8. ‘There’s a need to treat AI projects like real programs’
To harness value from AI, which multiple studies have shown to be a challenge for most, organizations must bring the same business and fiscal discipline to AI initiatives as it does any other project.
That’s the conclusion that Mark Sherwood, executive vice president and CIO at Wolters Kluwer, reached this year.
“There’s a need to treat AI projects like real programs,” he says, noting that many organizations have gotten away from that to varying degrees because of the pressure they’re getting to quickly adopt AI.
“What I’ve seen and what we’ve struggled with a bit with my team is there is so much innovation with AI in the company, which is great and I want to encourage, but I also want to understand the business value of what we’re doing. It comes down not to whether we could do it, but whether we should do it,” he says.
To answer that, Sherwood requires AI innovators at Wolters Kluwer to articulate the “qualitative value and quantitative value” of what they’re pursuing.
“It’s almost like project management 101. It’s the basics that we had been doing in IT for a long time, making sure we have the fundamentals in place before we jump in. As boring as it might sound, it’s making sure [with AI innovation] we focus on what are the business problems we’re trying to solve,” he explains.
With that lesson in mind, Sherwood has been applying project management principals to proposed AI initiatives, “understanding what the business needs are, being clear on goals and timelines, and putting together clear success metrics.”
He has a vetting process to review AI-related proposals and prioritize them based on business value. He also has guidelines in place for business teams experimenting with AI so they, too, are focusing on value. And he has hackathons and innovation forums to surface promising ideas, whether they feature AI or other technologies, thereby ensuring that the guardrails he has in place don’t eliminate opportunities that show promise.
“AI can be a solution in search of a problem, a hammer that’s always searching for a nail,” Sherwood adds. “I always prefer to start with the problem rather than coming in with a solution. AI is not a magic bullet. It’s not a bit where you throw stuff in and magical qualities come out the other side. It’s much like any other tool.”
9. ‘Transformation hinges on people far more than on technology’
For Beth Clark, CIO of Harvard Business School, the past year has taught her that the CIO job is more about helping people than it is about leading technology.
“Transformation hinges on people far more than on technology, and change is hard for people,” she says.
Clark says to help people transform, she to bring clarity to staffers on what her organization wants to achieve and how AI and other technologies will help them get where they want to go.
“It’s helping them brainstorm about their vision for the future,” she says, “asking them what their [work] looks like today, asking what it could be in the future, and crafting that vision with them. It’s presenting the ‘What if?’ and ‘What if you could do x, y, and z?’ questions. That requires being a visionary and having enough depth of knowledge about how the business works day to day and what the technology possibilities are so I can craft the vision side by side with them.”
At that point, Clark says, it’s just as vital to build excitement for the transformation change. “It’s letting them see the art of the possible and telling a story about what life could be like in two, three, five, 10 years if they’re not just invested in change but excited by it,” she says.
That, she adds, requires sympathy and empathy, understanding that people are being asked to give up “tried and true ways of doing things” and recognizing that that’s a big ask for most people.
“It’s helping people adapt to a world that is changing very, very fast,” Clark says. “It’s letting them know that it is a continuous partnership to make sure we’re keeping that vision really clear and we’re doing all the work to get us there.”
It’s a long road, Clark acknowledges, and it’s understandable that some will question whether it’s worth it for them to go along.
“You have to hold people’s hands at the same time you’re kicking them in the butt,” she adds. “You need a really good influence toolkit, to influence them in different ways based on what’s needed, whether that’s leading difficult conversations when they’re stuck or being a shoulder to cry on.”
10. ‘Only multi-agent architectures can deliver the agility and resilience required to thrive in today’s environment.’
Neal Ramasamy, global CIO at Cognizant, says 2025 taught him it’s time to create architecture that can support widespread agentic AI.
“Single AI solutions are giving way to coordinated agent ecosystems,” Ramasamy says. “As business processes become more interconnected and dynamic, only multi-agent architectures can deliver the agility and resilience required to thrive in today’s environment. These systems enable specialized AI agents to collaborate seamlessly, breaking down operational silos and driving end-to-end automation across functions like finance, HR, supply chain, and customer service.”
Ramasamy stresses the need to act now.
“Enterprises without multi-agent strategies will face significant productivity gaps within 24 months,” he adds. “But organizations that invest now in orchestrating diverse agents — while embedding robust governance and interoperability — will set the standard for enterprise performance and innovation.”
