Netskope reports rising C-suite expectations for I&O

Netskope research finds Infrastructure and Operations leaders face rising C-suite expectations for infrastructure performance, Artificial Intelligence (AI) enablement and resilience while many lack the staff, budget and strategic influence to meet those demands.

Research overview

Netskope conducted research with chief executives and I&O leaders to assess how executive priorities have shifted in response to cloud, AI and distributed work models.

The survey data show infrastructure is increasingly tied to business outcomes: 80% said IT infrastructure is central to core business goals, 80% reported higher expectations from senior leaders in the past year, and 83% said personal expectations on I&O roles have intensified.

Executive expectations

Executives in the study emphasized three consistent priorities: clearer visibility into infrastructure, proactive decision-making about modernization, and practical solutions aligned to measurable business outcomes.

Sixty-one percent of I&O respondents reported that their CEO is often frustrated by limited visibility into infrastructure performance and risk, reflecting demand for more transparent reporting and direct communication when issues arise.

I&O capability gap

The research documents a gap between elevated expectations and available resources: only 18% of I&O leaders are fully confident they have the people and budget needed for future requirements.

Respondents reported skepticism about realistic targets, with 55% viewing performance expectations as unrealistic, 58% saying resilience goals are unrealistic, and 59% questioning security expectations; 63% felt removed from strategic conversations, 20% lacked clear understanding of CEO or CIO objectives, and 52% said as-a-service models reduced their control over core infrastructure.

Operational consequences

I&O teams reported frequent reactive work when they are engaged after major cloud or AI decisions, requiring retrofit efforts to align infrastructure with existing plans.

The combination of constrained resources and limited strategic input contributes to organizational uncertainty about meeting performance, resilience and security targets despite a stated willingness among I&O leaders to respond to elevated expectations.

Recommendations for alignment

Link infrastructure choices to business metrics

I&O leaders should frame proposals in terms of measurable business effects such as agility, risk reduction and productivity rather than technical acronyms.

Participate earlier in strategic planning

Earlier and consistent involvement in long-term initiatives allows I&O to design infrastructure that supports planned locations, AI use cases and future services, reducing the need for retrofits.

Prioritize architectural simplicity and consolidation

Proposing long-term fixes that address foundational complexity can replace incremental workarounds and provide clearer, enduring cost and risk profiles for executives.

Improve ongoing visibility for senior executives

Regular reporting focused on performance, uptime, risk posture and modernization impact can reduce the perception of infrastructure as a black box and support more informed executive decisions.

Position I&O to enable safe, scalable AI use

I&O should address access to AI models, data protection against leakage or prompt injection, and internal automation use cases to support enterprise AI adoption with appropriate safeguards.

Overall, the research indicates that I&O leaders face higher expectations from the C-suite but remain constrained by legacy systems, resource limits and misaligned decision cycles; addressing alignment through outcome-focused proposals, earlier engagement, architectural clarity, transparent reporting and AI enablement can narrow that gap. This “Blog Signals brief” is a fact-based summary of the vendor blog.