CME at Gartner CIO & IT Executive Conference 2025

At our booth and on the floor, we had insightful, hands-on discussions about the challenges of modernization, the practical use of AI, and how organizations are rethinking agility and execution in a fast-changing tech landscape.

We also joined Deloitte and Bloomberg for a panel discussion on “AI’s New Rules for CIOs.” CME Offshore CEO Wissam Youssef talked about the idea of a blindfolded strategy, where CIOs navigate uncertainty through targeted, small-scale experiments, and the one-man show model, where compact teams use AI to deliver faster and smarter results.

Throughout the conference, we ran a quick poll, inviting guests to share where they believe AI will drive the biggest change in their IT agenda. The majority pointed to delivery models and governance. A non-surprising result. But, we believe other concerns, like team size and planning cycles, deserve more attention, and that’s what we did here.

Reflecting on the event, Adel Afiouni, CEO of CME GCC, said:

“What struck me the most is the shift in mindset. CIOs are no longer looking at digital transformation as only a strategic long-term plan on paper. Now they actually live digital transformation every day, and technology is moving so fast that they have to implement it on a daily basis.”

We’re more than happy to have participated in all the fruitful conversations that took place during the conference and look forward to continuing our collaboration with Gartner and the region’s CIO community in driving modernization and practical AI adoption.