More than four out of ten (41%) Chief Information Officers (CIOs) report cybersecurity as their top concern, yet these same leaders are simultaneously increasing security budgets (77%), expanding cloud infrastructure (68%), and accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities (67%). According to the new Future Forward: CIO 2025 Outlook report released by Experis, a global leader in IT workforce solutions and part of the ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) family of brands, modern technology leaders are walking a tightrope between protecting their organizations and driving innovation in an era of relentless cyber threats and rapid digital transformation.
Amanda Jack, CTO at Manpower Group, joins Business Security Weekly to share the finding, including:
- 77% of organizations plan to increase cybersecurity budgets in 2025, followed by cloud infrastructure (68%) and AI (67%)
- 76% of IT employers worldwide report difficulty finding skilled tech talent
- 52% of tech leaders are embedding AI skills into existing roles rather than creating new positions
- Relationship with the Chief Operating Officer (COO) is identified as the most important C-suite partnership outside IT
- 56% of IT leaders say senior leadership lacks sufficient knowledge about the CIO role and its responsibilities
Segment Resources: https://www.experis.com/en/cio-outlook
In the leadership and communications segment, Is Your Board Too Collegial?, Cybersecurity, AI, and Economic Uncertainty: How Internal Audit Teams Are Managing 2025's Top Risks, Burnout in the corporate middle: when leadership becomes an issue, and more!
Amanda has more than 20 years of transformation experience within multiple areas of focus, including workforce solutions, retail, travel & leisure, global data standards, and supply chain optimization.
Amanda began her career at Target. While there she led enterprise-wide improvements through strategy, technology, data & analytics, and process reinvention. Her focus was on large scale change initiatives with master data and business intelligence systems.
In 2015, Amanda took on a not-for-profit industry role at GS1 US, where she helped companies assess and improve their data management to deliver a seamless customer experience and improve information standards.
Amanda joined SmarteCarte, Inc. in late 2016 to create and lead a corporate transformation. As Chief Technology Officer, she was responsible for all customer-facing products and tools, internal corporate systems, cyber security, business intelligence, and supply chain. While there, Amanda implemented SCI’s first ever global HRIS, led the integration of two growth acquisitions, and transformed their vending operating system for connected data monitoring of equipment errors, inventory, and cash collections.
In 2021, Amanda joined ManpowerGroup, where she is currently their Chief Technology Officer. She leads the technology function globally across four regions and all shared infrastructure and product applications. As CTO, she leads transformation with business strategy at the forefront, ensuring ManpowerGroup connects human potential to the power of business.
Amanda lives in Minneapolis, MN with her husband and two teenagers. She has been a long-time developer of talent, actively maturing teams, as well as investing in others’ individual success as a mentor. And she is an ongoing advocate in the community for women in technology.
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Matt Alderman
- Is Your Board Too Collegial?
Boards often mistake collegiality for alignment, avoiding tough conversations and sidelining dissent. The result is delayed decisions, superficial consensus, unequal participation, and fragmented governance. This weakens their business strategy and diminishes shareholder value. Solutions include tackling sensitive issues early, formalizing recurring agenda items, assigning “chief skeptic” roles, structuring debates to surface dissent, and tracking follow-through. Chairs must actively solicit diverse perspectives and normalize raising concerns in the room. With practice, boards can turn harmony into sharper decisions and stronger governance.
- Cybersecurity Without a CISO: Is It Possible for SMEs?
When we think about cybersecurity, we often imagine a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) leading a team of experts, monitoring threats 24/7. But let’s be honest: most small and mid-sized businesses don’t have a CISO — and probably never will.
- Cybersecurity, AI, and Economic Uncertainty: How Internal Audit Teams Are Managing 2025’s Top Risks
Cybersecurity, AI, and economic uncertainty are dominating the priorities of internal audit leaders in 2025, according to Jefferson Wells, a leading professional services firm specializing in Finance & Accounting, Internal Audit, Risk & Compliance, and Tax, and part of the ManpowerGroup family of brands.
- The importance of building security into modernization from day one
Technology modernization for it's own sake doesn't work; business owners need to be involved from day one, and made aware of the security considerations.
- When the Breach Isn’t Yours but the Headline Is: Managing Association Risk
Cybersecurity breaches rarely occur in isolation. When an attack hits one organization, the ripple effects can quickly spread across industries, partners, and professional associations. In many cases, the company at the center of the breach is not the only one facing scrutiny. Others connected by name, sector, or even loose affiliation may suddenly find themselves fielding tough questions, monitoring headlines, and scrambling to reassure stakeholders. This phenomenon is known as association risk, and for communications leaders, it represents a growing challenge.
- Burnout in the corporate middle: when leadership becomes an issue
In a workplace setting, productivity killers are not always obvious, and when it comes to “behind the scenes” problems, human resources, relationships, and internal corporate culture are where some of the ugliest struggles take place. Unseen forces, toxic, manipulative leadership, and empty corporate cultures are the silent epidemic of business failure and mid-level managers are at the frontline of the struggle. In a corporate setting there are different types of hierarchical groups, with the top layer, middle tier, and the bottom line, to which the rank and file belong.
