Speaking at CIO Nordic, Gary Foote shared how lessons from Formula One can help technology leaders strengthen resilience, elevate the CIO role and turn technology into measurable business impact.
We talk about Formula One being very advanced, but ultimately the challenges are the same.
Formula One is often associated with speed, cutting-edge engineering and split-second decisions.
But beneath the spectacle lies something that may feel surprisingly familiar to today’s CIOs and CISOs.
Speaking at CIO Nordic, Gary Foote argued that many of the challenges facing Formula One teams mirror those confronting modern enterprises. Behind every race is a complex technology organisation—one that depends on data, cybersecurity, operational resilience and constant innovation to perform under pressure.
The difference is simply the stage.
Watch the full video interview below.
Formula One may be one of the world’s most technologically advanced sports, but Gary Foote believes its lessons are highly relevant beyond the racetrack.
Behind the scenes, Formula One teams operate much like advanced manufacturing businesses, facing many of the same questions that enterprise technology leaders are grappling with today—from AI adoption and data strategies to cybersecurity and operational resilience.
“We talk about Formula One being very advanced, but ultimately, the challenges are the same.”
Rather than viewing technology as an isolated IT function, successful organisations increasingly recognise it as a driver of business performance. For today’s CIOs, that means the conversation is shifting from keeping systems running to enabling competitive advantage.
One of the strongest themes throughout Gary Foote’s keynote was the increasingly close relationship between technology and cybersecurity leadership.
As AI creates new opportunities for automation and resilience, it also gives attackers more sophisticated tools. Organisations must therefore prepare not only to prevent attacks, but also to respond effectively when incidents occur.
“The CIO and the CISO role are entwined now.”
Foote believes cybersecurity leadership should no longer be viewed as a supporting function. Instead, CIOs and CISOs should work as equal partners, combining technology, security and resilience into a single leadership capability.
Technology failures in Formula One unfold in front of a global audience.
Every outage, delay or operational issue is immediately visible, creating enormous pressure to deliver flawless performance.
While most enterprises don’t operate under that level of scrutiny, Gary Foote believes the underlying shift is happening everywhere: technology is no longer simply supporting the business—it is shaping business outcomes.
“The CIO role is transformed from a technology service provision role over towards maybe a business impact role.”
That evolution is also changing how executive teams view technology leadership. Rather than focusing solely on infrastructure, CIOs are increasingly expected to influence revenue, competitiveness and long-term strategy alongside CEOs, CFOs and CMOs.
Looking ahead, Foote believes the most successful technology leaders will be those who never stop learning.
Technology is evolving too quickly for organisations to rely on yesterday’s knowledge. CIOs need to understand not only today’s tools, but also the technologies that will shape tomorrow’s competitive landscape.
“Stay ahead of technology trends.”
Events such as CIO Nordic help leaders exchange ideas, explore emerging technologies and understand how innovation can create measurable business value.
If there is one lesson Gary Foote believes every organisation can take from Formula One, it is the importance of data.
Formula One teams have spent decades refining how they collect, analyse and act on enormous volumes of information in real time. Success does not come from collecting more data—it comes from knowing how to use it.
Businesses today face the same challenge. Customer data, operational data and AI-generated insights all have the potential to improve performance, but only if organisations understand what matters and how to act on it.
“Understand the data that you have, understand where it needs to go, and understand what value you can bring.”
For Gary Foote, the goal is simple: move from insight to action. Organisations that can transform data into faster, better decisions will be better positioned to compete in an increasingly technology-driven world.
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