Highlights:
- Over 69% of CIOs foresee increased investment
- One-third (33%) are planning to increase headcount in the space.
- Use of AI/ML is significantly higher in India than in Australia or the US
- Prominent security issues for Australian enterprises are phishing (76%) and shadow IT (45%)
- 55 CIOs participated in the survey
Adobe’s latest CIO Perspectives survey found that cybersecurity remains a high priority for a majority of (87%) of CIOs. Almost all organisations (98%) faced some kind of cybersecurity-related issue last year.
More than two-thirds see increasing investment in cybersecurity with a third (33%) planning to increase headcount in the space. Prominent security issues for Australian enterprises are phishing (76%) and shadow IT (45%).
CIOs also saw an increasing in website hacking (50%) and data breaches (22%) over the past year.
The importance of data security and privacy is not new, but the accelerated digital transformation that has happened in response to COVID-19 has propelled it to the top of many boards’ agenda.
As we move from functioning in a digital world to one that is digital-only, it is imperative to build customer trust by protecting their personal data and treating it properly.
AI/ML Investment
About 57% of the CIOs said their investments have decreased because of COVID. AI/ML, Data Management, Infrastructure and Public Cloud continue to be on high priorities for the Australian CIOs.
“Three-quarters of Australian CIOs have already invested in new technologies to solve for the challenges posed by COVID, with almost (98%) of the CIOs focusing on enhancing efficiencies with automation technologies.
Adoption of AI and ML is high with 9 in 10 CIOs implementing an AI or ML project in the past year. However, data-related issues and finding AI use cases were listed as some of the biggest challenges.
Edge computing and headcount increase have gone down the priority list as compared to pre-COVID.
Also read: Enterprise spending on AI will double in four years, says IDC
COVID impact
Most CIOs (78%) are positive about their organisation’s ability to find success in the post COVID economy. Australian businesses were incredibly quick to adapt to COVID-19 with 73% of the CIOs being able to develop a plan within a week of restrictions being imposed.
Further, 9 out of 10 Australian CIOs were confident their organisation was well equipped to work effectively in the remote world. However, security and supporting a remote workforce for the long term were seen as challenges.
