New Delhi, Oct. 24 -- The march to digitalization is so commonplace today that 40% of global CIOs have reached scale for their digital endeavors, more than doubling the proportion of enterprises from 2018, according to Gartner Inc.'s annual global survey of CIOs. The next challenge CIOs face in the coming two to three years is looming disruptions, such as an economic recession or data breach, which will force them to take action if they wish to emerge stronger on the other side of a "turn."

In the past four years, 90% of enterprises have experienced a turn that upset normal operations, such as severe operating cost pressures, political upheavals, leadership turnover, adverse regulatory interventions and so on. Only a quarter of enterpris...