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AI Execution Is Pushing CIOs Back to IT Fundamentals, Info-Tech Research Group’s Best of 2026 Mid-Year Report Finds

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Info-Tech Research Group’s Best of 2026 Mid-Year Report shows that CIOs and IT leaders are concentrating on the foundations required to scale AI with confidence. The report highlights the firm’s most accessed research, products, diagnostics, services, and training programs from the first half of 2026, revealing strong demand for guidance on AI execution, cybersecurity, data, infrastructure, governance, risk, workforce readiness, and technology buying decisions.

ARLINGTON, Va., June 17, 2026 /CNW/ – AI has moved from a strategic ambition to an execution challenge for IT leaders, according to new findings from Info-Tech Research Group. The global research and advisory firm’s newly published Best of 2026 Mid-Year Report reveals that the most in-demand resources from the first half of the year are centered on the capabilities organizations need to scale AI responsibly, strengthen resilience, and translate technology investment into measurable value.

As organizations embed AI more deeply in business and IT operations, CIOs are focusing on the fundamentals that determine whether innovation can scale. Info-Tech’s report shows heightened interest in resources related to AI implementation, information management, cybersecurity, infrastructure modernization, data strategy, enterprise risk, workforce development, and vendor evaluation. Together, these areas point to a shift from AI exploration toward the operating discipline required for long-term value creation.

“AI is no longer at the edge of the CIO agenda as an experiment. It is becoming part of how organizations plan, operate, secure, and deliver value,” says Info-Tech Research Group’s Chief Research Officer Gord Harrison. “The most accessed resources from the first half of 2026 show that IT leaders understand the work ahead. They are strengthening data, governance, security, infrastructure, risk, and workforce capabilities so AI can scale responsibly instead of adding complexity.”

The Best of 2026 Mid-Year Report consolidates Info-Tech’s most popular new research, products, and services from the first half of the year. The findings reveal that IT leaders are prioritizing both innovation and operational readiness, with AI adoption now tied closely to data quality, cybersecurity resilience, infrastructure maturity, enterprise risk, and organizational adaptability. The report also reflects growing attention to technology buying decisions as leaders evaluate vendors, platforms, contracts, and software categories that support changing business needs.

Top Research and Resources Featured in Info-Tech’s Best of 2026 Mid-Year Report
The top 12 research and resources featured in Info-Tech’s Best of 2026 Mid-Year Report span CIO strategy, cybersecurity, data, infrastructure, applications, enterprise risk, vendor management, and AI-enabled operations. These resources reflect the practical areas IT leaders are strengthening as AI becomes more embedded in enterprise strategy and daily execution.

CIO Priorities 2026: Built on more than 700 responses to Info-Tech’s Future of IT 2026 Survey, diagnostic benchmarks, and executive interviews, this annual report identifies five priorities CIOs must address to deliver measurable value in 2026. The resource focuses on maximizing AI investments through value streams, building proactive risk practices, strengthening data accountability, keeping pace in cybersecurity, and improving IT financial transparency.

Security Priorities 2026: This report outlines five initiatives security leaders should prioritize to build resilience in an era of AI-enabled threats, regulatory complexity, geopolitical uncertainty, and increased budget scrutiny. The resource helps organizations strengthen data resilience, scale compliance, reduce vendor sprawl, advance identity-centered zero trust, and modernize application security for the agentic AI era.

Leverage AI for Information Management: AI is erasing outdated boundaries between structured data, unstructured content, and organizational knowledge, forcing IT leaders to rethink how information is governed and used. Info-Tech’s blueprint guides organizations in building an integrated information management strategy, identifying high-impact AI opportunities, improving information usability and reliability, and reducing risk through stronger classification and access boundaries.

Infrastructure and Operations Priorities 2026: Rising AI workloads, cybersecurity risk, regulatory change, and economic volatility are reshaping the infrastructure mandate. The report helps I&O leaders rethink cloud operations, apply FinOps to AI cost management, improve observability, define AIOps use cases, and build the skills needed to support modern infrastructure environments.

Data Priorities 2026: AI and automation are increasing the stakes for data quality, governance, accountability, and literacy. Drawing on survey research and interviews with data leaders, the report outlines four priorities for CIOs and CDOs: establishing unified governance for data and AI, building data products around measurable outcomes, creating a trusted AI-ready data supply, and cultivating data champions across the organization.

Reimagine Business Processes With an AI-First Approach: Many organizations are still applying AI to isolated tasks rather than redesigning the processes that determine how work actually gets done. Info-Tech’s blueprint helps IT and business leaders identify high-impact capability areas, diagnose workflow friction, and reimagine future-state processes around AI-enabled decision-making, automation, and collaboration.

