In today’s uncertain economic environment, enterprise CIOs and CTOs are under tremendous pressure to do more with less. Budgets are tightening. R&D spend is under scrutiny. Hiring freezes mean teams must be stretched further. Add in the disruption and promise of AI, and technical leaders are operating in an environment that demands boldness, innovation, and speed.
Despite today’s headwinds, the mission of technical leaders remains unchanged. They still must scale transformative initiatives, deliver measurable business value, and keep their organizations nimble and resilient. The key lies in striking the right balance between innovation and efficiency, making smarter “build vs buy” decisions, and organizing for AI-driven productivity without sacrificing long-term progress.
Know What Matters and What Doesn’t
In economic downturns, technical debt can quietly become your biggest liability. CEOs don’t want to hear about tech debt. They want outcomes. That’s why ruthless prioritization and good hygiene are critical. Focus on what matters most and say no to anything that doesn’t directly tie to business value.
That doesn’t translate to trading quality for quantity. Reserve that mindset only for early-stage proofs of concept. Focus on fewer, more impactful projects that align with strategic priorities. Every new tool or process should pass the litmus test of solving a real business problem while integrating logically, scaling sustainably, and delivering value in a measurable way. Identify and prioritize near-term wins that drive clear business value, like those that improve reliability, reduce cost, and unlock growth.
The key is treating your roadmap like an investment portfolio. Resilience is created by a diversified blend of essential maintenance, incremental improvements, and long-term innovation.
Balance the Now and the Next
Rather than shelving innovation during lean times, technical leaders should rebalance. Identify and prioritize near-term wins that drive clear business value, but don’t abandon foundational investments like modernization and infrastructure upgrades. If the business case still holds, find a sustainable way to keep making progress, even if it’s at a slower pace.
Technical leaders should also improve productivity by finding what makes the company more efficient and the product improvements more agile. This means doing the right work in the right way and with the right people. In today’s world, that requires a framework to experiment with AI and apply what you learn quickly, and a team that’s trained and empowered to use AI tools, such as code generation, AIOps, observability and more.
Your customers won’t wait for you. If you go dark while a competitor finds ways to deliver more value, you risk losing market share and credibility.
Double Down on Developer Efficiency and Smart Partnering
Be strategic about what your team builds. When the lift is light, the team can learn, or if the capability is a core differentiator, building is advantageous. Otherwise, keep a bias towards buying, especially when speed matters. Buying not only can increase time-to-value but also give you leverage by freeing up teams to focus on what only your organization can uniquely do. Moreover, buying also helps with learning cheaply for an eventual build as you learn more about the problem complexity and your needs.
Make thoughtful choices about where to invest your team’s energy and where external partners can accelerate your goals. Build only when it gives you a lasting competitive edge. Otherwise, buy and customize to get value faster.
Technical leaders should also avoid long-term vendor lock-in during times of budgetary scrutiny and rapid technological change. Technology changes every few months. Choose partners that give you short-term wins and long-term options. The best ones will evolve with you and help you pilot new approaches quickly without big commitments. Look for composability, flexibility, and transparency.
Define the Future, and Build an Organization That Gets You There
The structure of your organizational design should follow your company’s strategy. Start with a clear vision of your future-state organization, then work backwards. If AI will change how your product works or how value is delivered, your squad structures should reflect that. Be prepared to reshape teams, roles and processes ahead of the change you are seeking
It’s also important to show up through strong leadership. Create clarity and protect focus. Make sure your team knows their work is essential and show them the impact they’re making. Celebrating wins is equally important as rapid experimentation and agility.
My team recently led a full-scale platform modernization while maintaining our legacy system. This wasn’t just a migration; it was a balancing act of speed, continuity and quality that required what I consider a heroic effort. Engineers were stretched thin across systems, racing to deliver business outcomes while building for the future.
This experience proved it’s all about the people. You need high-caliber IT and engineering leaders who can drive forward under pressure and make the hard calls. The right talent makes efficiency and innovation possible simultaneously.
The CIO or CTO who wins in times of economic uncertainty is the one who focuses the most on value, velocity, and vision. Technical leaders should emerge with a sharper team, a more resilient platform, and a stronger sense of purpose. Prioritize well, invest wisely, and keep building.