State CIOs balance innovation and risk as IT modernization accelerates

State CIOs are navigating a complex set of priorities as they work to modernize IT environments and deliver secure, efficient services to constituents. At the top of the agenda: strengthening cybersecurity resilience, managing the risks and opportunities of artificial intelligence and leveraging cloud technologies for interoperability and cost savings.

Building Resilience Beyond IT

For Aleta Jeffress, Vice President, CTO/COO at NTT DATA, resilience is the foundation for all other priorities.

“One of the most important things for state CIOs to really consider is resilience around their technology, and that can take on a number of different things,” says Jeffress in a new video panel produced by Scoop News Group for NTT DATA. “When you think about resilience and technology, it’s not only about the technology department. It really means something that you have to address across the enterprise: in your people, in your vendors and in your processes.”

Jeffress also emphasized that resilience is an ongoing discipline. “How are we going to improve upon our current strategy? How are we going to build that out across our enterprise, and then how are we going to continue to execute on it?” she says. Jeffress added that consistent investment in cybersecurity funding, workforce upskilling and vendor partnerships are critical to making resilience sustainable.

Responsible AI Adoption

While resilience provides the foundation, the rapid rise of AI presents both opportunities and risks. Wendy Collins, Vice President and AI Leader at NTT DATA, urged CIOs to balance innovation and governance.

“AI unlocks so many new opportunities that CIOs have never really been able to tap into, but that new opportunity set also comes with some risk,” says Collins. “The temptation is to lock down AI and really restrict its use, but when you do that, you also limit the potential innovation.”

Instead, she recommended creating strong governance frameworks and building a culture of safe experimentation. AI literacy, she added, is critical. “Even if you don’t have proliferated AI tools, your staff and your employees and your citizens are using them,” she says. “Your next group of employees is going to be AI-native employees, and they’re going to expect a culture of the workplace that knows how to leverage AI for its best advantage.”

Cloud as an Enabler

Budget constraints and staffing shortages further complicate CIOs’ work. For Ayman Husain, Vice President of North American Sales and GTM for Cloud, Network, and Digital Collaboration Services at NTT DATA, cloud technologies can scale services while addressing those resource limitations.

“What I advocate with AI is you have to use it to augment humanity,” says Husain. “It’s not about replacing jobs; it’s doing more with less.” Automation, supported by cloud infrastructure, can help agencies meet growing citizen demands even with limited budgets and staff.

Husain also highlighted the role of the cloud in enabling interoperability across agencies. “When you think of cross-agency conversations within a state government, you have data, which is the currency of almost everything that citizens would need,” he explains. “Interoperability is extremely important, and using cloud, it becomes a lot easier and simpler… You don’t have to reinvent something your peer group has already done.”

The Road Ahead

As 2025 progresses, state CIOs will need to make tough investment decisions in cybersecurity, AI, and cloud. These three experts agree that resilience, governance and interoperability must remain the guiding principles.

“Don’t be afraid to embrace AI use cases,” says Jeffress. Collins echoed the importance of collaboration: “There’s no need for you to figure this out all on your own.” Husain concluded with a reminder to experiment and learn continuously: “It’s okay to take some leeway of success and fail, but do it in a way that gives you the benefit of what you’re trying to do.”

For CIOs, this means staying agile, building strong partnerships and responsibly leveraging new tools to deliver better outcomes for constituents.

Learn more about how NTT DATA helps states enhance citizen services and advance agency missions.

This video panel discussion was produced by Scoop News Group for StateScoop and underwritten by NTT DATA.