Insight · Digitalisation

Digitalisation left to the IT department becomes IT projects, not change

Peter Öberg · 1 November 2026 · 3 min read

I was a CIO for many years, and I have said it before: the digitalisation projects that succeeded best were rarely the ones IT drove. They were the ones where a business leader wanted something and used IT to get there.

Even central government loses its grip

When the Swedish National Audit Office reviewed government agencies' strategic digitalisation projects in 2025, it found among other things that digitalisation is rarely raised in the dialogue between ministries and agencies, and that few agencies are required to report on their IT development. The review covered projects from 136 agencies. Its recommendations to the government included setting measurable goals for digitalisation and following them up.

Translate that to a municipality or a company and it sounds familiar. Digitalisation is in the strategy, but it is rarely discussed at the leadership meeting, and nobody follows up what it has delivered.

To me it is obvious that business projects should be led by the business. IT is a supporting function. IT can and should advise, point out opportunities and propose options, but IT should never take over the business processes. When that happens, the result is systems that are technically good but that nobody in the business feels they own. As a former CIO, I know how easy it is to end up there, and how hard it is to get out.

Three signs digitalisation is too far from leadership

The IT budget is discussed, but not what it should deliver. The conversation is about licences and systems, not about the changes in the business they are meant to enable.

Projects are owned by IT. When a system is delivered, the project is done, but nobody in the business is responsible for making sure the way of working actually changes.

Nobody can say how far you have come. Without a few simple goals, you cannot tell whether you are on track.

What leadership can do

1. Give every major digitalisation initiative an owner in the business, with IT in a supporting role.
2. Set two or three goals in the language of the business, such as shorter processing times or fewer manual steps, and follow them up.
3. Put digitalisation on the leadership agenda every quarter, not as an IT report but as a business issue.

A question for your next leadership meeting

Which change in the business is our largest digitalisation initiative supposed to deliver, and who on the leadership team owns it?

Sources: Government communication 2025/26:33 on the audit of strategic digitalisation projects (Swedish) · Swedish National Audit Office, RiR 2025:8 (Swedish)