By 2030, the CIO will be the power center of the c-suite.
In less than a decade, CIOs at Fortune 100 companies are on track to control more than 50% of investments - a massive shift from just 24% in 2018. That’s not a typo. CIOs are no longer just IT stewards. They’re investment strategists. And increasingly, the architects of growth.
And they’re making one big bet:
AI. Not “AI in HR” or “AI for insights.” Full-scale, end-to-end AI that transforms how companies operate—from supply chain to finance, from call centers to compliance.
1. Derived total revenue figures of Fortune 500 from fortune.com. 64% of Fortune 500 revenue comes from Fortune 100
2. Net profit calculated from financial times
3. Calculated based on change in interest rates
4. Based on Deloitte CIO surveys
The AI Adoption Curve Is Looking Very 1990
History is repeating itself.
SAP revenues rose to $1B between 1980 and 1990, and it increased from $1B to $8B in the next 10 years.
In the late ’90s, ERP systems like SAP and Oracle became the standard. Adoption exploded. Because the software was amazing? it wasn’t. But because companies realized that not adopting it meant falling behind.
Source: SAP annual reports
AI is going to follow the same trend or an even more drastic one.
It’s about momentum. Companies are rolling out AI across finance, operations, customer service, and procurement—even if the ROI takes time to crystallize.
AI will be a key competitive advantage for enterprises.
AI Is Eating the Strategic Budget
Where’s most of that new budget going? It’s going straight into AI.
The same way ERP dominated enterprise spend in the 1990s, AI is now the centerpiece of every transformation roadmap.
But the playbook is different.
ERP was about standardization.AI is about acceleration.
ERP gave companies a system of record.AI gives them a system of action.
Source: CIO.com
This Tech Trend is a Margin Strategy.
Why is this happening?
Because AI is already boosting margins.
Average operating profit at Fortune 100s is up from ~13% in 2016 to ~17% in 2025. Net profit margins? Up from 9.8% to 13% in the same period. That’s not just market tailwinds, that’s structural efficiency.
AI helps companies:
- Cut exception ratesReduce process cycle timesAutomate reworkImprove complianceAccelerate decision-making
In a world where labor costs are up and supply chains are brittle, that’s how companies will survive and scale.
Source: CIO.com
What This Means for Everyone Else
Start paying attention to the CIO.
Their decisions will shape your tools, your workflows, your team structures—and possibly your job.
If you’re in sales or strategy: learn to speak the language of automation, margin, and AI ROI. It’s the only way your ideas get funded.
If you’re a founder or builder: understand that the buyer isn’t just “the tech team” anymore. It’s the person with a transformation mandate and a budget to match.
Bottom Line
AI is the toolbox.
And by 2030, CIOs won’t just influence business strategy—they’ll be the strategy.
We’re already seeing the silhouette take shape. The budget shift is real. The margin lift is happening. The playbook is being rewritten.
CIOs are taking over.
