That’s all changing.

Chief information security officers are no longer just gatekeepers, but increasingly central to budgeting, technology evaluation, and vendor selection. Technology marketers need to think about how to engage with this new buyer, whose priorities can differ significantly from the CIO’s.

Foundry’s latest Security Priorities Study found that security leaders are now deeply embedded in executive decision-making. Almost all, 95%, regularly engage with the board of directors and 70% of organizations assign explicit responsibility for cyber risk to the board. In addition, the majority of CSOs now report directly to the CEO, which was recently reported in the brand new 2026 State of the CIO Survey.

While many CISOs still sit within IT, a growing number report directly to business leadership, including CEOs, chief risk officers, or boards. The takeaway: cybersecurity is increasingly seen as a strategic risk function rather than just an IT problem.

The expanding role of CISOs amplifies their role in purchasing decisions. Security leaders are now responsible for a broad portfolio that includes risk management, regulatory compliance, cloud security, data protection, and increasingly, artificial intelligence governance.

The Foundry study revealed that more than half of CISOs believe their scope has become unmanageable with available resources. At the same time, they are expected to deliver on a broader range of business outcomes, from resilience to operational efficiency.

The research also found that security decision-makers are taking on greater responsibility for cybersecurity strategy, policy development, and emerging technologies, including AI. They are directly influencing budget allocation, with spending priorities tied to business objectives such as profitability, efficiency, and innovation.

This combination positions CISOs as key arbiters of value, not just risk.

For CISOs, this environment demands rigorous evaluation. Every investment must demonstrate not only technical effectiveness but also integration, scalability, and alignment with broader risk and business strategies.

For technology marketers, the implications are significant. Engaging CISOs requires a different approach than connecting with traditional IT buyers. Here are five strategies to employ.

• Lead with risk and business impact, not just features
  CISOs are accountable for enterprise risk. Messaging must connect directly to outcomes such as resilience, regulatory compliance, and risk reduction. Technical capabilities matter, but only in the broader context of measurable business value.
• Simplify complexity, don’t add to it
  More than three-quarters of security decision-makers say it is difficult to determine which tools best fit their needs. The operational burden of disconnected systems and overlapping technologies is growing. Given this fragmentation, CISOs prioritize solutions that reduce tool sprawl and technical overhead. Messages around platform consolidation, integration, and interoperability resonate more than point-solution differentiation.
• Be direct about AI’s risks and rewards
  While nearly three-quarters of respondents to the Foundry study said they are more likely to consider a solution that leverages AI, they are also aware of the risks of data exfiltration, ungoverned use and errors. Effective messaging must acknowledge both sides, emphasizing governance, transparency, and control features of cybersecurity solutions.
• Support the full journey
  CISOs are deeply involved in every stage of the buying process, from early research to final approval. They rely on data, peer insights, and evidence-based validation. Content strategies should include research, benchmarks, and real-world use cases that support every stage of the decision-making process.
• Make solutions understandable
  Because CISOs are increasingly accountable to boards, they must translate technical decisions into business language. Marketers can support this by providing materials that help CISOs communicate value and risk to non-technical stakeholders.

The elevation of the CISO is not a temporary trend. It reflects the broader transformation of board-level attitudes toward cybersecurity as a core element of business strategy rather than a supporting function.

CISOs have become one of the most influential voices in enterprise technology. Winning in this market requires CISOs to treat them that way, using strategies centered on trust, value, and measurable outcomes.

For technology marketers, the next step is getting in front of this audience directly – and in just three weeks, the CSO Cybersecurity Awards & Conference (May 11-13, Nashville) is where that happens. for brands ready to build awareness and pipeline with the CISOs and senior security executives shaping enterprise strategy for the year ahead.

Additionally, 92% of APAC CIOs anticipate their overall IT budget will either increase or remain the same in 2026, with the top technology initiatives driving IT investments being Generative AI, AI/machine learning, and Agentic AI. Supporting this, 79% of APAC CIOs agree that they’re tasked with researching and evaluating possibly AI additions to their tech stack. 

In the infographic below, you’ll get a full view into:

• Budget expectations for CIOs in APAC
• The top business and technology priorities for this year
• Where CIOs are spending more and less time this year
• How AI is reshaping the CIO agenda in APAC

Click on the image below to view the full infographic.