Applications Priorities 2026: Applications teams are under pressure to turn AI momentum into reliable, flexible, and sustained delivery rather than short-lived pilot wins. Drawing on case studies, survey data, and diagnostic benchmarks, the report outlines four priorities for applications leaders: boosting solution delivery with AI, making AI a team member, generating contextual digital experiences, and enabling end-to-end business process automation.

Build an Integrated Enterprise Risk Management Program: Enterprise risks are becoming too interconnected for siloed risk practices to manage effectively. Info-Tech’s blueprint helps leaders build a proactive ERM program by aligning risk appetite to strategic objectives, defining governance and risk taxonomies, developing risk response options, and creating a monitoring, reporting, and tooling plan that embeds risk management across the organization.

Design the IT Infrastructure & Operations Organization of the Future: I&O teams are being asked to support rapid technology change while still managing day-to-day tickets, projects, and urgent operational demands. This blueprint helps leaders review strategy, evaluate team structure, assess skills and staffing gaps, and build a multiyear roadmap for an I&O organization that is aligned, adaptable, and ready for future infrastructure needs.

Defend Against Deepfake Cyberattacks: Deepfakes are turning human trust into an enterprise attack surface, making traditional technical controls insufficient on their own. The firm’s blueprint helps CIOs, CISOs, and CSOs identify likely deepfake threat scenarios, assess exposure across people, processes, and technology, prioritize risk by likelihood and impact, and build zero trust verification practices into everyday communications.

Develop a Plan to Overcome Your Microsoft Power Apps Challenges: Power Apps can accelerate application development, but its ease of use can also lead to app sprawl, shadow IT, weak governance, insecure applications, poor data modeling, and performance issues. This resource helps organizations understand their current Power Apps landscape, identify and prioritize key challenges, and build a now, next, later roadmap for secure and sustainable adoption.

Identify and Respond to Credible Threats Arising From Global Uncertainty: Macro-level volatility is creating risks that traditional, single-future planning models are not built to handle. Info-Tech’s blueprint helps organizations scan for weak signals, assess how global uncertainties could affect strategy and operations, conduct premortem exercises, map risk events by likelihood and impact, and build a roadmap for stronger foresight and dynamic response capabilities.

“Organizations that succeed with AI will be the ones that treat foundations as strategy,” explains Harrison. “This is where execution discipline matters: clear accountability, trusted information, resilient operations, and teams that can adapt as technology continues to change.”

Info-Tech’s Best of 2026 Mid-Year Report offers a practical view into the priorities shaping IT leadership in the first half of the year. As AI becomes more operational across the enterprise, the report shows that CIOs and IT leaders are focusing on the capabilities that make scalable innovation possible, including stronger data practices, modern infrastructure, integrated risk management, secure operations, adaptive leadership, and informed technology buying decisions.

For exclusive and timely commentary from Info-Tech’s experts on any of the associated research, and access to Info-Tech’s Best of 2026 Mid-Year Report, please contact pr@infotech.com.

About Info-Tech Research Group
Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world’s leading and fastest-growing research and advisory firms, serving over 30,000 IT, HR, and marketing professionals around the globe. As a trusted product and service leader, the company delivers unbiased, highly relevant research and industry-leading advisory support to help leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For nearly 30 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to expert guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

To learn more about Info-Tech’s HR research and advisory services, visit McLean & Company, and for data-driven software buying insights and vendor evaluations, visit the firm’s SoftwareReviews platform.

Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software, and hundreds of industry analysts through the firm’s Media Insiders program. To gain access, contact pr@infotech.com.  

For information about Info-Tech Research Group or to access the latest research, visit infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn and X.

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MBRYONICS Chooses Pilot Photonics’ Laser for Space Optical Communication Transceivers

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June 18, 2026

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DUBLIN, June 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — MBRYONICS, the laser communications company building the internet in space, have chosen Pilot Photonics‘ ultra-fast tunable lasers for their terabit-per-second transceivers for optical communication. Responding to the increasing market demand for space-ready, Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC)-powered, low SWaP-C optical communication devices, the two Irish photonics firms are combining their best-in-class technologies to enable next-generation satellite communications.

 

 

MBRYONICS is innovating in the space communications field by integrating PIC devices in satellite and ground station modules, making robust lasercom devices for the New Space market. For their hardened terabit-per-second coherent transceiver, they are integrating Pilot Photonics’ fast-switching, low-linewidth tunable laser. The fast wavelength tunability is crucial for optical Doppler compensation in coherent space communications. This makes Pilot’s laser, with its nanosecond tuning, a natural fit.

