Cyber security and regulatory compliance have emerged as the foremost priorities for South African Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in 2025, according to the latest ITWeb Brainstorm CIO Survey. Drawing insights from 115 CIOs across multiple industries, the study provides a snapshot of the country’s evolving technology landscape, one marked by growing digital maturity, rising cyber risks, and accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).
A Snapshot of the CIO Landscape
The annual survey, conducted from September to October 2025, reveals how South African organisations are balancing innovation with risk management. Respondents were asked to classify their organisations’ technology adoption profiles:
- 37.4% identified as leaders,
- 47% as followers, and
- 15.7% as late adopters.
This breakdown highlights a relatively even distribution between progressive and more conservative organisations, underscoring the diversity of digital maturity across South Africa’s business environment.
Cyber Security and Compliance Dominate Priorities
When asked about their top priorities, an overwhelming 72% of CIOs placed cyber security and compliance at the top of their agendas, a clear sign of rising concern around regulatory obligations, data privacy, and the growing sophistication of cyber threats.
The next major focus area is AI and automation, cited by 60% of respondents. The dual emphasis on cyber resilience and intelligent automation illustrates how CIOs are simultaneously protecting their organisations and seeking operational efficiencies through new technologies.
Leaders versus Followers: Diverging Strategic Focus
The survey reveals a marked difference in strategic priorities between digital leaders and late adopters:
- For leaders, AI ranks as the top priority, followed by cyber security and cloud technologies.
- Followers and late adopters, however, prioritise cyber security first, then AI, and show stronger interest in modernising legacy systems rather than cloud adoption.
This suggests that while the most digitally advanced organisations are now pivoting towards intelligent automation, others remain focused on fortifying infrastructure and managing foundational risks before expanding into the cloud.
Reporting Structures
The 2025 results reveal a shift in CIO reporting lines compared to previous years.
- 46% of CIOs now report directly to the CEO, down from 55% last year.
- 27% report to a Group CIO, up from 16.5% previously.
ITWeb attributes this change to the inclusion of more CIOs from larger, multi-layered enterprises, where IT is divided across multiple business units.
Participation in the executive committee (exco) also declined slightly:
- 60% of CIOs now hold a seat on the exco (down from 63.6% last year).
- However, 18% report having direct access to the exco when needed, an increase from 11% previously.
This indicates that while fewer CIOs have permanent seats at the top table, flexible engagement and influence are growing for those in advisory or divisional roles.
Measuring Digital Transformation
Respondents rated their organisations’ digital transformation maturity on a scale from excellent to poor, aligned to the leader / follower / late-adopter categories.
- Leaders scored highest, most often in the excellent or good range.
- Followers tended to cluster around good to average.
- Late adopters fell largely into average or work-to-do categories.
This pattern mirrors the overall maturity split across industries and confirms that leaders are pulling ahead through faster innovation cycles and cloud adoption.
IT Budgets: Slow Growth but Positive Momentum
Budget trends provide further insight into organisational priorities:
- 49% of leaders report that their IT budgets increased above the Consumer Price Index (CPI) compared with the previous year.
- Overall, 75% of leaders saw a year-on-year increase in IT spending.
- Across all respondents, 59% reported budgets rising in line with or above CPI (slightly down from 62% in 2024).
- Looking ahead, 63% expect budgets to grow next year, while 22% of late adopters anticipate a decline.
These figures suggest cautious optimism, with most organisations maintaining or increasing technology investment despite economic pressures.
AI Surges to the Top of Investment Priorities
For the first time, AI has overtaken both cyber security and cloud computing as the top investment area.
- 47% of respondents list AI as a priority for 2025, up from 11% last year and 8% in 2023.
- Cyber security (46%) and cloud (45%) remain close behind.
- Application modernisation (36%) and data analytics (34%) round out the top five.
In contrast, investment in core business applications and infrastructure has declined, indicating a pivot towards data-driven, intelligent, and scalable systems.
Generative AI Adoption Accelerates
Adoption of Generative AI (GenAI) continues to climb sharply:
- 45% of organisations have already integrated GenAI into their operations, up from 38% in 2024 and 16% in 2023.
- 48% are still evaluating its use.
- Only 6% have no plans to adopt it, down from 24% last year.
By adoption category:
- Leaders make up 25% of all GenAI users.
- Among followers, 28% are still evaluating the technology.
- Only 2% of followers and 4% of late adopters have ruled it out completely.
Top Use Cases for GenAI
Respondents could select multiple applications of GenAI. The leading use cases are:
- Data analysis – 59%
- Enhancing employee productivity – 58%
- Coding tasks – 38%
- Knowledge management – 37%
- Content generation – 34%
Interestingly, leaders and followers focus most on data analysis and productivity gains, while late adopters lean toward knowledge management.
Early Stages of Agentic AI
While generative AI has gained traction, agentic AI systems capable of autonomous task execution remains in its infancy:
- Only 16% of respondents have integrated agentic AI.
- 71% are evaluating potential use cases.
- Adoption is highest among leaders (10%).
The main barriers to adoption include:
- Lack of a clear business case (28%),
- Ethical and compliance risks (20%),
- Change management and workforce acceptance (15%),
- Integration issues (10%), and
- Security vulnerabilities (9%).
These challenges underline the cautious, experimental approach organisations are taking as they move from theoretical AI use to practical business implementation.
The Cyber Security Imperative Strengthens
The study reinforces the rising centrality of cyber resilience in digital strategy. As South African organisations digitise more rapidly, they face expanding threat surfaces and greater regulatory scrutiny.
Hinchcliffe noted that the number of organisations with a dedicated Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) continues to rise:
- 37% had a CISO in 2023,
- 38% in 2024, and
- 44% in 2025.
This steady growth demonstrates that businesses are moving from ad hoc security management to institutionalised governance and accountability structures.
Balancing Innovation and Risk
According to ITWeb’s analysis, the 2025 results reflect a maturing technology environment where CIOs are embedding AI and automation into operations while reinforcing compliance and security foundations.
After a couple of years of vendor and media hype, AI has this year leaped in importance as a strong strategic priority. It also tops the list of investment priorities ahead of cyber and cloud. This marks a pivotal shift: South African organisations are no longer merely exploring digital transformation, they are operationalising it through smarter, more secure, and increasingly intelligent systems