Structural Clarity And Long-Term Infrastructure Investment Define Enduring CIO Leadership

CIO legacies are built in the org chart, not the press release. The transitions that endure are shaped by early structural calls on roles, decision rights, and foundational investments that quietly determine how the business runs long after the headlines fade. Day one is less about quick wins and more about designing the conditions that make future wins possible.

We spoke with Andrea Bergamini, the Vice President & Chief Information Officer at multinational materials and infrastructure leader Orbia, whose philosophy embodies this approach. A technology and cybersecurity executive with over 20 years of experience leading global teams through transformations at firms like ING and Cargill, Bergamini stepped into his current role with the "privilege," as he put it, of having five years of prior context within the company. From this vantage point, he believes the ultimate goal is to position the business for the future by making the operator side of IT disappear into the background.

"Legacy isn't about the visible transformation. It's about making the operator side of IT so reliable, so embedded, that it becomes invisible. When technology works like electricity, that's when you've truly positioned the business for the future," said Bergamini. That conviction drove how he approached his first year in the role. Rather than chasing early headlines, he focused on cleaning up the organizational architecture he inherited.

• Clearing muddled roles: One of the first things Bergamini addresses in any transition is structural ambiguity. "If you have people in multi-headed roles, those roles may have made sense at the time, but they are not future-fit," he said. "Clarifying decision rights, clearing up the roles for clear accountability and ownership, can give room for the next wave of leaders to succeed and shine." He starts this work immediately, treating it as a prerequisite for everything else.

• Brilliant basics: Beneath the organizational cleanup sits a deeper challenge: technology debt. Bergamini took a dual-track approach at Orbia, protecting what he called the "brilliant basics": long-term foundational investments in core infrastructure, while simultaneously pursuing business-facing work tied to ROI. "You cannot quick-win your way through a technology debt situation," he said. "But those are investments for your future that you absolutely need to protect as a corporation." The key is to be patient and persistent at the same time, accepting that foundational work takes years while keeping it fully funded.

That debt, he noted, does not stay hidden. It surfaces through business friction: a lack of flexibility in how data can be accessed, the inability to integrate with modern platforms, the frustration of executives who expect something the underlying infrastructure cannot support.

• Front-loading stability: Managing a leadership transition also means managing the human cost of change. Bergamini's approach was to front-load reassurance on what stays stable and overcommunicate on what will change. "We offered reassurances on things that were not changing and were deliberate about that. And then equally as transparent on the things that would change," he said. The goal is to give people clear boundaries so they can orient themselves rather than operate in constant uncertainty.

• Beyond theory: Even with clear communication, people want to know how change affects them personally. Bergamini used the ADKAR model for change management at Orbia to frame narratives at the individual level. "People will always look at the grand vision and say, okay, great. What does it mean for me?" he explained. "We were trying to be comprehensive in defining what we mean by change, and providing people clarity as to what it means for them, rather than keeping it at the theoretical vision-statement level."

On talent, Bergamini took a balanced approach rather than defaulting to a full reset. He invested in internal development for people who have demonstrated resilience through periods of uncertainty, while remaining intentional about where the organization needs outside perspective.

The broader shift Bergamini sees ahead is a convergence between resilience and value creation that could reshape who leads technology organizations. His own CISO-to-CIO path reflects this. "You can't create trust without security. You don't do security without business context," he said. As CISOs grow their influence and take on broader operational scope, the profile of the future CIO may look less like a traditional IT executive and more like a leader who understands enterprise risk as second nature.

For CIOs navigating the noise of a market that delivers a new tool or trend every week, Bergamini's advice is disarmingly simple. "When an executive comes to me saying they want to try this tool or that software, I just ask back: what is it that you're trying to do?" he concluded. "In a world full of noise, the CIO's job is to stay anchored in business outcomes. The tools will change, the trends will evolve, but if you remain clear on what you're trying to achieve, you can govern the change instead of being governed by it."