Pilot Photonics, the leading Irish developer of integrated photonic engines, builds cutting edge PIC-based devices for space, telecom, datacom, and test & measurement applications. Among its suite of innovations is its line of tunable lasers, with fully monolithic integration and wide tunability. The laser’s compact form factor, low mass, and high power efficiency makes it a perfect fit for the requirements of cutting-edge satellites.

This collaboration coincides with a period of massive momentum for MBRYONICS, who recently hosted the pan-European STARlight Consortium Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Dublin. Backed by the €110M EU Chips Joint Undertaking project focused on securing strategic autonomy in silicon photonics, MBRYONICS showcased its landmark 25G-800G Bi-Directional Coherent Optical Transceiver, the world’s first purpose-built for the extreme environment of space. Integrating Pilot Photonics’ ultra-fast tunable lasers into this transceiver architecture highlights how cutting-edge, Irish-led photonic integration is directly powering the critical infrastructure needed to move massive workloads off-planet and build the internet in space.

“To build the internet in space, MBRYONICS requires best-in-class hardware components that can withstand the harshest environments while delivering maximum data throughput,” said David Mackey, CTO of MBRYONICS. “Pilot Photonics’ advanced PIC-based laser engines complement our optical communication architecture, allowing us to deliver next-generation, high-speed satellite connectivity to our global customers.”

“We are delighted to support MBRYONICS in advancing next-generation space communications,” said Pilot’s CTO Frank Smyth. “New Space is driving many new developments in deep tech, and integrated photonics is particularly well positioned to meet its demands. We are proud that our engagement is highlighting Ireland’s growing space technology sector.”

About MBRYONICS

MBRYONICS is a deep-tech company building the internet in space. We manufacture laser communications systems that transmit and process data through beams of light at speeds 1,000x faster than traditional radio. As the only laser communications company whose platform technologies operate across all major optical standards, MBRYONICS is the infrastructure layer the space internet is built on, delivering space-to-ground, ground-to-space, and space-to-space communication. Its technology has been selected by the European Space Agency and DARPA’s Space-BACN program. MBRYONICS is headquartered in Galway, Ireland.

For more information, visit mbryonics.com.

About Pilot Photonics

Pilot Photonics is a leading innovator in integrated photonics sources. Its portfolio includes tuneable and multi-wavelength lasers, optical combs, and frequency generators. Its innovative technologies drive cutting edge solutions in high-speed optical communications, AI datacentres, 5G/6G telecom networks, space systems, and test & measurement applications. Founded by pioneers in optical comb technology, the company is driving the transition to the Everything over Optical™ era. 

Learn more about Pilot Photonics at www.pilotphotonics.com.

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ESTO Group Issues €20 Million 9.50% Senior Unsecured Bond and Redeems 2026 Bond in Full

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June 18, 2026

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TALLINN, Estonia, June 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ESTO Group (ESTO Holdings OU), the leading Estonian non-bank consumer credit provider, today announced the completion of a €20 million senior unsecured bond issuance (ISIN EE0000004448). Proceeds will redeem the Group’s outstanding €15 million secured 2026 bond (ISIN EE3300005065) in full, with remaining capacity supporting continued growth across the Baltic region.

 

 

The notes were issued on June 16, 2026, bear a fixed coupon of 9.50% payable quarterly, and mature on June 16, 2029, and are registered with Nasdaq CSD. The issuance was a private placement. The new notes rank as senior unsecured obligations of the Group and carry a coupon 250 basis points below the 12.00% rate of the secured 2026 bond they replace.

ESTO will redeem its €15 million secured bond in full. Noteholders representing approximately 30% of the 2026 bond elected to exchange into the new 2029 notes. The issuance was fully subscribed, with 60% allocated to institutional investors and 40% to private investors. ESTO welcomes new investors and acknowledges the continued participation of its existing bondholders.

Mikk Metsa, Founder and CEO of ESTO, commented:
“The bond market is becoming a core part of how we fund ESTO. With the subordinated notes programme, this is our fourth note issuance, and every time the investor base has widened. A meaningful share of those who held our earlier bonds chose to stay with us in this one – many of them have been with us for years. That continuity is the clearest signal that we are on the right track as we grow the business across the Baltics.”

The new bond forms part of ESTO’s diversified funding structure, which comprises institutional credit facilities, a senior bond programme, and the €20 million subordinated notes programme established earlier in 2026. The structure is designed to maintain conservative leverage while supporting continued loan portfolio growth.

