As a follow-up to our CIO Forum event on Thursday, May 29, 2025, we would like to give special thanks to our speaker, Paolo Pelizzoli, Head of Platform Engineering at The Clearing House, and CTO of Alakrity LLC, for facilitating this thought-provoking session on Disruptors, Dollars & Digital Dominance. Special thanks to Steve Scolnik and Apogem/New York Life Insurance for hosting our event. Lastly, thanks and more thanks to all those of you who participated and voiced their views as we debated all these topics through the evening. The incredible energy and excitement will stay with us for quite some time! Below are some of the takeaways from the meeting, as well as a surprise poem that Joel Plaut has provided using his AI expertise! Enjoy and looking forward to seeing you all in the fall!
Meeting takeaways:
Paolo posed a series of broad, strategic questions, each of which could merit its own deep-dive session. Discussions focused on geopolitical, technological, and economic disruption, and how CIOs can anticipate and adapt.
1. Google Breakup
- Alphabet may be broken up into distinct entities (e.g., Google Search, YouTube, DeepMind).
- Implications:
- Could unlock shareholder value but introduce short-term volatility.
- Would likely set a regulatory precedent affecting Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta—the U.S. government will pursue these companies one at a time, not concurrently.
- Might improve market competition, but could degrade integration and user experience.
2. AI & Job Threats
- AI is already eliminating roles: data entry, software testing, and especially junior development.
- Routine IT functions (e.g., system maintenance) are increasingly automated.
- Developer job outlook is bleak, especially for entry-level roles.
- Despite more industry competition, overall quality is lower—more choices, but often poor ones.
- We’re at the most chaotic point in the AI cycle; things will improve from here.
- Enduring demand will remain for:
- AI engineering
- Cybersecurity
- Strategic IT leadership
- Critical thinking and creativity
3. Tariffs and Economic Impact
- Tariffs are reshaping job creation and supply chains.
- Industries are restructuring in real-time to reduce reliance on imports and in anticipation of a potential conflict over Taiwan.
- Tariffs cause inflation and retaliatory moves but could insulate strategic sectors.
- Core question raised: Is it wise to protect national supply chains in today’s global climate?
4. Crypto, Gold, and the Dollar
- Gold remains the go-to reserve asset for central banks.
- Bitcoin is inherently deflationary, making it difficult to adopt at a national level.
- The dollar’s weakening is forcing reevaluation of global trade and investment strategies.
- DeFi and decentralized systems are set to accelerate.
5. Quantum Computing: Real or Overhyped?
- Quantum still faces key hurdles: error correction, scale, and cost.
- Experts estimate practical, fault-tolerant systems are 5–10 years out.
- But governments and companies are already preparing:
- Encryption standards are being redesigned to resist quantum cracking.
- China is actively storing encrypted data to break it retroactively once quantum capabilities mature.
- Expected disruption in:
- Cryptography
- Bio-medical research (protein folding)
- Financial modeling
- Physics
- AI and Quantum are distinct domains, but they may eventually converge in unexpected, synergistic ways.
6. China Invades Taiwan: Scenario Planning
- Taiwan’s centrality in semiconductor manufacturing is a global risk.
- Any conflict could trigger:
- Global financial instability
- Massive supply chain shifts
- Sanctions against China
- Long-term currency devaluation (e.g., Chinese yuan)
- Businesses are already diversifying production to India, Vietnam, and Mexico.
Closing Thoughts
CIOs must think globally, anticipate disruption, and invest in agility—technological, organizational, and strategic.
AI and Quantum will reshape the future—possibly together—while supply chains, talent models, and geopolitical alignment are rapidly transforming.
It was great seeing all of you who joined us! Have a wonderful summer and thanks to Joel Plaut for the awesome CIO Forum poem he provided below!
-malka
Malka Treuhaft
Executive Director East Coast CIO Forum &
President
Truision Inc.
646.942.2625 (office)
917.589.1069 (mobile)
www.truision.com
Ode to the East Coast CIO Forum – May 2025
For the Visionaries, the Instigators, and the Ones Who actually know and care
In a room where chaos quietly brews,
We gathered, tech-tuned, sharp in our shoes.
AI’s rise and tariffs’ bite,
Quantum dreams and dollar’s flight—
Each topic a tempest, each slide a spark,
And yes, a side-eye or two from Mark.
Google may shatter, one piece at a time,
As regulators line up to mount the climb.
Alphabet soup spilled out on the floor—
With Amazon, Microsoft next through the door.
Junior devs, we grieve your fate,
Replaced by bots that automate.
Testing too, and data clerks,
Swept away by smarter perks.
Yet amid the gloom, a hopeful creed:
Critical minds are what we’ll need.
Quantum whispers in encrypted tones,
Rewriting math and protein zones.
China’s listening, logging all,
Waiting for Quantum’s curtain call.
AI stumbles, but will soon ascend—
Chaos now, but not the end.
And Taiwan—our linchpin made of chips—
One misstep and the world flips.
Supply chains shift, inflation roars,
And geopolitics rattles boardroom doors.
Yet through it all, one truth did shine:
The minds in this room will realign.
With strategy sharp and courage wide,
We surf the wave, we will not hide.
With sincere thanks…
To Paolo Pelizzoli, who held the floor,
And cracked our minds wide open once more.
To Malka Treuhaft, of Truision legacy and fame,
Who conjured this gathering of brilliant minds—boldness, logistics, no shame.
To Steve Scolnik, host with class,
At Apogem, where wisdom’s passed.
To Regina, the superwoman unseen,
Behind every seamless in-between.
To Joel, who merely pasted into ChatGPT to write what none of us could,
(We were nodding, but the AI actually understood.)
And to Mark Donner, sharp and all—
From his Manhattan log cabin, you poked the bear, and made us brawl.
So here’s to the CIO Forum, a gathering rare,
Of minds that challenge, build, and care.
Let’s meet again, and boldly so—
For the future is near, and CIOs know.
