top of page

The 2026 CIO agenda: What IT trends are CIOs really focused on? Part 6 of 8

  • May 4
  • 2 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 

  1. AI is no longer an innovation topic; it is a governance issue 

  2. Autonomous teams without orchestration architecture create organized chaos 

  3. Platform-first strategies: complexity is IT’s largest invisible cost 

  4. Confidential computing is no longer a legal discussion; it is an architectural choice 

  5. Citizen development is inevitable; chaos is optional 

  6. Ecosystems: IT value increasingly exists outside the organization 

  7. The convergence of low-code and high-code 

  8. 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 six.


  1. Ecosystems: IT value increasingly exists outside the organization 

An ecosystem consists of interconnected organizations, people and technologies that collaborate to create value. That value does not come from participation alone. It emerges when collaboration enables scale, speed or new propositions that a single organization cannot achieve independently.


Organizations cannot build faster than the market. Therefore, they must orchestrate ecosystems to focus on differentiation where it matters and to connect intelligently elsewhere. As a result, IT increasingly creates value through collaboration with partners, customers and external platforms.


This shift makes IT outward-facing. Partners, data and APIs become strategic assets. The ecosystem advantage does not lie in the number of integrations, but in reuse, standardization and the ability to quickly create new combinations.


Challenge

CIOs face problems when external integrations are slow and risky, when partner onboarding takes excessive time, or when each integration requires custom work. A deeper risk emerges when ecosystems are treated as a cost or hygiene factor rather than as a strategic opportunity.


Action

In the short term, organizations should define an API and ecosystem strategy, supported by clear architectural blueprints along with strong identity and access management. Governance models and SLAs must then be established, followed by scalable partner integration.


Crucially, organizations must decide where they lead and where they consume. Ecosystem value emerges when partners connect to standardized capabilities, enabling faster launches, shared risk, and lower innovation costs.


The CIO becomes a co-owner of new business models. This requires strategic focus, since not everything should be open, not everyone should be a partner and not every API should be monetized.


Curious about how to get the best out of your ecosystem? Get in touch


Niels van Lieshout

Principal Director Technology

T: +31 650657444

 
 
bottom of page