CIO Pulse News and Headlines
CIO Pulse News and Headlines
The FBI has issued formal guidance warning that cyber‑criminals are exploiting residential proxies by hijacking home IoT devices, smartphones and routers. A January incident revealed nine million Android phones were co‑opted into a proxy network, and recent research uncovered vulnerable proxies across hundreds of government, utility and education entities. The agency urges enterprises to accelerate patching, enforce strict device policies, segment networks and block known proxy IP ranges. Failure to act could expose corporate traffic to seemingly legitimate residential traffic, complicating detection.
The cybersecurity and cloud services sector saw a flurry of senior‑level hires during the week of March 9‑13, with firms such as Netrio, Orca Security, Darktrace, Caylent and others appointing new CEOs, COOs, C‑suite marketers and growth officers. Many of the...
Broadcom’s 2023 acquisition of VMware has sparked a wave of hypervisor migrations, with Gartner forecasting a 35% workload loss by 2028. Organizations are moving to alternatives such as Hyper‑V, Azure Stack HCI, Nutanix AHV, Proxmox VE, and KVM, but the...
M&A deals often overlook technology, turning integration into a hidden cost. Technical debt, undocumented dependencies, data model mismatches, and security gaps surface when due diligence is delayed. Involving CIOs early and using a structured tech diligence checklist reduces surprises and...
The EU’s Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) will become fully enforceable in 2027, extending mandatory cybersecurity requirements to any product with digital elements sold in the EU, including container images, Helm charts and Kubernetes operators. It codifies three core obligations: security‑by‑design...
Lake Michigan Credit Union (LMCU) has leveraged robotic process automation (RPA) and generative AI to overhaul its mortgage processing, slashing cycle time from 55 hours to 10 hours while handling a 15% surge in applications. CIO Chris Ortega partnered with...
Red Access unveiled a firewall‑native Security Service Edge (SSE) that sits atop any existing firewall without agents, instantly delivering GenAI‑driven security, data loss prevention, CASB, and browser isolation. The solution is vendor‑agnostic, supporting Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, Cisco and Check...
The article argues that traditional passwords and even multi‑factor authentication (MFA) no longer provide sufficient protection against modern credential attacks. It highlights how SMS codes can be intercepted via SIM swapping, authenticator apps are prone to replay and push‑bombing attacks,...
TELUS Chief Information Officer Hesham Fahmy outlined a multi‑year plan to embed a culture of innovation across the company’s technology organization. The strategy emphasizes rapid prototyping, cross‑functional squads, and a new internal venture fund to accelerate digital products. Fahmy highlighted...
Manufacturers facing supply‑chain volatility and rising costs are redefining the CIO role to combine traditional IT oversight with direct responsibility for supply‑chain transformation. Modern supply‑chain CIOs must master emerging technologies such as AI, IoT, digital twins, and analytics while aligning...
GitHub announced it will route at least half of its traffic through Microsoft Azure by July. The shift responds to a series of high‑impact outages blamed on “extremely rapid” user growth and failover failures in its existing infrastructure. CTO Vlad...
Atlancis Technologies and EverseTech have launched Servernah Cloud, Kenya’s first sovereign AI cloud, hosted in iXAfrica’s Nairobi data centre. The platform merges Atlancis’ Servernah infrastructure with EverseTech’s AI‑as‑a‑Service, allowing Kenyan enterprises and government agencies to run AI workloads within national...
Ayar Labs and server maker Wiwynn announced a partnership to build rack‑scale AI infrastructure that uses Ayar’s co‑packaged optics, specifically TeraPHY engines powered by a SuperNova remote light source. The design can connect up to 1,024 AI accelerators and deliver...
SAP introduced the first major features update, FPS01, for its hosted private S/4HANA instances. The update adds AI‑driven agents that analyze tasks across systems and suggest concrete actions, stopping short of autonomous execution. SAP positions this as the penultimate step...
Mimecast unveiled a suite of AI‑driven platform enhancements aimed at curbing human‑related security risk. The rollout adds adaptive security policies that auto‑adjust based on individual risk scores, an AI‑powered Mihra Investigation Agent that accelerates incident analysis, and open‑gateway integrations for...
Kingfisher has upgraded its ServiceNow virtual agent, Vita, from a structured call‑tree to a generative‑AI powered assistant (Now Assist) called Vita version two. Within 18 months, the original bot logged 200,000 interactions, and the new AI interface now offers natural‑language ticketing,...
