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CISO burnout fuels growing leadership exodus
CISO Burnout Signals a Leadership Breaking Point, AI Infrastructure Reshapes 2026 IT Budgets
Zack Tembi
February 16, 2026
The AI Mandate: Winning in a New Economy, CISO Burnout Signals a Leadership Breaking Point, AI Infrastructure Reshapes 2026 IT Budgets
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Welcome to this week’s edition of CIOsurge!
This week:
Community member Cy Khormaee (Microsoft, Google, Lightspeed, Harvard Business School, and now CEO of Aegis AI Security) just released his new book, The AI Mandate: Winning in the New Economy. Get your free copy and meet Cy
A growing wave of CISO burnout is exposing a deeper leadership issue: security accountability keeps rising while authority and support structures lag behind, creating strategic risk for the enterprise.
AI spending and data center demand are rewriting 2026 budgets, forcing CIOs to rebalance investments as infrastructure costs rise and services teams face mounting pressure to prove AI-driven efficiency.
Let’s make this week a game-changer.
Stay sharp. Stay ahead.
The AI Mandate:Winning in a New Economy
Community member Cy Khormaee (Microsoft, Google, Lightspeed, Harvard Business School, and now CEO of Aegis AI Security) just released his new book, The AI Mandate: Winning in the New Economy. Cy has been on the front lines of the AI revolution, from building Google’s phishing and malware defenses to leading AegisAI’s autonomous email security platform. We have a limited number of free copies available exclusively for the CIOsurge community.
CISO burnout fuels growing leadership exodus
A new IANS Research and Artico Search survey found 69% of CISOs are open to changing roles within a year, with some considering leaving cybersecurity entirely. Analysts cite role overload, limited authority, personal liability concerns, and board misalignment as key drivers, signaling a structural leadership problem rather than a compensation issue.
This should be a wake-up call for every executive team. When security leaders feel accountable for enterprise risk without matching authority, burnout is inevitable. The CISO role has expanded to include compliance, privacy, and regulatory exposure, but in many organizations governance has not evolved alongside it.
For CIOs and peers in the C-suite, the implication is clear. Security leadership cannot function as a scapegoat role. CISOs need direct influence, clear decision rights, and realistic support structures. Otherwise, turnover becomes more than an HR problem. It becomes a strategic risk that destabilizes security programs and weakens organizational resilience.
- Zack Tembi
AI and data centers reshape 2026 IT budgets while services get squeezed
Gartner projects global IT spend will rise 10.8% in 2026 to $6.15T, driven by AI spending up 80.8% and data center systems up 31.7%. CIOs are offsetting the surge by squeezing services budgets, expecting providers to use AI to cut delivery costs and pass savings through.
The budgeting pattern here is the real story: AI and infrastructure are becoming non optional, so something else has to give. Services are the easiest lever because they are contract based, visible, and politically simpler to renegotiate than core platforms.
If you run IT services, assume your customers will demand an “AI productivity discount” and proof, not promises. If you buy IT services, bake AI usage, unit economics, and outcome metrics into renewals, or you will fund vendor margin expansion while your own AI bills keep climbing.
- Zack Tembi
🗞️ At A Glance
💡 CIO Spotlights
Nathan Hunstable takes the CIO seat at Chuck E. Cheese parent CEC Entertainment
CEC Entertainment promoted Nathan Hunstable to VP of IT and CIO, stepping up from CISO/VP of IT Infrastructure.
He replaces Jay Spears, who’s stepping down after five years leading IT.
CEO Scott Drake credits Hunstable with sharpening cybersecurity and pushing innovation; he brings 20+ years of IT leadership (ex-Cinergy CTO).
Benjamin Ellis steps in as Mauldin & Jenkins CIO amid growth push
Mauldin & Jenkins named Benjamin Ellis CIO effective February 1, leading the firm’s tech roadmap and long-term digital strategy.
He brings 10+ years in accounting-firm IT, spanning cybersecurity, compliance, cloud modernization, and M&A integration.
Leadership frames the hire as key to turning IT into a lever for stronger client service and faster innovation.
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