Global enterprise software services provider Rimini Street, Inc. has released the results of a new international survey revealing intensifying pressure on top executives to accelerate innovation, prove return on investment faster, and strengthen organizational resilience—despite rising costs, growing risk, and persistent shortages in skilled IT talent.
The study, titled C-suite Imperatives: Accelerating Innovation in a Shifting Landscape, was conducted in partnership with Censuswide and surveyed nearly 4,300 CFOs, CIOs, CEOs, and CISOs worldwide. The findings paint a clear picture of leadership teams recalibrating technology strategies as boards demand faster results and clearer business outcomes from every investment.
Across industries, executives report being caught between competing forces. While budgets remain constrained and cybersecurity risks continue to escalate, organizations are under pressure to deliver AI-driven transformation at speed.
At the same time, many leaders are growing frustrated with vendor-driven ERP roadmaps that limit flexibility and slow modernization. Although 97% of respondents say their existing ERP systems largely meet business needs, nearly a quarter of workforce time is still consumed by system maintenance—time that could otherwise be spent on innovation.
AI and automation have emerged as the centerpiece of long-term strategy. Forty-four percent of executives identified these capabilities as the most critical for supporting both near-term and future IT initiatives. Looking ahead five years, automation and AI dominate executive priorities, with 46% of CIOs and 43% of CEOs ranking them as their top imperative.
While cybersecurity, compliance, and cost control remain urgent concerns, leaders increasingly emphasize building resilient, data-driven organizations. More than one-third of respondents said transforming into a data-driven enterprise is a core goal, signaling a shift away from costly ERP upgrades toward investments that directly enable intelligent operations.
At the same time, expectations around ROI are becoming far more exacting. Executives are applying tighter scrutiny to technology spending, with benefits realization cited as the primary measure of success by CIOs, CEOs, and CFOs alike. Leaders expect roughly 27% of ROI to be delivered within the first one to two years, rising to 37% within three to five years, with nearly half of total returns anticipated over the longer term.
Collaboration on IT initiatives most often occurs between C-suites, CIOs, and CEOs, underscoring the growing need for earlier and deeper CFO involvement as financial accountability intensifies. Notably, nearly 70% of respondents do not believe traditional ERP will define the future, with one-third pointing to Agentic ERP—autonomous systems powered by AI-driven decision-making—as the next evolution.
Talent constraints continue to weigh heavily on transformation efforts. More than one-third of executives say skills gaps are already limiting growth, while nearly a quarter report project delays caused by insufficient talent. Almost all respondents acknowledged that IT talent shortages are affecting their ability to execute their technology vision, with more than two-thirds describing the impact as significant.
As internal teams struggle to keep pace, outsourcing has become nearly universal, particularly for cybersecurity, infrastructure, and application support. Leaders increasingly view optimization and third-party support as practical ways to unlock value from existing systems while reducing operational risk.
Business resilience has also moved to the forefront of executive agendas. Every respondent cited risk reduction as a top priority for the year ahead, reflecting heightened concern over cyber threats, supply chain disruption, and economic uncertainty.
Nearly seven in ten executives expect significant changes to their ERP investments, with many channeling resources into business continuity planning, diversified supplier strategies, and workforce augmentation. Vendor lock-in remains a persistent pain point, as forced upgrades, limited flexibility, and high costs continue to undermine long-term technology goals.
Rimini Street CFO Michael Perica said the findings highlight a decisive shift in executive thinking. Leaders, he noted, are demanding faster payback, measurable outcomes, and greater control over how technology budgets are deployed.
Rather than following vendor-mandated roadmaps, organizations increasingly want business-driven strategies that allow them to redirect spending from low-ROI activities toward innovations such as agentic AI that improve efficiency, resilience, and long-term growth.
Echoing this view, Rimini Street Global CIO Joe Locandro said the traditional ERP model is being fundamentally reimagined. As new technologies redefine expectations for speed and intelligence, executives want the freedom to modernize on their own terms.
By stabilizing and maximizing the value of existing ERP systems, organizations can free up time, talent, and capital to invest in AI-driven initiatives that deliver more meaningful and sustainable results.