Dallas Cowboys CIO Matt Messick is finalizing a multi‑year IT overhaul that includes a Lenovo device refresh, a migration to Microsoft Dynamics 365, and a new data strategy aimed at breaking silos. The team is preparing an AI‑driven dashboard to...
Student Loans Company (SLC) has appointed Kath Moore, a veteran finance‑sector technologist, as its executive director and chief digital and data officer. Moore arrives from Alba, a Scottish SME‑focused start‑up bank, after senior stints at HSBC, Barclays, Prudential and Halifax....
Schwarz Group’s digital arm, Schwarz Digits, has launched an €11 billion data centre project near Berlin, marking the retailer’s biggest investment ever and a push to create a sovereign European cloud platform. Chief digital officer Rolf Schumann says digital sovereignty will dictate...
Microsoft Intune is a leading unified endpoint management tool, but its pricing becomes intricate when used for BYOD authentication. The base Intune Plan 1 costs $8 per user per month, yet BYOD scenarios demand additional services such as Microsoft Entra ID,...
Kennedys has appointed Milan Devani, formerly Baker McKenzie’s global infrastructure director, as its new global chief information officer, succeeding Paul Brotzel. Devani brings 26 years of legal‑IT experience, including extensive cloud transformation expertise. His role will focus on modernising Kennedys’ IT...
Medical‑technology giant Stryker disclosed an Iran‑linked cyberattack that compromised its Microsoft Intune mobile device management (MDM) platform, forcing remote wipes of thousands of laptops and smartphones worldwide. The breach, claimed by the Handala collective, showed no ransomware but highlighted the...
EnergyAustralia announced that its chief information officer Julie Bale will retire after nearly seven years in the role. The utility has appointed Eglantine Etiemble, formerly group CTO of PEXA and former DuluxGroup IT executive, as the new CIO. Etiemble highlighted...
The Met Office marked one year of its Microsoft‑powered "supercomputing as a service" platform, delivering roughly 1.8 million cores and 60 petaflops of compute in Azure. The cloud‑based system achieved 100 % uptime for critical workloads and 99.77 % availability for the supercomputing tier....
Enterprises migrating to SAP S/4HANA or cloud platforms often discover that legacy ERP instances remain active, driving unexpected operating expenses and expanding security exposure. These "zombie" systems are kept for audit or legal retrieval, but their maintenance adds technical debt...
SAP’s March 2026 Security Patch Day released 15 security notes, including two critical CVSS 9+ vulnerabilities and one high‑priority denial‑of‑service issue. The critical flaws affect SAP Quotation Management Insurance (FS‑QUO) via an outdated Log4j library, SAP NetWeaver Enterprise Portal Administration through insecure...
AGCO Corp. has appointed Jena Holtberg‑Benge as its chief digital and information officer, effective March 16. The promotion expands her remit from leading the after‑sales parts division to directing the company’s global digital, data, and IT strategy, including cybersecurity and enterprise...
IO River unveiled a multi‑CDN edge security platform powered by Check Point’s Web Application Firewall. The solution runs security logic directly at the edge of each CDN, eliminating the need to route traffic back to a central inspection point. By decoupling...
Aspen Insurance announced that Chief Investment Officer Aileen Mathieson is leaving the firm. The Bermuda‑based specialty insurer, which manages a $6.9 billion investment portfolio, was recently acquired by Japan’s Sompo Holdings. Mathieson's departure comes as the new ownership begins integrating Aspen...
Lynda Petherick, originally hired to find a CIO, now serves as both COO and CIO of New Look, a UK fashion retailer that posted $929 million in revenue for 2025. Under her leadership the company is migrating its core ERP to...
Netskope unveiled Netskope One AI Security, extending its Zero Trust platform to monitor and control AI agents, models, and data flows across enterprises. The suite adds an Agentic Broker, AI Guardrails, AI Gateway, and AI Red Teaming to give security...
Everpure announced that its ActiveCluster technology now extends to metro‑distance disaster recovery for file‑based workloads. The feature adds synchronous replication and policy‑driven automation, allowing files to stay online during outages and move across the entire fleet without manual intervention. ActiveCluster...