These individuals are also optimistic about tech budget growth in order to move forward with their projects. Eighty-seven percent expect their overall IT budget to either increase or stay the same in 2026. Top reasons for budget increases include infrastructure modernization, additional investments in AI/machine learning projects, and keep pace with rising costs of technology and services. It’s also no surprise that given the AI frenzy this past year, 81% of EMEA CIOs say they’re tasked with researching and evaluating AI additions to add to their tech stack. 

In the infographic below, you’ll get a full view into:

• Budget expectations for CIOs in EMEA
• The top business and technology priorities for this year
• Where CIOs are spending more and less time this year
• How AI is reshaping the CIO agenda in EMEA

Click on the image below to view the full infographic.

The majority (83%) of North American CIOs say that their role is becoming more digital and innovation focused. These CIOs are spending more time on creating a framework and organizational structure to support initiatives and also aligning IT initiatives with business goals. 

In the infographic below, you’ll get a full view into:

• Budget expectations for CIOs in North America
• The top business and technology priorities for this year
• Where CIOs are spending more and less time this year
• How AI is reshaping the CIO agenda in North America

Click on the image below to view the full infographic.

Recent Foundry studies have shown that AI is rapidly becoming the primary interface for buyers evaluating tech purchases. This has implications not only for buyer behavior, but also for how vendors position, surface, and validate their offerings. 

The good news is that the transition isn’t taking place overnight. AI platforms accounted for just .15% of global internet traffic in 2025, compared to 48.5% from organic search, . But AI traffic is growing fast and could pull even with search engines by 2029, according to some estimates. 

The reason is simple: Recommendations from AI engines convert at a four to five times higher rate than search results, .  

Top of the funnel 

Foundry research shows that AI has inserted itself at the very top of the discovery funnel. The 2026 AI Priorities study found that 99% of IT decision-makers currently use AI in the tech buying process, with the top use cases being to compare solutions and features (48%) and define technical requirements (47%).  

This shift has come at the expense of more traditional comparative tools such as analyst reports, peer networks, and events. For example, the use of product demos and pilot testing in evaluation dropped by half from 66% to 33% in just one year. While still important, the role of established evaluation channels is shifting later in the buying process.  

These results point to a bigger trend: reduced time devoted to purchasing research. Historically, enterprise technology buying followed a staged progression, such as initial awareness through search or events, shortlist development supported by analyst and peer input, and validation through demos and proofs of concept.  

AI collapses much of that sequence into a single interaction. Large language models excel at synthesizing data from multiple sources into a single recommendation. Evaluation sources such as product reviews, blog posts, and social network comments are consolidated and delivered without buyers having to consult each source. 

Instead of navigating a fragmented information landscape, buyers are delegating synthesis to AI systems that deliver a single narrative. Vendor consideration sets are being shaped earlier and with less direct vendor interaction. 

For marketers, the first impression increasingly happens inside an AI-generated summary rather than on a website, event, or in a sales conversation.  

Trust factor 

Fortunately, survey results indicate buyers aren’t inclined to take AI recommendations at face value, at least not yet. When an LLM produces a recommendation or shortlist, buyers triangulate with other sources. The AI Priorities study found that 53% cross-check with analyst or editorial content, 47% visit vendor websites, and 43% consult peers. Those figures are consistent with pre-AI behaviors. Traditional sources haven’t disappeared; they’ve become a confirmation step rather than a primary discovery mechanism. 

Notably, more than half of respondents to the AI Priorities study said they place only “moderate trust” in LLM outputs, while about one-third express high trust. The technology is moving quickly, however, and improvements in LLM output are likely to boost trust scores over time.  

For vendors, the new priorities are to achieve visibility into AI outputs and consistency across the external sources buyers use to verify them. 

Visibility in AI engines depends on how well a vendor’s information is represented across the range of sources that AI systems ingest and synthesize. While traditional techniques for achieving search visibility, such as optimizing for indexed pages and keyword queries, are still valid, AI optimization differs in several key ways.  

AI outputs are less forgiving. Instead of presenting a list of results, they provide a single synthesized answer unless asked otherwise. Vendors that don’t appear in that result are effectively invisible.  

Search engines match queries to keywords and backlinks. LLMs interpret intent and generate answers based on semantic relationships. This means vendor-generated content must clearly articulate use cases, differentiation, and outcomes in natural language, not just targeted keywords. 

