The 2026 CIO agenda: What IT trends are CIOs really focused on? Part 2 of 8
- alissahilbertz
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Below are the eight IT trends that are top of mind for CIOs in 2026. While they are not necessarily new, remember that trends evolve continuously, which means their relevance increases or decreases over time. In this series, we will look at the trends one by one in greater detail. For each trend, you’ll read what it is, what it means for IT, and what the strategic implications are for the CIO role. We’ll also see what this requires in terms of leadership and organizational maturity.
The eight IT trends for 2026
AI is no longer an innovation topic; it is a governance issue
Autonomous teams without orchestration architecture create organized chaos
Platform-first strategies: complexity is IT’s largest invisible cost
Confidential computing is no longer a legal discussion; it is an architectural choice
Citizen development is inevitable; chaos is optional
Ecosystems: IT value increasingly exists outside the organization
The convergence of low-code and high-code
You cannot build a digital strategy on analog foundations
The impact of these trends varies by organization. Factors such as regulation, industry, company size, board-level digital ambition, and the current state of the core IT landscape all play a role. Let’s unpack trend number two.
2. Autonomous teams without orchestration architecture create organized chaos
Autonomous teams have become the norm. Product teams, agile practices and DevOps have made organizations faster and more adaptable. However, without clear boundaries, they also introduce fragmentation and rising operational costs.
In many organizations, teams independently select tools, build integrations, and create local data sources. In the short term, this improves time to market and strengthens ownership. However, once processes cross team or domain boundaries, which they almost always do, there is no shared mechanism to orchestrate, automate and govern end-to-end processes.
This is where Gartner’s concept of Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (BOAT) becomes relevant. BOAT does not advocate for a single centralized platform. Instead, it promotes architectural discipline in which orchestration, decision logic, integration and automation are deliberately positioned. In practice, this capability is implemented through multiple technologies and platforms, sometimes enterprise-wide and sometimes domain-specific.
The value lies not in standardizing tools but in standardizing principles. Teams must be free to optimize locally. At the same time, end-to-end processes must remain predictable, explainable, and governable at the organizational level. BOAT serves as the connective layer that brings orchestration, decision logic, integration and automation together, independent of specific applications, vendors or delivery teams.
As IT landscapes become more modular and API-driven, CIOs must define and enforce architectural boundaries. This does not require centralizing every decision. Instead, it requires clarity on where autonomy ends and orchestration begins.
Challenge
Without an orchestration layer, predictable patterns emerge. Integrations become fragile and complex. Platform teams become overloaded resolving exceptions. Changes in one domain create unintended effects elsewhere. CIOs recognize this situation when end-to-end processes are no longer explainable, ownership becomes unclear, and architectural discussions focus on why standards supposedly do not apply.
The result is autonomy without coherence, which leads to fragmentation and growing technical debt.
Action
In the short to medium term, organizations must define non-negotiable architectural principles, make end-to-end processes transparent and explicitly determine where orchestration resides. BOAT should be positioned as an enabler and a shared reference framework.
Over time, value streams can be designed end-to-end. This does not require owning every orchestration capability centrally. What is required is clear ownership, explicit orchestration decisions and transparent integration agreements.
The CIO’s role fundamentally shifts from controlling individual solutions to architecting both autonomy and coherence.
Want to chat about your CIO agenda? Get in touch
Niels van Lieshout
Principal Director Technology
T: +31 650657444