Businesses rely on office suites for over half of daily work, yet many solutions are proprietary, costly, and lock users into specific AI models. Open‑source alternatives like ONLYOFFICE offer on‑premises or cloud deployment, real‑time collaboration, and integration with 40 enterprise...
Africa’s digital banking and insurance sectors are rapidly evolving as mobile‑first consumers demand seamless, personalized services. South Africa leads with scalable platforms and embedded finance models that integrate lending and insurance into everyday digital interactions. Artificial intelligence is becoming central,...
East Sussex County Council has appointed Stephen Docherty as its new chief digital and information officer. Docherty moves from a healthcare background, having served as CIO for South London and Maudsley NHS Trust and led digital initiatives at Microsoft and...
The article highlights a shift in CIO responsibilities toward AI‑driven IT, emphasizing the need to embed automated decision‑making into core business outcomes. It references a recent webinar where Sidney Madison Prescott of ZLabs outlined a framework for building AI‑capable infrastructure...
Wendy Bryant has stepped down after four‑and‑a‑half years as chief information and digital officer (CDIO) of the Premier's Department NSW. The department announced a search for a successor who will develop an enterprise‑wide digital, data and technology strategy and lead...
Microsoft’s March Patch Tuesday addressed 83 vulnerabilities spanning Windows, Azure, Office, and core services. For the first time in six months, the update contained no actively exploited zero‑day flaws, though six defects were flagged as more likely to be weaponized....
Mergers among Managed Service Providers (MSPs) hinge on more than financials; aligning disparate technology platforms is essential for operational stability. Without tech‑stack standardization, firms face duplicated licensing, training burdens, and fragmented security that erode profitability. Unified solutions—such as N‑able’s RMM,...
Japan’s cloud ERP market is projected to grow at a 20.1% compound annual rate through 2032, positioning the country to capture roughly one‑third of global demand. Government‑backed digital transformation programs and subsidies are accelerating adoption across manufacturing, IT, telecom, finance...
Nokia undertook a brownfield transformation of its global data‑center network, replacing legacy gear with a unified, automated fabric while keeping services live. The migration was staged, using parallel deployment, digital‑twin validation and intent‑based configuration to avoid downtime. At the first...
Federal IT leaders are urged to extract more value from the cloud, VPNs, and collaboration tools acquired during the pandemic as agencies navigate return‑to‑office mandates. Optimizing platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet, expanding zero‑trust and endpoint management, and...
Microsoft will automatically enable hotpatch security updates in Windows Autopatch for eligible devices managed via Intune or the Microsoft Graph API, beginning with the May 2026 security release. Hotpatch, introduced a year ago, lets critical fixes install without a reboot, accelerating...
Service desks are shifting from ticket‑centric operations to product‑team models that prioritize business outcomes over volume metrics. Traditional KPIs like ticket count and handling time are being replaced by measures of employee productivity, user sentiment, and time‑to‑value. By adopting product‑owner...
ColorTokens introduced Xshield AI Agent, an AI‑driven engine that automates microsegmentation policy design and enforcement. The solution claims to shrink policy rollout from days to minutes, enabling rapid isolation of critical assets during breaches. In pre‑release tests, customers reported up...
Maria Cardow, CIO of LevelBlue, argues that cybersecurity failures stem primarily from human behavior rather than technology. She highlights insider risks, shadow AI usage, and siloed teams as hidden vulnerabilities that tools alone cannot fix. Cardow urges leaders to embed...
Ericsson and Future Technologies Venture have deepened their 13‑year collaboration to accelerate enterprise wireless and private 5G rollouts for AI‑driven industrial operations across North America. The partnership will combine Ericsson’s cellular technology with Future Technologies’ systems‑integration services, targeting sectors such...
Cross Switch announced the promotion of co‑founder Jacob Yermalitski from Director of Engineering to Chief Technology Officer, succeeding Mike Kenrich who will now serve as Chief Information Officer. In his new role, Jacob will steer the company’s technology vision and...
Enterprises embracing cloud and AI still perform most NetOps tasks manually, creating scalability and error‑prone challenges. Network automation promises to cut human error, improve security, and lower operating costs, serving as the foundation for the emerging agentic NetOps model. By...
Datadog will open a UK‑resident data centre later this year, offering local storage for operational data. The move targets regulated sectors such as finance, healthcare, government and higher education, where data‑governance rules are tightening. Local hosting reduces latency and lets...
