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Exponential technologies such as generative AI are changing organizations and industries at a rapid pace and bringing unprecedented opportunities and risks for IT. In response, IT must alter its linear pace of change – immediately and strategically – to remain the leading technology provider for its organization.

Traditional IT service delivery models aren’t supporting the fast-growing needs of organizations and departments to modernize and stay competitive.
IT will get left out of critical processes and decision-making if it can’t accelerate to meet demand.
Siloed and hierarchical operating models, and transactional, arms-length relationships with departments and vendors will keep IT from becoming the partner that organizations need.
Without stepping up as the tech innovation partner that aligns with organizational results, IT will continue to get left out of critical conversations and fall further behind.

IT needs to transform fundamentally to support exponential change

A bold new vision and moves are necessary for IT to close the gap between the exponential path of technological advancement and its traditional linear path.

IT is no longer in the business of producing apps or maintaining a service. It should be enabling capabilities instead.
Exponential IT means shattering the organization chart for a different operating model. Previously separate functions should be integrated, with IT co-owning outcomes with the broader organization.
Speed is the key to success in this new world. IT will have to use exponential technologies to change legacy governance, processes, technologies, and mindsets.

Prepare IT for the era of exponential technologies with our future-defining framework

To evolve into the Exponential IT department your organization needs, you’ll need to build a systematic roadmap. Our Exponential IT framework and its supporting components will help you:

Assess your organization’s readiness for exponential technologies and IT’s readiness for Exponential IT.
Determine what drives organizational value and derive your Exponential IT programs and plan from expert insights and a systematic framework.
Identify and prioritize the right initiatives and develop an Exponential IT roadmap for the next 12 months.
Develop a plan to operationalize and communicate your roadmap and refresh it annually.

Develop an Exponential IT Roadmap Research & Tools

1. Develop an Exponential IT Roadmap Deck – A step-by-step guide to building a roadmap of Exponential IT initiatives.

IT must adopt an Exponential IT mindset and define its own transformation journey to evolve into organization leaders in a rapidly changing technology landscape.

This blueprint will help IT leaders build a roadmap of Exponential IT initiatives using Info-Tech’s actionable framework.

2. Exponential IT Executive Communication Template – A template to present the Exponential IT roadmap to stakeholders.

This presentation template will help the IT leader demonstrate to stakeholders the need for Exponential IT in response to the rapidly changing technological landscape, then present the roadmap to achieve an Exponential IT organization.

3. Exponential IT Roadmap Workbook – A structured tool to help you prioritize Exponential IT initiatives and build a roadmap to ensure success.

Use this workbook to prioritize your value outcomes for Exponential IT; determine your program streams, work packages, and actions; identify the target state for each; and then build a roadmap of corresponding initiatives.

4. Exponential IT Communication Plan Template – A template to help you develop your communication plan for the Exponential IT roadmap.

For the Build an Exponential IT Roadmap blueprint, it is suggested that you complete this communication plan template to develop a plan to manage your key stakeholders. This communication plan template provides a structure for managing ongoing communications between the IT team and relevant stakeholders.

Develop an Exponential IT Roadmap

Evolve IT to harness unprecedented opportunities in the era of exponential technologies.

Introduction: What is Exponential IT?

The technology curve has recently bent exponentially.
Generative AI has been the catalyst for this sudden shift, but there are more and more new technologies emerging (e.g. quantum computing, 5G), putting significant pressure on all organizations.
All IT leaders and organizations are at risk of falling behind if they do not adopt new technologies fast enough.
Exponential IT is a framework defined by Info-Tech Research Group to instruct IT leaders across all IT domains on how to transform their organization and elevate their value creation capabilities, to close the gap between the exponential progression of technological change and the linear progression of IT's ability to successfully manage that change.
This blueprint provides guidance on developing an Exponential IT roadmap tailored to the value outcomes that you wish to pursue in the era of disruptive emerging technologies.

Analyst perspective

Evolve into an IT organization capable of exploiting opportunities and mitigating risks introduced by emerging technologies.

