About
The CIO job is lonelier than it looks.
CIO Cafe exists because the most useful conversation a technology leader can have is with a peer who has already made the decision, and who has nothing to sell.
Why we exist
Built on a simple observation.
CIOs are asked to make decisions whose consequences outlast their tenure: which AI to trust, which core systems to rebuild, how to organize the people who run everything. Most of the advice available comes from someone with a product, a practice or a keynote to sell.
The best advice comes from a peer who has lived the decision, can tell you what it cost, and gains nothing if you follow them. That conversation is rare because it needs three conditions at once: trust, the right people and no audience.
CIO Cafe is built to create those conditions on purpose: small tables, vetted peers, the Chatham House Rule and no vendors in the room. The coffee is a metaphor. The confidentiality is not.
House rules
Six rules every table keeps.
Chatham House, always
Use what you hear, never who said it. Tables are never recorded.
No one is selling
No vendors, sponsors or sales roles at a table, and nobody buys access to members.
Bring a decision
Every table starts from a real decision. War stories are welcome only when they serve it.
Say what went wrong
The most valuable thing a peer can share is the part that didn’t work.
Proof, not polish
We don’t invent numbers, testimonials or logos. If we can’t verify it, we don’t publish it.
Easy to leave
Leaving takes two clicks. We’d rather earn your next month than trap it.
The people
Hosted by practitioners, not presenters.
Every table host is a current or former technology executive, trained to keep a room of senior leaders on the decision.
Owner: add founders and hosts with real names, photos, titles and LinkedIn links (Person schema). This is the strongest trust signal on the page.