How can CXOs stay afloat in the digital ocean?

Time of India

3 days ago

The pressure on CXOs—CDIOs, CTOs, CISOs—to deliver enterprise-level digital success has never been greater. As per Gartner, only 48% of digital initiatives meet or exceed their intended outcomes. Forrester warns that just one in five tech executives leading transformation will succeed.
Rapidly evolving customer expectations, disruptive competitors, AI-driven innovations, and ever-changing regulatory landscapes have created a 'boiling
Digital Ocean
' of opportunity and uncertainty. In this environment, CXOs seek a tested formula to drive business-aligned outcomes. Enter the
FLOAT
framework—a flexible model that leaders can tailor to their industry, technology stack, and strategic goals.
The digital ocean challenge
Daily advancements in AI (Generative and Agentic), exploding data volumes, and shifts in enterprise protocols (HTTP to MCP in Agentic-mesh environments) are rewriting business models. CXOs must survive, stay afloat, and thrive in this constant churn, balancing innovation with security, ROI, and stakeholder confidence.
The FLOAT framework
Five key dimensions drive FLOAT: Funding, Leadership, Organizational Impact, Adoption, and Technology.
1. Funding
Every transformation begins with a compelling business case—one that secures CFO, board, or business sponsorship. It must clearly outline ROI/ROE and incremental value delivery. Whether starting with a proof of concept or scaling a major initiative, CXOs should leverage ecosystem partnerships—vendors, customers, technology sponsors—to co-create viable funding strategies.
2. Leadership
Leadership buy-in isn't just for project approval—it's critical throughout execution. Senior sponsorship helps navigate organizational sensitivities, secure bottom-up support, and maintain momentum. Frequent updates, transparent risk discussions, and visible engagement from leaders reinforce commitment. Leaders must clearly communicate the project's value to employees, customers, and partners.
3. Organizational Impact
A digital project must 'move the needle' enterprise-wide—through operational efficiency, revenue growth, market share gains, or productivity improvement. Strong internal and external communication plans, townhalls, and roadshows ensure stakeholders understand the project's game-changing potential and are prepared for any role or process shifts it brings.
4. Adoption
Even well-funded, leader-backed, high-impact projects can fail without strong user adoption. Organizational Change Management (OCM) is critical to answer the stakeholder question: 'What's in it for me?' Creating digital ambassadors, fostering excitement, and making adoption a people's movement ensures sustainable transformation.
5. Technology
Choosing the right, proven, and feasible technology is vital—especially for AI-based solutions where data quality, model transparency, explainability, and bias mitigation are non-negotiable. CXOs must address InfoSecurity and CyberSecurity from the start, leveraging frameworks like
ZTNA
and SASE, while aligning with enterprise cloud strategies (hybrid, multi-cloud, private/public). Transparent collaboration with OEMs, SIs, and start-ups ensures alignment at the highest executive levels.
Example:
To illustrate the value of FLOAT framework, let us take the example of the manufacturing industry. If the Manufacturing Execution System (MES), which needs to be implemented in a factory, then how CXO can approach this. First, to seek Funding from CFO/business/Board, one should work on the business case of the identified digital initiative or use case, what benefits the MES system is going to bring e.g. shopfloor productivity, end-to-end traceability of the parts manufactured helping in warranty support, improvement in quality using digital inspection and so on. Once the business case for the identified digital initiative is established, now there is an opportunity to present it to Leadership, for the funding and seek their buy-in to take this forward. We must explain, how this digital initiative can be replicated at multiple factories (horizontal deployment), which can have Organizational impact, improving KPIs at enterprise level. Approach to user Adoption should be highlighted and how digital ambassadors can be identified to make the digital initiative successful. The digital Technology, which is going to be used for the solutioning should be explained. If there is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or System Integrator (SI) involved in the solutioning, then they can also participate in the discussions at appropriate forums. Technology also includes Infrastructure sizing and InfoSecurity related considerations. A call needs to be taken on data strategy, data integration, data governance, network, firewalls, security controls, Information Technology (IT) & Operational Technology (OT) integration, analytics dashboards and so on. Lot of collaboration is needed within the organization stakeholders and with external partners. It is truly a team sport, and the CXO lead is at the center of it.
Once ready with the five ingredients of FLOAT framework, the project plan can be refined, and execution can start. This is the phase where the rubber meets the road. Many risks will be identified, and a lot of impromptu decisions will have to be taken at operational and strategic level. Governance is critical, to build visibility among the stakeholders and drive positive change through organization change management (OCM). The key performance indicators (KPIs) and goals, which were set at the beginning of the digital project, need to be tracked and measured. Any course correction or feedback should be incorporated so that we stay on the course and track the benefits. Doing the first phase of the digital project successfully will set the foundation for the rest of the program and it will become easier to seek funding approval or go ahead for the subsequent phases of the project. Digital transformation is a marathon journey, with short sprints in between.
Conclusion:
FLOAT framework provides a directional approach for the success of a digital project, which CXOs can leverage, as they navigate through the
Digital Ocean
. However, it must be customized for each enterprise and use case. The five dimensions explained in this framework cover broadly all areas which a CXO is supposed to work on. Enterprises are built for scale and adaptability. The key to success is to start with a clear and unified vision. The digital project should be treated as a business transformation initiative, rather than an IT project. It is ok to fail fast but learn faster. The goal is to deliver incremental value, so that project funding is justified with business KPI improvement delivered. The digital initiative must be sponsored by senior Leadership and should have an organizational impact, which is finally adopted by the end users. End users should be empowered, and they should measure what matters. The use of new-age digital technologies is imperative, addressing the business problem and ensuring future proofing of the enterprise. Data strategy, Data governance and data-driven business decisions, are pivotal for the success of the digital initiative. Amongst all of this, organizational change management (OCM) is paramount, which helps to build change-ready culture, reskilling and upskilling of workforce. Transparent communication with feedback loops, collaboration with business units/partners is a secret-sauce for co-creating value at enterprise level. Tracking ROI/ROE incrementally will give sponsors and the board confidence about the success of the digital Initiative and seeking funding for subsequent phases can be much easier. It is more important to measure outcomes than tracking project milestones. If CXOs must ensure success of a digital initiative, then they should embrace FLOAT framework, so that they can stay afloat and keep surfing the
Digital Ocean.