AI models draw from a wide range of sources, including analyst reports, editorial coverage, reviews, and community discussions. Credibility is determined by consistency across the ecosystem, not just messaging on a vendor’s website. This makes third-party sources a more critical validation element. Bylined articles, videotaped interviews, and positive media coverage are more important than ever. The objective shifts from attracting traffic to influencing how the category and vendor are described within the answer to a prompt. 

There’s good news in the research for new companies, in particular. The AI Priorities study found that 65% of organizations now have dedicated AI budgets, up from 36% just two years ago. It also found that three-quarters of organizations expect to add new vendors to their portfolios. With many new entrants coming on the market, this suggests that the vendor landscape is becoming more dynamic and fluid, offering greater opportunities for new companies to gain visibility.  

Here’s what marketers can do to boost their AI visibility in the short term. 

• Structure content for comprehension, not just indexing. Clearly articulate capabilities, use cases, and differentiation points to increase the likelihood that AI systems will understand and accurately portray them.  

• Create structured, machine-readable content using tools such as schema markup and product definitions. Map relationships between the company, product, and use case. FAQs are an excellent tool. 

• Double down on third-party validation. Analyst coverage, independent reviews, and editorial mentions are not just credibility signals for humans but also source material for AI synthesis and later validation.  

• Use consistent naming across channels and encourage partners and influencers to do the same. Discrepancies between vendor messaging and external descriptions can reduce the chance of inclusion in AI-generated summaries. 

• Promote experts. AI engines look for proof that the people who build products have the skills to solve the problems customers ask about.  

Think of AI engines as proxies for human researchers. Technical factors like metatags, keyword frequency, and keyword proximity are less important than demonstrated expertise and third-party validation. 

Visibility is no longer just about being found. It’s about being understood.  

Molly doesn’t hear much from IT vendors, but she doesn’t think she needs to. She gets much of her advice from influencers she follows on Tik-Tok and Instagram. She also follows several IT vendors on those platforms and likes to share the offbeat and entertaining videos they post.

Molly is part of Generation Z, people born between 1997 and 2012. Gen Z workers comprised about 18% of the U.S. labor force in 2024 and are now a larger population than Baby Boomers, . They’ll make up 30% of the U.S. workforce by 2030, . Gen Z was just 6% of respondents to Foundry’s 2023 Role & Influence study, but 15% in 2025.

This is a cohort to be reckoned with. Foundry has been tracking preferences by age group in IT marketing research for several years. An analysis of three years of recent studies reveals that engagement strategies must emphasize speed, new channels, concise content, and emotional tone.

Time is of the essence

Gen Z IT decision-makers move fast and expect vendors to do the same. In the 2024 Role & Influence Study, the group pegged the average buying process at 5.1 months, compared to 6.5 months for Boomers. They were also nearly twice as likely as other generations to say decisions take less than a month.

Younger buyers have less tolerance for delay. On average, they expect vendors to follow up on inquiries within 9.6 hours of submitting a request, according to the 2026 Customer Engagement research. That’s six hours faster than Generation X buyers (born between 1965 and 1980), and more than three hours faster than all surveyed buyers.

Interestingly, Gen Z is less concerned about marketing hype; just 19% cite it as a problem compared to 42% of Boomers, according to the 2026 Customer Engagement study. However, they are nearly twice as critical of content overload (32% versus 17%). Having grown up in a media-saturated environment, these younger folks are less impressed by volume than relevance.

Social savvy

Social media has been around since the oldest Gen Z buyers were in elementary school, so it’s not surprising that they rely on those channels for a wide range of information. But their preferences differ markedly from those of their older colleagues.

LinkedIn is broadly important across generations, but its core strength is with older groups. More than 80% of Boomers and Gen Xers consider LinkedIn valuable, compared to only 45% of Gen Z.

Younger buyers lean far more heavily into visual and short-form platforms. According to the 2024 Customer Engagement research:

• 71% of Gen Zers use Instagram compared to 20% of Boomers
• 56% use TikTok versus 7% of Gen Xers
• 93% use YouTube versus 50% of Boomers

Social media is more than a branding channel for this audience. It’s also an essential research tool. While only 5% of Boomers identified social media as a top-three information source for buying decisions, that figure was 33% among Gen Z.

The 2026 Customer Engagement study also found that the youngest buyers are less likely to visit vendor websites, more likely to sign up for newsletters, and even more inclined to purchase through social ads. They also favor AI-powered search experiences and data visualizations more than their older peers, while showing less interest in long-form content like white papers.

