Gartner anticipates that by 2029, over 50% of enterprises will adopt digital sovereign strategies, up from under 10%. The shift to sovereign clouds is driven by security concerns, as 80% of organizations reported breaches, mostly in public clouds. Companies are increasingly privatizing cloud resources to enhance control and compliance.
The role of enterprise storage administrators has transformed significantly over recent years. Embracing AI, automation, and cyber resilience, they now manage efficient infrastructures and data protection autonomously. This evolution enables them to focus on strategic tasks, contributing to cost-effective, sustainable, and responsive storage solutions crucial for modern enterprises.
OpenText World 2025 focused on AI’s potential in enterprises, highlighting trust and security’s importance. Despite security being underrepresented, OpenText introduced innovations like SAST Aviator and an AI Data Platform. The company aims for intelligent automation, but success depends on AI model maturity and data quality, confronting integration challenges and legacy systems.
The Forrester Wave™ analysis highlights AI’s crucial role in reshaping Enterprise Service Management (ESM) platforms. AI has transitioned from an enhancement to a core capability, enabling smarter and proactive service. Key factors for IT leaders include readiness for AI, quality knowledge sources, and governance to maximize business value and ensure competitive advantage.
At Microsoft Ignite 2025, Microsoft presented its vision for an AI-driven “frontier” organization, showcasing tools like Microsoft Fabric and Copilot Studio for enhancing workflows. Key security features and governance measures were introduced, simplifying AI agent management. However, clarity on when to use various tools remains an issue for customers navigating these options.
Modupe Taylor-Pearce, founder of BCA Leadership, was inducted into Thinkers50 Coaching Legends in 2025 for enhancing leadership across Africa through executive coaching. His pan-African organization addresses coaching accessibility issues for youth. He identifies key trends impacting coaching by 2026: demographics, nationalism, and diaspora, highlighting the growing demand for skilled coaching support.
The latest edition of The Download highlights Marcin Jakubowski and his Global Village Construction Set, a toolkit of 50 machines aimed at empowering self-sufficiency. Additionally, it explores the impact of conspiracy theories on personal lives, updates on technology stories, and advances in AI coding capabilities, shaping the future landscape of development.
Service-level management (SLM) is evolving from traditional performance metrics to a focus on user experience, business impact, and proactive assurance. Experience-level agreements (XLAs) prioritize outcomes that matter to users. Organizations must realign SLM with business goals and leverage advanced technologies to enhance service quality and ensure continuous improvement for competitive advantage.
The emergence of the “pod shop” model in hedge funds, pioneered by Millennium Partners, fosters semi-autonomous teams of specialists focused on independent strategies while sharing infrastructure. This approach, now adopted across the finance industry, enhances scalability but raises concerns over market fragility and systemic risks due to consolidation among financial players.
The AI in Finance Leaders Forum highlighted the importance of personal AI use to enhance workplace effectiveness. Gary Arora emphasized that familiarity with AI helps workers understand its capabilities, ultimately improving ROI. Organizations should focus on quantifying pain points for better AI deployment while acknowledging that not every AI effort guarantees ROI.
Cognite showcases successful AI deployments at its Impact event, highlighting projects with NOVA Chemicals, TotalEnergies, Aker BP, and Cosmo Energy. The company’s Cognite Data Fusion (CDF) facilitates data management and AI integration, emphasizing the importance of foundational data practices in industrial settings while enabling predictive maintenance and streamlined operations for its clients.
Forrester’s 2025 Enterprise Architecture Award recognized Takeda Pharmaceuticals for its Business Architecture Framework, which enhances operational efficiency and patient outcomes through generative AI integration. Finalists Manulife and Verizon showcased excellence in architecture-led innovation and governance. The award highlights enterprise architecture’s role as a strategic enabler of transformation across industries.
The rise of citizen development, enabled by tools like Kiro, allows business users to create applications using plain language, streamlining processes and reducing dependency on IT. This shift, driven by a projected IT skills crisis, empowers professionals to leverage their expertise for rapid application development and automation, enhancing efficiency significantly.
The speed of typing code is not the main bottleneck in software development; it’s the entire interconnected system. AI coding assistants can enhance development efficiency, but they also shift bottlenecks elsewhere. To measure true impact, organizations should adopt metrics that reflect overall productivity rather than just individual coding speed, focusing on the entire software delivery process.
