in thinking.
The AI agent governance gap: How CIOs can gain control
AI agents are popping up across the enterprise faster than most CIOs can track them. Developers build side-project agents, departments connect agents to external tools and SaaS vendors increasingly embed agentic features directly into enterprise software. Many organizations still lack clear inventories and governance processes for those systems, even as the agents gain access to sensitive data.
AI's cybersecurity paradox: How CIOs can keep up with change
Defense through development Organizations are increasingly embedding AI directly into the software development lifecycle, building security into coding, testing and operational workflows rather than addressing it after deployment. One of the clearest early use cases is vulnerability discovery in code. Security teams see AI systems as particularly effective at analyzing software at scale and surfacing weaknesses that human reviewers might miss.
Dell pushes AI personalization, but data hurdles remain
In 2026, Dell continues to position itself as the backbone infrastructure provider for enterprise AI and hybrid cloud. The central theme at Dell Technologies World 2026 was clear: enterprise AI is moving from experimentation to production, with organizations increasingly seeking to run AI closer to where enterprise data already lives through hybrid, governed infrastructure. "CIOs are aggressively pivoting to hybrid AI," said Dell founder Michael Dell during Monday's keynote.
Startup founder says trust is biggest barrier to AI agents
Agentic AI is evolving rapidly, but confidence in how these systems will behave in real-world settings remains limited. Div Garg, CEO and founder of AI research lab AGI Inc., argues that while AI agents are already automating parts of enterprise workflows, most people are still not ready to fully trust them with sensitive or high-impact tasks.
Startup founder says trust is biggest barrier to AI agents
Agentic AI is evolving rapidly, but confidence in how these systems will behave in real-world settings remains limited. Div Garg, CEO and founder of AI research lab AGI Inc., argues that while AI agents are already automating parts of enterprise workflows, most people are still not ready to fully trust them with sensitive or high-impact tasks.
The top CIO challenges: AI hype, security and rapid change
What's the biggest challenge CIOs will face next year? "The biggest challenge is in the AI arena. I was at a meeting yesterday, and the number of times I heard AI -- 'We need an AI agent, or an AI this, or an AI that' -- was unbelievable. The challenge is that AI might be a solution, but it's not the solution for everything. You must understand what problem you're trying to solve. The challenge is the pervasiveness of what people think AI is and where they think it's going.
The top CIO challenges: AI hype, security and rapid change
What's the biggest challenge CIOs will face next year? "The biggest challenge is in the AI arena. I was at a meeting yesterday, and the number of times I heard AI -- 'We need an AI agent, or an AI this, or an AI that' -- was unbelievable. The challenge is that AI might be a solution, but it's not the solution for everything. You must understand what problem you're trying to solve. The challenge is the pervasiveness of what people think AI is and where they think it's going.
CISO shortage may reflect unrealistic job expectations
A new report suggests the world may be facing a shortage of cybersecurity leaders -- but the reality inside organizations is more complicated. A 2026 report from Cybersecurity Ventures and Sophos argues that there are just 35,000 CISOs worldwide serving roughly 359 million businesses -- a 10,000-to-1 ratio it describes as a major gap in global cybersecurity leadership.
CISO shortage may reflect unrealistic job expectations
A new report warns of a CISO shortage, but interviews suggest the reality is more complex. The gap may reflect unrealistic job expectations rather than a true talent shortage. A new report suggests the world may be facing a shortage of cybersecurity leaders -- but the reality inside organizations is more complicated.
5 IT leadership tips for CIOs
2. Adjust to market shifts immediately Annual roadmaps and structured planning cycles still matter, but they can't become rigid commitments. Instead, IT leaders should continuously reassess their plans as business conditions evolve and new opportunities emerge. "We'll lay out our 12-month roadmap, but if something changes in the middle, we're not afraid to pivot," said Russ Ahlers, CIO of BDO USA, an accounting and advisory firm.
How to migrate to a new ERP system
Few IT projects test CIOs as much as ERP migrations do. ERP migrations rank among the most complex and costly initiatives CIOs lead. They affect core business processes, require significant data transformation and demand tight coordination between IT, business units and system integrators (SIs). Success often depends less on the technology itself and more on early decisions around scope, data readiness, change management and how well organizations define measurable business value.
5 real-world GenAI case studies
Generative AI has moved quickly from experimentation to real business use cases, but results vary widely. Some organizations see immediate gains from generative AI (GenAI), while others struggle to move beyond pilots. What separates success from failure often comes down to data readiness and how closely AI efforts align with business needs. To find out what works, TechTarget interviewed five IT leaders about how they designed, deployed and scaled GenAI in their organizations.
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