ROCTEL had the pleasure of attending two of Ireland's most significant tech leadership events: the Connected CIO Summit (10th June 2025) at Croke Park and the Dublin Tech Summit (28th-29th May) at the RDS. These gatherings brought together leading minds across technology, cybersecurity, digital strategy, and innovation, offering a platform for discussion, learning, and fresh perspective. Here are our key takeaways and how we plan to put them into action.

Connected CIO Summit: Shifting Roles, Stronger Strategies

The Connected CIO Summit offered rich insights into the evolving role of technology leaders. It became clear that the CIO is no longer just a technology manager but a strategic business driver. Conversations revolved around AI governance, cybersecurity, and cross-functional collaboration as essential components of future-proofing any organisation.

Key Takeaways:

• The CIO role is transforming: From operational oversight to boardroom strategy.
• AI governance is now a leadership priority: Responsible implementation is just as important as innovation.
• Simplicity in cybersecurity: With increasing complexity, clarity and efficiency in cybersecurity practices are critical.
• Technology must drive revenue: IT teams are now expected to be growth enablers.
• Cross-functional collaboration is essential: Real transformation comes from breaking silos.

Our Take:

At ROCTEL, we’re already integrating these insights. We're enhancing how our solutions align with clients' business objectives—not just their IT needs. We're also continuing to simplify our cybersecurity offerings to make them more intuitive and accessible for clients with complex environments.

Dublin Tech Summit: AI at the Center

At the Dublin Tech Summit, the spotlight was firmly on AI, quantum computing, and the massive infrastructure needed to support the future of digital operations. One of the most compelling moments came from OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar, who shared OpenAI's path forward—including restructuring as a Public Benefit Corporation and preparing for a potential IPO.

Key Takeaways:

• OpenAI’s new structure reflects a model for balancing innovation with mission-driven leadership.
• Massive compute demands are on the horizon: Scaling to 10GW of capacity within two years will require enormous investment.
• AI is evolving fast: Moving from support tools to autonomous decision-makers.
• Ethics and governance are more important than ever: As capabilities grow, so do the risks.
• Human judgment and collaboration are still central to successful innovation.

Our Take:

AI is central to our future roadmap. As we adopt more intelligent systems internally and within our service offerings, we’ll prioritize transparency, governance, and ethical use. We also see huge value in investing in data architecture and scalable infrastructure, both for our clients and our internal operations.

Looking Ahead: ROCTEL's Next Steps

These summits confirmed what we already believe: technology is not just a support function—it's a strategic driver. As we continue to support Irish businesses through managed connectivity, secure networks, and resilient IT infrastructure, we’ll be embedding the following principles:

• Strengthening AI governance within our service models
• Scaling with purpose by investing in adaptable infrastructure
• Enhancing collaboration across teams and with our clients
• Staying human-first, even as our tools become more autonomous

We left both events with sharper strategies, stronger relationships, and a clearer vision of what the future of tech leadership looks like. And we’re excited to build that future with our clients.

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