Ganesh Ariyur is a CIO & CDIO advising CEOs, boards & PE firms on enterprise risk, AI, and technology-led value creation. Transform Smarter.
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In every private equity-backed business where I managed technology, IT was always the last item on the value-creation agenda. But after a cyber incident or failed integration, IT suddenly became the only thing anyone wanted to talk about. Most CIOs miss this shift from being overlooked to being the main focus.
Technology is no longer just about infrastructure, and treating it that way is what causes this sudden change. It is now one of the biggest sources of risk for a business, yet most CIOs have not updated their approach to reflect this. Technology is seen as infrastructure until it becomes a risk that affects the bottom line.
I have worked at four private equity-owned companies with different sponsors, and the same issues kept appearing. Cyber incidents would halt operations for days. AI projects introduced new regulatory risks. Third-party failures disrupted supply chains that were not fully understood. M&A integrations uncovered hidden technology debt that quietly reduced deal value.
By the time these problems reached leadership, they were no longer just IT issues. They were already being discussed on earnings calls, in audit reports and during sponsor reviews, while most CIOs still acted like infrastructure managers and left risk discussions to the CFO and general counsel.
Several changes happened at the same time. AI moved from testing to real use, raising important questions about data, how models behave and regulatory risks that boards now want clear answers to. Cyber threats became serious events that can shut down a hospital or factory for weeks. Digital supply chains also created new dependencies on outside vendors, so if one key vendor fails, the whole business can be affected.
Boards and sponsors have noticed this change faster than most CIOs. Now, they expect CIOs to measure technology risk just like CFOs measure financial risk. They want to know how likely a risk is, how much it could cost and what is being done about it, all explained in clear terms and dollar amounts.
CIOs who take charge of the value-creation discussion, instead of being given the last few minutes of a meeting, usually do a few things differently from their peers.
First, they speak in business terms. Saying "we have 47 critical vulnerabilities" does not help the group make decisions. But saying "if these are exploited, here's how much money the business could lose" gives people something to act on. They also ensure clear ownership of AI and third-party risks, rather than letting these issues fall through the cracks.
When they ask for funding, they present it as a capital allocation choice, not just a budget request. A CIO who asks for $4 million for security is less convincing than one who explains that spending $4 million will remove $20 million of risk. The numbers are the same, but the message is different.
The first step is to create a real risk plan, not just a checklist for auditors. This means having a list of technology risks that matter to the business, matched to the risk categories the company already tracks. Each risk should have a clear owner and be reviewed every quarter with business leaders, not just IT. Risks kept within IT are often seen as only IT problems, but risks shared across the business get the attention they need.
The second step is to provide numbers that decision-makers can use. Technical details should be translated into dollar amounts, showing how likely a risk is, how large it could become and whether it is improving or worsening. If a CIO cannot put a number on a risk, the sponsor cannot act on it and the discussion usually goes back to the CFO.
The third step is to build strong relationships with the CFO, general counsel and chief risk officer before any crisis happens. Risk discussions take place in audit committees and sponsor reviews, not just IT meetings, so a CIO who is not prepared is already behind. It is also important to align technology risk reports with the company’s existing enterprise risk framework rather than creating a separate one that no one else uses.
CIOs who lead on enterprise risk see technology as a true business asset that also brings real business risk. Those who struggle keep seeing risk as just a technical issue and always look for a technical solution. Sponsors and boards do not want another dashboard, and they make that clear. They want a CIO who can answer tough questions in their language, not someone who expects them to learn technical terms.
The real problem is not that technology creates enterprise risk. The problem is that most companies have not set up the right governance to manage it as an enterprise risk. Once good governance is in place, IT is no longer the last thing on the agenda. Instead, it becomes one of the main reasons the agenda works.
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