This resource closely follows the April release of NASCIO’s strategic plan for 2026-2028, which emphasizes the role of state CIOs as strategic leaders within their organizations. “Change leader” was the No. 1 attribute critical to a state CIO’s success, per respondents in the 2025 NASCIO State CIO Survey. And as AI rises in the ranks of CIO priorities, the landscape is shifting. But AI is not the only factor impacting CIOs’ responsibilities; the move to make government digitally accessible has been accelerating since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new report, Evolving Role of the State CIO as Change Leader, indicates that the CIO role has been redefined to include leading enterprisewide transformation through strategic planning, enterprise architecture, portfolio management, business relationship management and project execution.
“The demonstrated shift in the state CIO role can be directly tied to CIOs moving from owner/operator to a convener and leading change,” NASCIO Executive Director Doug Robinson said via email.
The CIO and the organization they lead now require a dual operating model, balancing innovation and operational continuity. To meet future service, policy and workforce needs, continuous modernization is necessary; however, at the same time, services must be reliable, secure and compliant.
To operate successfully within this new model, there are three layers to the state CIO’s role today, per the report. First, the core operations layer involves running the enterprise, from service delivery to the IT infrastructure that powers it. Second, the exploration and modernization layer involves renewing the enterprise through digital innovation, AI and data initiatives, and piloting new tools. Third, the executive integration layer requires the synthesis of the prior two layers at the executive level, ensuring policy alignment and governance are in place to effectively execute strategy.
And while CIOs must optimize current systems and the technologies that power them, they must also explore how to responsibly assess and implement emerging technologies like AI to find ways to enhance operations. As new technology capabilities are enabled, the CIO is also charged with developing future-ready workforce skills among agency staff to effectively leverage new tools.
“As an executive-level change leader, the state CIO, like very few state executives, maintains a comprehensive purview of the state government,” the report said.
The state CIO also has a responsibility to evaluate potential investments that could support transformation opportunities, the report said. To do so effectively, this individual must understand the current business and technology capabilities within their organization, as well how external partnerships could build capacity. The work involves monitoring agency value streams, managing vendor contracts and budgets, and influencing business strategy to find new process improvements.
CIOs today rely on well-crafted governance to lead organizational change, the report said. The support of a team is also critical.
The CIO role’s evolution enables organizational benefits such as institutional resilience, responsible innovation and sustained public trust. Notably, the report concludes that the CIO role is continuing to evolve and expand.
“Advances in AI over the next several years will surely cause additional disruption and shift in the world in which state CIOs operate,” Robinson said.
