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- 🏢 RTO playbook urges clarity, conviction, and culture-first planning
🏢 RTO playbook urges clarity, conviction, and culture-first planning
RTO Strategy Insights, AWS Discount Policy Tightens, New CIOs at Daimler Truck and Peregrine Hospitality
Zack Tembi
May 27, 2025
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Welcome to this week’s edition of CIOsurge!
This week:
Andreessen Horowitz offers a clear framework to navigate RTO challenges, highlighting the pivotal role IT leaders play in supporting productivity and culture.
AWS ends the sharing of cloud discount programs, prompting CIOs to reassess purchasing strategies and embrace structured FinOps practices.
Daimler Truck and Peregrine Hospitality appoint new CIOs to accelerate strategic transformation and technology-driven growth initiatives.
Let’s make this week a game-changer.
Stay sharp. Stay ahead.
🏢 RTO playbook urges clarity, conviction, and culture-first planning
Andreessen Horowitz outlines a first-principles framework for return-to-office (RTO) decisions, urging leaders to clearly define whether they're solving for productivity or culture. The guide walks founders through risk modeling, leadership alignment, attrition planning, and cost analysis, concluding with best practices for communicating policy shifts without eroding trust.
RTO is a change management challenge, not just a facilities one. CIOs and IT leaders will play a pivotal role in whether this shift fosters productivity or breeds resentment. The tech stack, employee sentiment data, and manager enablement all determine whether culture and collaboration scale back up—or break down further.
Whether or not you’re the one driving RTO, you’ll be the one enabling it. That means vetting hybrid infrastructure, reinforcing collaboration tools, and helping execs align their vision with operational reality. Done well, RTO can reboot execution velocity. Done poorly, it becomes a trust sinkhole. Plan accordingly.
- Zack Tembi
🛑 AWS ends cloud discount sharing, tightening financial controls
Starting June 1, AWS will restrict Reserved Instances (RIs) and Savings Plans (SPs) to single end customers, blocking MSPs and resellers from pooling and redistributing discounted capacity. CIOs relying on brokered commitments face modest cost increases and must reassess cloud purchasing models, as AWS seeks stricter capital discipline to support AI and hyperscale investments.
This is a shot across the bow for anyone managing cloud costs through flexibility instead of structure. The pooling loophole allowed startups and mid-market firms to buy time while scaling, but now AWS wants predictable, direct commitments—and that reshapes every budgeting conversation.
For CIOs, the immediate task is auditing exposure and renegotiating on solid footing. Partner models that hide risk in pooled discounts are now liabilities. It’s time to embrace FinOps maturity: optimize usage, own commitments, and bring procurement into the cloud planning loop.
- Zack Tembi
đź’¬ Zack's Take
🌟 Engagement as the Ultimate KPI
Internally at Single Fin and CIO Surge, we measure success by a simple but powerful KPI: customer engagement. Engagement reflects real value—it's proof we're providing timely insights, meaningful guidance, and actionable advice. Regularly monitoring this KPI keeps us closely connected to customer needs and continually pushes us to deliver more relevant, targeted content and solutions.
Many organizations focus solely on traditional metrics—sales figures, renewal rates, project milestones—but overlook ongoing engagement. However, consistent engagement often predicts future success better than static KPIs. Customers who regularly interact and extract value from your offerings are far more likely to stay loyal and advocate for your brand.
If you're looking for one KPI that matters deeply, track engagement religiously. It reveals whether you're genuinely meeting customer needs or merely checking boxes. High engagement isn’t just validation; it’s the cornerstone of sustainable growth.
🗞️ At A Glance
đź’ˇ CIO Spotlights
Daimler Truck names Raghavendra Vaidya CIO amid strategic transformation
Daimler Truck appointed Raghavendra Vaidya as CIO, succeeding Marcus Claesson, effective June 1.
Vaidya previously led Daimler Truck Innovation Center India, driving IT operations, and earlier served as SVP of IT at Mercedes-Benz R&D India.
His appointment comes as Daimler Truck revisits its strategic goals, emphasizing productivity and stronger operational performance.
Peregrine Hospitality taps Jeff Knowlton as first CIO to fuel tech-driven growth
Jeff Knowlton joins Peregrine Hospitality as the company’s first-ever CIO, tasked with enhancing tech-driven guest experiences amid rapid growth.
Knowlton previously spearheaded major technology transformations at Sonesta International Hotels and held senior IT roles at Sage Hospitality and Vail Resorts.
CEO Greg Kennealey highlighted Knowlton’s innovative vision and collaborative leadership style as pivotal to Peregrine’s expansion plans.