Gustav Juurikas, CFO of ESTO, commented:
“This transaction redeems our 2026 bond obligation in full and reduces the cost of our senior funding by 250bps, whilst moving the instrument from secured to unsecured. At the end of Q1 2026, our equity ratio stood at 33%, and interest coverage at 2.4x – the highest levels recorded by the Group to date. We thank the holders who exchanged into the notes and welcome the investors joining ESTO for the first time.”

Signet Bank AS acted as arranger. Eversheds Sutherland Ots & Co acted as legal counsel to ESTO Holdings.

About ESTO:
ESTO is a dynamic, forward-thinking company that aims to revolutionize the shopping experience by simplifying the complex shopping ecosystem. Leveraging its multi-year expertise and position as Estonia’s leading non-bank consumer credit institute, ESTO is positioned to reshape the e-commerce landscape in the Baltics and beyond. With a strong emphasis on technology and customer loyalty, ESTO aims to provide a seamless, tailored, and omnichannel shopping experience for both consumers and retailers.

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Claros Technologies Appoints Jack Cogen to Board of Directors

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June 18, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS, June 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Claros Technologies, a global leader in PFAS destruction and analytical testing solutions, today announced the appointment of Jack Cogen to its Board of Directors. Cogen brings more than three decades of leadership experience spanning environmental markets, finance, energy, and technology, including his role as founder and CEO of Natsource Asset Management and his longstanding service on the board of CoreWeave.

The appointment comes as Claros transitions from technology validation to commercial scale, expanding deployment of its ClarosTechUV™ PFAS destruction offering and ClarosLabs™ its PFAS detection solution across municipal, industrial, and environmental remediation markets worldwide.

Cogen is widely recognized as a pioneer in environmental markets. As founder and CEO of Natsource Asset Management LLC from 1994 to 2014, he built one of the world’s leading advisory and asset management firms focused on environmental and energy markets. He also served as Chair of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) from 2008 to 2011 and continues to serve the organization as an IETA Fellow.

Since 2017, Cogen has served on the board of CoreWeave, a leading AI cloud infrastructure company that has emerged as a major provider of high-performance computing services powered by advanced semiconductor technologies. His experience helping guide CoreWeave through a period of rapid growth and commercialization provides valuable perspective as Claros enters its next phase of expansion.

“Jack brings exactly the type of experience we were looking to add to the Board,” said Michelle Bellanca, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Claros Technologies. “Throughout his career he has repeatedly helped build and scale businesses, navigated complex growth environments, secured innovative forms of financing, and created significant enterprise value. As Claros continues its commercial scale-up, his perspective and experience will be invaluable in helping guide the company’s next chapter.”

Claros has emerged as a leading innovator in PFAS destruction technology through its proprietary ClarosTechUV™ platform, which permanently destroys PFAS compounds without generating hazardous byproducts. The company has also expanded its analytical capabilities through ClarosLabs™, providing accredited PFAS testing services for industrial, municipal, and environmental customers.

“Throughout my career, I’ve been drawn to companies that solve major environmental challenges with technologies capable of achieving broad commercial adoption,” said Jack Cogen. “Claros has developed a compelling solution to one of the world’s most pressing problems and has already demonstrated its ability to perform at commercial scale. The combination of innovative technology, strong leadership, and growing market demand creates a significant opportunity, and I am excited to help the company navigate its next phase of growth.”

The addition of Cogen comes at a pivotal time for the company as regulatory scrutiny of PFAS – commonly known as “forever chemicals” – intensifies and demand for proven destruction technologies continues to grow worldwide.

“Jack is a highly respected entrepreneur, investor, and board leader whose experience spans some of the most important trends shaping today’s economy, from environmental markets and energy transition to artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure,” said Jim Leslie, Chairman of the Board of Claros Technologies. “The Board is delighted to welcome him to Claros. His ability to recognize transformative technologies, strategic perspective, broad network of relationships, and decades of experience advising innovative companies will be a valuable asset as we continue building a company positioned to address one of the world’s most significant environmental challenges.”

About Claros Technologies

Founded in 2018 and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Claros Technologies is a global leader in PFAS mitigation, with two core divisions. The ClarosTech™ division focuses exclusively on the permanent destruction of PFAS, offering affordable, high-flow, scalable, and field-ready systems that eliminate long, short, and ultra-short chain compounds with 99.99% efficiency. ClarosLabs™, the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited analytical division, is a leading commercial laboratory dedicated to PFAS detection, quantification, and exposure assessment. Claros is on a mission to eliminate PFAS from the environment.

Claros Technologies destroys PFAS—for good.

For more information, visit clarostech.com.

Media Contact

Kari Finkler
Claros Technologies
kari@clarostech.com

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