On November 30, 2022, the paradigm of human's monopoly on cognition and creativity was challenged as OpenAI's ChatGPT heralded a democratization of large language models (LLMs) and generative AI, extending their reach beyond the niche of data specialists and into the broader public domain.

This leap in general accessibility and capability saw LLMs outperforming humans in numerous competitive linguistic assessments, including the Bar Exam and SAT, to name a few. Although generative AI has yet to reach the zenith of artificial general intelligence (AGI), its trajectory and potential have been exponential.

On one hand, these emerging technologies – generative AI along with quantum computing, IoT or edge, etc. - expose an entity to existential risks if it does not keep up with these changes; on the other, they offer a springboard for rapid, exponential growth, enabling enterprises to fast-track through the traditional stages of their digital evolution by leveraging out-of-the-box autonomization.

Exponential IT is a framework defined by Info-Tech Research Group to instruct IT leaders across all IT domains on how to how to transform their organization and elevate their value creation capabilities, to close the gap between the exponential progression of technological change and the linear progression of IT's ability to successfully manage that change.

This blueprint provides guidance on developing an Exponential IT roadmap tailored to the value outcomes that you wish to pursue in the era of disruptive emerging technologies.

Manish Jain
Principal Research Director
Info-Tech Research Group

Anubhav Sharma
Research Director
Info-Tech Research Group

Natalie Sansone
Research Director
Info-Tech Research Group

Fred Chagnon
Principal Research Director
Info-Tech Research Group

Your Exponential IT Journey

To keep pace with the exponential technology curve, adopt an Exponential IT mindset and practices. Assess your organization’s readiness and embark on a transformation journey. This blueprint will help you build your roadmap to get there.

Adopt an Exponential IT Mindset
Info-Tech resources: Exponential IT Research Center , Research Center Overview, and Keynote
Explore the Art of the Possible
Info-Tech resources: Exponential IT research blueprints for nine IT domains
Gauge Your Organizational Readiness (repeat annually)
Info-Tech resource: Exponential IT Readiness Diagnostic
(coming soon)
Build an Exponential IT Roadmap (repeat annually) (the focus of this blueprint)
Info-Tech resource: Develop an Exponential IT Roadmap blueprint
Embark on Your Exponential IT Journey
Info-Tech resources: Ongoing and tactical domain-level research and insights

To access all Exponential IT research, visit the Exponential IT Research Center

Executive summary

Your Challenge

Common Obstacles

Info-Tech's Approach

Exponential technologies such as generative AI are changing organizations and industries at a rapid pace and bringing unprecedented opportunities and risks for IT.

Traditional IT service delivery models aren't supporting the fast-growing needs of organizations and departments to modernize and stay competitive.

IT will get left out of critical processes and decision-making if it can't accelerate to meet demand.

Siloed and hierarchical operating models and transactional, arms-length relationships with departments and vendors will keep IT from becoming the partner that organizations need.

Lack of leadership vision and support, employee resistance to change, inadequate skills, complex governance mechanisms, technical debt, and a siloed culture pose major obstacles to an organization's adaptation to evolving technologies.

Additionally, adopting emerging technologies requires significant financial investment, people resources, increased reliance on third-party vendors, heightened cyber risk, and better data quality and practices.

It can also be a difficult exercise to prioritize where to start and which areas to focus on in your journey to evolve your IT organization.

To evolve into the Exponential IT department that your organization needs, you'll need to build a systematic roadmap. Our Exponential IT framework and its supporting components will help you:

Assess your organization's readiness for exponential technologies and IT's readiness for Exponential IT.
Determine what drives organizational value and identify your Exponential IT programs and work packages derived from Info-Tech's expert insights.
Identify and prioritize initiatives and develop a roadmap for the next 12 months.
Develop a plan to operationalize your roadmap.
Refresh your Exponential IT roadmap annually.

Info-Tech Insight
With the exponential advancement of technology, traditional linear IT is no longer viable to sustain IT's place as the leading technology provider for its organization. IT must adopt an Exponential IT mindset and define its own transformation journey, to not only adapt and thrive in a new technological landscape but also evolve into true organizational leaders.