Three-quarters of Gen Zers listened to business-related podcasts in the past year, with a strong preference for on-demand formats over scheduled events. They are less likely to watch webcasts, meaning that thought leadership delivered via audio and short-form video can outperform traditional webinars with this group.

Share nicely

Gen Z respondents are more than twice as likely as Gen Xers and Baby Boomers to share content that evokes an emotional reaction, the 2025 Customer Engagement study found. They’re also three times more likely to share entertaining content than Boomers.

Trust and peer recommendations remain central, though. IT decision-makers of all ages are willing to share vendor information as long as they find it valuable. Enabling that sharing through compelling, easily distributable content can extend reach organically.

Purchasing is a collaborative process, and younger buyers prefer to have more voices involved. The average buying committee at the largest companies is 32 people, but in the 2024 Role & Influence study, Gen Zers told us an average of 37 people influence decisions at their companies. Boomers estimated the number at just 16.

This seems odd, given that many of these people work at the same companies. A possible reason: The younger cohort prefers to see more people involved, even if many don’t actually play a direct role in decisions.

Bottom Lines

Here are a few action items we believe marketers should take away from this research.

• Provide materials that are easy to forward internally. Make web and social content easily shareable.
• Provide concise summaries of long-form material.
• Equip your salesforce to respond to inquiries in hours instead of days.
• Hire or designate social media-savvy marketers, particularly those who are fluent in video.
• Emotional authenticity matters. Look for case studies and spokespeople who come across as genuine and trustworthy.
• Invest in native storytelling rather than repackaged advertising
• Enable peer validation and commentary through online communities and events such as videoconferences.

As Gen Z buyers grow in numbers and influence, marketing organizations should optimize for speed, informational value, and authenticity. Building credibility with this rising generation is essential. Relying on legacy playbooks is a ticket to irrelevance.

Key takeaways:

• Relevant and consistent content is essential – 75% are more likely to consider an IT vendor who educates them through each stage of the decision process. 

• IT decision-makers are still challenged to find high-quality content, with the main reasons being too much marketing hype/buzzwords and lack of truly independent, unbiased information. Uncertainty if content is produced by a product expert or if it is AI generated does not top the list, likely because ITDMs are familiar with what AI is capable of doing.  

• Product testing/reviews/opinions, technology news articles, and product demos continue to be the top relied upon content types throughout the tech purchase process. Presentation of content is also important, as 76% of ITDMs say that they are more likely to engage with a variety of content if it is presented in an organized experience.  

• Vendors have a higher chance of gaining customers or receiving a response to outreach by understanding the importance of trust and brand reputation. More than three quarters of ITDMs say that they are more willing to exchange contact details with a company that they already have a relationship with.

• The number one rule in tech advertising – provide value. The majority (95%) of ITDMs have engaged with online advertisements, with addressing current needs, challenges or business objectives, or educated them about a technology or an important issue, increasing the likelihood of engagement.  

• Don’t miss the window – the average amount of time ITDMs think is an acceptable timeframe to receive sales follow-up after requesting information has expedited – 13 hours on average. This decreases to 9.6 hours for Gen Z and is 11.4 hours for Millennials. 

The findings and trends in this report solidify the need that tech buyers have for consistent, valuable and trustworthy content. These individuals are tasked with researching, evaluating, and implementing new technologies while shifting organizational processes and require the appropriate educational resources and relationships to do so. 

View the sample slides below for additional insight and to better understand and engage with tech buyers.

Additional buyer’s journey resources

Research blog

About the research

Foundry’s 12th annual was conducted among the audience of 676 IT and business decision-makers. Foundry conducted this survey online throughout December 2025 to better understand the various types and volume of content consumed throughout the purchase process for major technology products and services. It also looks to gain insight into the preferences of IT decision-makers regarding IT vendor contact and follow-up during the purchase process. All respondents had IT or management titles, with 35% based in North America, 42% in Asia/ Pacific (APAC) regions, and 22% from Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA).

Contact us to explore the results by company size, region, generation, and more differences.  

the white paper to get deeper insight into:

• The average timeframe ITDMs expect to be followed up with after filling out a form to learn more about a tech solution.
• How ITDMs value product testing and the formats that prove the best.
• When ITDMs respond to vendor outreach and the steps tech vendors should take to ensure communication.
• The content types and information topics of most interest when ITDMs are researching new solutions.
• Key takeaways from the research for each region (EMEA vs. APAC vs. North America)