Budgets in times of crisis: How IT leaders are navigating the storm

Even for veterans, the opening months of 2025 have been shocking

With geopolitics and AI causing turmoil, Lenovo, NVIDIA and Computing brought IT leaders together to discuss where and how to invest their budgets.

The Great Financial Crash of 2008. The Brexit vote in 2016. Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The last two decades have been a stream of once-in-a-lifetime events, and savvy CIOs know by now how to roll with the punches.

But even for veterans, the last three months have been astounding. Unpredictable geopolitics are shaking the world, forcing many IT leaders to question where and how to invest their budgets.

This was the topic discussed at Computing’s latest roundtable event, sponsored by Lenovo and NVIDIA, at The Ivy Asia St Paul’s last week.

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As well as the sparkling conversation, guests enjoyed good company and excellent food

Leaders from organisations including Costa Coffee, the English Football Association and TUI joined speakers from Lenovo and Computing editor Tom Allen to explore cost-effective strategies for evolving, transforming and scaling operations under budget constraints.

“This time it’s really difficult for everyone to make sure that they’re delivering all of the IT and technical solutions they need to for the budgets that they’ve got available," said North Sea Transition Authority CIO and CFO Nic Granger.

She added, “These kinds of events are great for networking with peers and finding out how other people are solving those kinds of challenges.”

Attendees discussed how the changing economy had affected – or was still affecting – their IT priorities; they pointed to requirements, regulations and international aid cuts – depending on their sector – as factors.

On top of that, the table talked about how to secure investment in this new environment; how to balance innovation and risk in new areas like artificial intelligence; and how they were working with technology partners to get the most out of their budgets.

If you’re interested in being part of Computing’s upcoming roundtables, get in touch here.