Your challenge

A lot has changed in a short time...

GPT accelerates
ChatGPT launches in November 2022 and becomes the tech with the fastest adoption in history (up to that point).
Reuters

Amazon bets big
Amazon invests up to $4 billion in Anthropic, a competitor to OpenAI and DeepMind.
Anthropic

Massive AI investment
AI investment could peak at 4% of GDP in the United States, which could be more than $1 trillion.
Goldman Sachs

Quantum leaps
In June 2023, a quantum computer outdoes a conventional supercomputer.
New York Times

IT leaders need to know how to keep IT relevant while maximizing opportunities and minimizing threats posed by emerging technologies.

If IT leaders cannot lead this upcoming transformation, then the organization will move forward without them

Only 2% of CxOs report that their IT department can transform the organization. Most IT departments (77%) still struggle to adequately support the organization.

33% of CxOs believe that their IT department must reach the highest level of Info-Tech's IT maturity ladder to best serve the organization in the future. 42% of CIOs agree.

Info-Tech CXO-CIO diagnostic benchmark data, 2023; n=229 CxOs

Pie Chart for IT Capabilities Based on a Survey of CxOs

Source: Info-Tech CXO-CIO diagnostic benchmark data, 2023; n=229

Info-Tech Insight
As organizations strive to succeed in the next phase of technology-driven transformation, CIOs have an opportunity to demonstrate their organizational leadership. To do so, they will have to start delivering organizational capabilities instead of services while owning organizational targets.

Common obstacles

IT organizations face multiple challenges when trying to adopt emerging technologies.

Employees resist change due to lack of understanding or fear of job loss.
Management support might be lacking due to fear of losing control.
There is a severe talent shortage and skills gap for implementing emerging technologies.
IT modernization requires a shift in organizational culture, communication, and ways of working and breaking down organization silos, which is hard.
Pursuing modernization requires significant financial investments.
Emerging technologies may not integrate with existing systems.
Organization resists more reliance on third-party vendors who are key stakeholders for implementing emerging technologies.
Data quality and practices need to be upgraded as it is core to using most emerging technologies.
As organizations collect more data, a typical consequence of using emerging technologies, organizational risks related to data security and privacy increases.
It is a difficult exercise to understand where to start, how to proceed, and what practices will help you overcome these obstacles for a successful transformation.

76% of global workers say they are unequipped for the future of work.
Source: Salesforce, 2022

70% of digital transformation programs fail due to employee resistance and lack of support from management.
Source: Whatfix Blog, 2024

The pace of technology change will continue to increase exponentially

Accelerate value creation by transforming the organization through exponential technologies

Develop an Exponential IT Roadmap visualization

Evolve IT to harness unprecedented opportunities in the era of exponential technologies.

About Info-Tech

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

Table of Contents

You Get:

Exponential IT Executive Communication Template
Exponential IT Workbook
Exponential IT Communication Plan Template

Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst

Get the help you need in this 4-phase advisory process. You'll receive 7 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.

Guided Implementation 1: Discover Exponential IT and Gauge Readiness

Call 1:
- Introduce the Exponential IT concept and relevance.
- Establish scope, methodology, and deliverables.
- Discuss Exponential IT Diagnostic (optional).

Guided Implementation 2: Identify Your Starting Point

Call 1:
- Gauge Exponential IT readiness.
- Document relevant IT goals.
- Identify priority value outcomes.
- Identify Exponential IT programs, work packages, and transformation actions.

Guided Implementation 3: Develop Your One-Year Roadmap

Call 1:

Decipher current and target maturity of actions within each priority work package.
Call 2:

Develop initiatives for each action to overcome the gap.
Call 3:

Prioritize initiatives and develop profiles and roadmap.

Guided Implementation 4: Act, Communicate, and Refresh Annually

Call 1:

Identify metrics for each initiative.
Call 2:

Develop stakeholder communication plan.
Finalize executive communication template.
Add to your Custom Key Initiative Plan (CKIP).