CIOs are evolving from tech custodians to strategic partners, driving growth amid AI and digital disruptions. Krista Davood’s four-step blueprint—auditing perceptions, building C-suite alliances, innovating proactively, and measuring business impact—positions IT as a core enabler. This shift is essential for companies to thrive in 2025 and beyond.
In healthcare IT, leaders like Kelli Garrison and Robert Slepin emphasize acting as translators to bridge clinicians, administrators, and tech teams, ensuring collaboration and successful EHR implementations. By understanding perspectives and biases, they optimize systems and drive innovation. This skill is vital for future AI-driven transformations and resilient healthcare delivery.
Puma has appointed Andreas Hubert, ex-Adidas CIO, as its new COO effective September 1, expanding its board and consolidating operations like IT, sourcing, and sustainability. This hire, amid sluggish sales, leverages Hubert’s expertise to boost digital transformation and efficiency. It intensifies the historic rivalry with Adidas, potentially accelerating Puma’s revival in a competitive market.
U.S. DOT CIO Pavan Pidugu’s vision modernizes IT through three pillars: processes for efficiency, people via training and recruitment, and products for impactful solutions like AI traffic management. Collaborating with DOGE and industry, he aims to cut acquisition times and tackle legacy systems. This approach positions DOT as a federal innovation leader.
Over the past decade, the CIO role has evolved from IT operations to strategic business leadership, driven by cloud computing, AI, and the COVID-19 pandemic. CIOs now drive innovation, revenue, and cybersecurity while collaborating with executives. By 2028, they will architect ethical tech platforms for continuous reinvention.
Intel’s QuickAssist Technology (QAT) has been demoted twice in Linux 6.17 kernel development due to poor cryptographic performance, with bugs and latency issues making it inferior to AVX-512 instructions. This affects FSCRYPT and highlights Intel’s challenges in optimizing hardware for open-source ecosystems. Software alternatives are proving more efficient and reliable.
The GNOME Mutter 49 Beta introduces key enhancements like the Pointer Warp Protocol for seamless multi-monitor cursor movement, improved Wayland support, and bug fixes, phasing out X11 dependencies. It optimizes for VMs and gamers while adding an SDK for developers. This sets the stage for a stable GNOME 49 release in September, promising refined Linux desktop experiences.
Amid U.S. export bans, Shenzhen’s underground shops repair tens of thousands of faulty Nvidia AI chips like H100 and A100, sustaining Chinese data centers at costs up to $2,800 per unit. This black-market boom, fueled by $1B in smuggled hardware, accelerates China’s domestic chip innovation and challenges global AI dominance.
Pinterest in 2025 thrives on strategic engagement with its 500M users, emphasizing intent-driven content, keyword optimization, and precise targeting via AI tools. Brands leverage influencers, shoppable Pins, and multimedia for growth, while measuring success through insights and evergreen strategies. Mastering these yields 25% higher ROI and lasting loyalty.
Hyundai’s U.S. electrified vehicle sales surged 50% year-over-year in July, driving total sales to a record 79,543 units, up 15%. Models like the IONIQ 5 jumped 71%, with electrified options comprising 32% of retail sales. This success highlights Hyundai’s strong push into sustainable mobility amid global challenges.
Christina Marie Chapman, 50, from Arizona, operated a “laptop farm” in her home, enabling North Korean IT workers to impersonate US remote employees at over 300 firms, stealing identities and funneling $17 million to Pyongyang’s regime. She was sentenced to 102 months in prison for the scheme, which exposed corporate vulnerabilities.
Ford is channeling the revolutionary spirit of its 1908 Model T by developing affordable extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) to democratize EVs. CEO Jim Farley teases a $25,000 breakthrough platform reveal on August 11, aiming to combat Chinese dominance and range anxiety. This “Model T moment” could transform the automotive industry through mass accessibility.
In 2025, customer experience trends demand adaptation to avoid obsolescence, with AI enabling hyper-personalization, predictive analytics, and human-centric interactions. Sustainability, ethical practices, omnichannel integration, and employee empowerment drive growth, as market projections show robust expansion. Businesses must embrace these changes to foster loyalty and thrive.
Marketing dashboards offer data on consumer behavior but overlook human emotions and needs. Immersion programs, like customer shadowing and VR experiences, foster empathy and reveal insights that transform strategies. By blending data with lived experiences, brands build lasting connections and drive innovation in 2025 and beyond.
Genesys secured a $1.5 billion investment from Salesforce and ServiceNow, valuing it at $15 billion, to advance AI-driven customer service. This strategic alliance deepens integrations and accelerates agentic AI innovations. The deal highlights collaborative efforts to dominate the evolving contact center industry.
Customer service is shifting from rigid chatbots to intuitive voice and conversational AI, blending human-like empathy with omnichannel experiences to handle complex queries efficiently. Hybrid AI-human models reduce escalations and boost satisfaction. Businesses must adopt these innovations for 2025 to foster loyalty and avoid obsolescence.
American Airlines and Mastercard have renewed their decades-long partnership, announced on July 21, 2025, making Mastercard the exclusive network for AAdvantage co-branded cards. The deal emphasizes AI-driven personalization, enhanced rewards like bonus miles and priority boarding, and tech integration to boost loyalty and revenue. This positions both companies for greater competitiveness in the evolving travel sector.
Brands’ overreliance on martech stacks is causing customer loss and revenue damage, with 24% of marketers reporting attrition from errors like poor integrations and AI mishaps. The ecosystem’s 15,000+ tools overwhelm teams, amplifying failures. To mitigate, experts urge auditing stacks and prioritizing expertise for effective use.
Traditional retailers like Walmart and Target are challenging Amazon’s ad dominance by building data-rich media networks, offering targeted access to consumer insights via omnichannel experiences. Despite Amazon’s $100B+ revenue and AI edge, competitors are growing through innovation and partnerships. This shift promises more choices for brands, potentially eroding Amazon’s 77% market share.
X, formerly Twitter, launched discounted ad rates in July 2025 for “aesthetic” ads free of clutter like URLs, emojis, hashtags, and errors. High-scoring, minimalist ads receive up to 20% lower CPM to enhance user experience and promote cleaner feeds. This policy encourages brands to prioritize elegant, subtle content for better engagement.
French startup Olyzon, founded in 2023, pioneers AI-driven “agentic” advertising for connected TV, enabling show-level targeting and automation. It recently raised $5M to expand into the US, accessing 5B monthly impressions. This innovation boosts ROI by 30%, positioning CTV as a hyper-targeted powerhouse rivaling digital ads.
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