Only 48% of digital business initiatives meet goals: Gartner survey
CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES — A recent Gartner survey reveals a concerning gap in digital transformation efforts, with only 48% of digital initiatives achieving or exceeding their intended business outcomes.
This finding comes from Gartner’s 2025 CIO & Technology Executive Survey, highlighting the challenges organizations face in their digital journey.
Leading CIOs and CxOs have higher success rate
While most organizations struggle, an elite group of chief information officers (CIOs) and chief experience officers (CXOs) achieves a remarkable 71% success rate in their digital initiatives.
Dubbed by Gartner as the “Digital Vanguard,” these leading CIOs and CXOs differentiate themselves through a co-ownership model, meeting four times more frequently with business counterparts and allocating 35% of non-IT staff to digital projects, compared to the industry average of 21%.
Investment priorities shift for 2025
The survey indicates that over 80% of CIOs plan to increase spending on cybersecurity, generative AI, business intelligence and data analytics, and integration technologies.
“Digital vanguard CIOs do not invest in these technologies to be used by their IT staff only. They also make them easy to use for potential or actual technologists outside of IT,” said Raf Gelders, VP, Research at Gartner.
Simultaneously, 43% intend to reduce investments in legacy infrastructure and data centers.
“CIOs’ success now depends on their CxOs’ success,” said Jaime Capella, Distinguished VP, Research at Gartner. “To succeed at the next phase of digital initiatives, CIOs need their CxOs to work together and co-lead with them. So their fortunes are intertwined: one cannot succeed without the other.”
Looking ahead to 2025, the success of digital initiatives will depend heavily on CIOs’ ability to foster collaboration across departments and strategically invest in future-ready technologies. However, with only 16% of CIOs planning to build digital skills enterprise-wide, organizations may face significant challenges in maximizing the impact of their digital investments.
Gartner is a $5.5 billion technology research and consulting firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. It employs over 25,200 people across 90 countries.
