If you remember only one statistic from 2018, let it be this one: asked in what way IT is driving business innovation, 42% of CIOs replied that technology is seen as a supporter of business innovation, but not an innovator in itself. Respondents to Brainstorm’s CIO Survey were drawn from South Africa’s largest enterprises, and, tellingly, when asked to describe the IT organisation’s relationship with the business, 41% – by far the largest share – said it was ‘a work in progress’. Most (62%) also reported they were spending the bulk of their time aligning their department to better serve the business.

These questions lay bare the contradictions and challenges that technologists face in modern business. As the technology itself has matured, they’ve come from being servants of process and procurement to executives chiefly concerned with how technology can better serve the business.