Context Engineering Will Replace Prompt Engineering — And Most Teams Aren’t Ready
AI, AI Development, Experts Voice, Opinov8 Tips
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Five years ago, most CIOs could get away with focusing on uptime, budgets, and the occasional “big transformation project.” Those days are over.
Cloud-native everything, AI tools that seem to change by the week, and relentless time-to-market pressure have pushed CIOs into a new reality. The ones who thrive now have something in common: they work like product managers.
Not in the sense of adding another fancy title to their LinkedIn, but in how they approach problems, set priorities, and measure success. And the shift is less about technology itself and more about owning the business outcome.
IT used to be a support function. Keep the systems secure, keep them running, and keep costs under control — that was the job description.
But in 2025, technology is so tightly woven into the product or service itself that the CIO’s work directly shapes the customer experience. And with that comes new expectations:
The main driver? Technology isn’t just part of the business anymore. In many industries, it is the business.
This is not about replacing technical leadership with marketing buzzwords. It’s about adding a layer of customer focus and strategic decision-making to your technical expertise.
A project delivered on time and on budget is good — but if it does not move the needle for the business, it’s just… done.
Instead, tie projects to metrics like faster customer onboarding, higher retention, or shorter sales cycles.
Example:
Don’t just say “ERP upgrade completed.” Say “order processing time dropped 30% after ERP upgrade.” That’s what stakeholders remember.
Great product managers are always looking outward — at competitors, trends, and feedback. CIOs should do the same.
That means talking to other departments before finalizing a tech roadmap, and using real market data to prioritize. A project that aligns with your company’s sales strategy will always have more traction than one that “just makes sense technically.”
You don’t need to turn every infrastructure upgrade into a multi-year epic. Break big initiatives into smaller releases and test them with a single department or region first.
Example:
Rolling out a new data lakehouse? Start with one team that can benefit immediately — say, marketing analytics. Gather feedback, make adjustments, then scale.
Product managers obsess over usability. CIOs should, too — even when their “customers” are employees.
A smoother internal experience almost always leads to higher adoption rates — and fewer late-night support calls.
Good PMs kill features that don’t serve the vision. CIOs should retire systems that eat resources without delivering value.
It’s not just about cost savings — old, underused systems can slow innovation and increase risk.
This shift is not always comfortable. IT teams may feel like they’re being asked to “do someone else’s job.” The business side may resist when tech leaders start talking about market strategy.
The best way through is transparency:
Once people see that this is not about “more work” but about “better outcomes,” resistance starts to fade.
We’ve worked with CIOs in Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East who’ve made this shift. Our role is to bridge the gap between IT capabilities and business goals — whether that’s through agile squads, AI deployment, or modernizing systems without slowing the business down.
When the CIO starts thinking like a product owner, the results are hard to miss:
Expose them to business metrics, customer interviews, and market trends.
Sometimes — but collaboration beats siloed work every time.
Pick a small, visible project. Prove the value fast. Then scale.
The CIO role is not disappearing — it’s just growing up. And those who master the product mindset will be the ones shaping their company’s future, not just maintaining its systems.
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