How Trump’s policies have shaken America’s IT departments

Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s annual CIO Network Summit in Menlo Park this week, tech leaders said the new administration’s approach to tariffs, AI governance, cybersecurity and immigration are all spurring talk of changes in strategy.

At the same time, many are watching Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency with quiet admiration. In some cases, they were jealous of, even inspired by, the sledgehammer approach to bureaucracy.

“Might a shock wave break some of that up? Possibly," said Craig Martell, chief AI officer of software company Cohesity and former chief digital and artificial intelligence officer U.S. Department of Defense.

Craig Martell, chief AI officer at Cohesity and former chief digital and artificial intelligence officer at the U.S. Department of Defense, speaks at The Wall Street Journal CIO Network Summit in Menlo Park, Calif., Feb. 10, 2025.

In other cases, they voiced concern about contracts and funding drying up and DOGE’s approach to cutting potentially valuable talent.

“If we cut too deeply, too fast, I’m a little bit worried, so I might be more comfortable erring on the side of waste to make sure things don’t drop," Martell added.

Efficiency is something CIOs need more than ever to handle changes coming down the pipeline in terms of Trump’s tariff plans. CIOs said the tariffs are likely to raise prices on everything from laptops to computing chips even as IT budgets remain stagnant, forcing them to find efficiencies elsewhere.

“Whether it’s 12, 18, 24 months from now, there will be a cost increase across the board from a hardware standpoint," said Eric Tan, CIO and chief security officer of Flock Safety, which provides software and hardware like drones to surveillance systems to law enforcement agencies and other companies, at the Summit.

As a result, some CIOs are trying to squeeze as much life as they can out of existing devices, like laptops and postponing refreshment cycles, said Nina D’Amato, chief technology strategist for the public sector at PC maker Lenovo. Others are pushing forward replacement cycles to get orders in before tariff-related price increases take effect, she added.

Although implementing artificial intelligence is something organizations are overall keen for, they also have whiplash over the shifting government stance on AI regulation. Last month, President Trump revoked his predecessor’s 2023 executive order on AI as part of his day one flurry.

“Basically it really burdened companies with a lot of safety measures before they release a piece of software, a large language model," said Amjad Masad, CEO of AI company Replit, about the order, adding that the repeal was largely a good thing.

But for some it simply created uncertainty about where they should or shouldn’t deploy AI, stalling their plans. Many expressed interest in the creation of an entity reporting to the president that would monitor the escalation of AI threats that could put the public in danger.

“We do want regulation, but a bit of it," said Alon Jackson, co-founder and CEO of enterprise software company Astrix Security, adding that the regulation could be analogous to cars. “Cars have brakes and obviously seat belts, and we all want cars."

One area where technology leaders felt positive was any push by the administration toward boosting technical education, particularly in cybersecurity.

On Feb. 3, Trump declared February as Career and Technical Education Month, said Thomas Phelps, CIO and SVP of corporate strategy at software company Laserfiche. “We always like to say that security is everyone’s responsibility," he said, adding “support for funding cybersecurity education in both K to 12 and higher is going to be critical to our nation’s defense and also to our businesses."

There was a sense among Summit attendees that the new administration could fuel more venture dollars and more innovation—even as it creates risks in other areas, like possibly reducing the number of visas for skilled tech workers.

“My worry about the extreme right would be that you kill the golden goose on immigration. And the thing I worry about on the extreme left is you kill the golden goose which is the capital flywheel and the investment flywheel," said Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of enterprise software provider Box.

“But now as I kind of look at this new administration, I’m pretty excited about the amount of tech," Levie said, adding he believes it is an administration that stands for “Pro growth, less regulation, driving more of an abundance oriented mindset, less regulation on AI, and a more tech oriented mindset."

Write to Isabelle Bousquette at isabelle.bousquette@wsj.com