The year is brand new, but the trends are ever-evolving.

We spent much of 2023 tracking the tech talent ecosystem, in the aftermath of a stubborn layoffs wave which roiled the tech sector. Cloud costs also remained top of mind for leaders, as new features landed more workloads in the classic infrastructure.

But the showstopper, no doubt, was generative AI. Prominently featured in most IT strategies laid out during the past year, we covered this fast-rising technology from the enterprise and vendor perspectives.

As providers raced to add new features to their platforms, tech leaders advanced from pilots to wider deployments, always searching for clear business advantages.

Cybersecurity, too, will press CIOs into action this year. Alongside CISOs, they will work to protect the company from sophisticated threat actors while meeting new cyber incident disclosure rules issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission at the end of 2023.

Below are seven stories we tracked closely last year and expect will continue to shape technology decisions.