Tables
Monthly tables of eight, matched to your problem
A host, a framed question and a ten-minute pre-read. You spend the 90 minutes on the decision, not on introductions.
The peer table for technology leaders
Where CIOs think out loud, off the record.
Eight vetted technology leaders. One hard decision. Worked through in 90 minutes under the Chatham House Rule, with no vendors in the room and a brief you can take to your board.
- No vendor pitches
- Chatham House Rule
- Peer-vetted
- Leave in two clicks
On the table
Which AI use cases do we fund, gate or kill this quarter?
90 minutes · Chatham House- CIO
- CISO
- CIO
- CTO
- CDO
- CIO
- CIO
- Host
- AI governance
- Clean core
- FinOps
- Cyber resilience
- Agentic AI
- Product operating model
- Board reporting
- Technical debt
- Zero trust
- Third-party risk
- Platform engineering
- First 100 days
- EU AI Act
- DORA
- Seats per table
- 8
- Small enough that everyone speaks, large enough for real range.
- Vendors in the room
- 0
- No sponsors, no sales roles. Nobody buys access to members.
- Minutes, one decision
- 90
- Framed in advance, worked fully, closed with a commitment.
- Brief you keep
- 1
- Two anonymized pages you can adapt for your board.
01Why a table
The hardest calls in the job don’t fit on a keynote stage.
Most CIO gatherings are built for sponsors. CIO Cafe is built for the moment you need a peer who has already made the call you’re about to make, and who has nothing to sell you.
The usual circuit
- Keynotes and panels you could have watched later
- Vendor dinners where the host has a quota
- Two hundred badges, three real conversations
- Slides that repeat what every analyst said
- Nothing to take to the board on Monday
A CIO Cafe table
- Eight vetted peers matched by role, scale and problem
- No vendors, sponsors or sales roles, by rule
- One decision, framed in advance, worked for 90 minutes
- What actually happened, including what went wrong
- An anonymized Field Brief, ready for your board
02Inside a table
Ninety minutes, drawn to scale.
The same shape every time. No minute goes on logistics or introductions. Pick a topic to preview a real-format table brief.
- Frame10 min
The decision in one sentence, and the constraint that makes it hard.
- Peer cases45 min
Two or three members who faced it describe what they did and what it cost.
- Pressure-test25 min
The table challenges assumptions. The host keeps it on the decision.
- Commit10 min
A stated next step. The Field Brief follows within a week.
Which AI use cases do we fund, gate or kill this quarter, and who signs off when something goes wrong?
- How are peers tiering AI use cases by risk, and where does each tier get approved?
- What evidence convinced the board: model inventory, incident log, or value tracking?
- Which controls from NIST AI RMF and ISO/IEC 42001 were worth the effort, and which were theater?
Sample takeawayStart with an inventory and a one-page risk tiering. Ship guardrails for the top tier first; don't try to govern everything on day one.
Illustrative table · 8 seats, matched by role and scale
Re-platform, clean core or keep patching: what does the business case actually need to prove?
- How did peers size technical debt in terms a CFO accepts?
- What did 'clean core' mean in practice, and what customizations survived?
- Where did the program timeline really slip: data, testing, or change management?
Sample takeawayFund the data migration and testing workstreams as if they were the whole program. Nobody at the table regretted doing that.
Illustrative table · 8 seats, matched by role and scale
If the worst day happened tomorrow, what would the board ask first, and could we answer it in an hour?
- Which recovery-time claims survived a real exercise, and which did not?
- How are peers splitting accountability between the CIO and the CISO in an incident?
- What third-party concentration risk are we carrying without having named it?
Sample takeawayRun the tabletop with the executive committee, not just IT. The decisions that stall are business decisions.
Illustrative table · 8 seats, matched by role and scale
Product teams, platform teams, or both: how should IT be organized for the next five years?
- What changed first: funding model, team shape, or leadership roles?
- How did peers keep run-the-business reliability through the reorg?
- Which metrics told them the new model was working, or wasn't?
Sample takeawayMove funding to persistent teams before redrawing the org chart. The structure follows the money.
Illustrative table · 8 seats, matched by role and scale
03Membership
Everything is built around one decision at a time.
Tables are the core. Everything else helps you arrive prepared and leave with something you can use.
Field Briefs
Anonymized, board-ready takeaways
Two pages: the options, what peers chose, what they would change.
Ask the table
A peer answer in days, not quarters
CIO Pulse
A quarterly read on peer priorities
Open glossary
Plain-language answers, free for all
04Find your table
Three answers, and we’ll show you where you’d sit.
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent or stored.
Your recommended table
Matched by a host on requestThe AI Governance Table
Which AI use cases do we fund, gate or kill, and who signs off?
- Format
- Founders’ Table: 8 sitting CIOs, 90 minutes, monthly
- Peers
- Paired with global-enterprise peers facing comparable complexity
- Read first
- AI Governance Playbook
05House rules
Trust is the product. These rules protect it.
“We will never write a testimonial for you, invent a number or borrow a logo. The table is the proof.”
Chatham House, always
Use what you hear, never who said it. Never recorded.
No one is selling
No vendors, sponsors or sales roles at any table.
Bring a decision
Every table starts from a real, live decision.
Say what went wrong
The failure is the most valuable part of the story.
Proof, not polish
We never invent numbers, quotes or logos.
Easy to leave
Two clicks. We’d rather earn your next month.
Owner: verified member quotes (name, title, organization, with consent) go here once founding tables have met
06The library
Playbooks for the decisions that define the role.
Open to everyone, updated as the field changes. One canonical guide per decision, not fifty thin posts.
- The CIO’s AI Governance Playbook
- The CIO’s First 100 Days
- The CIO Glossary: 24 terms in plain language
- Core modernization business cases
- Proving cyber recovery to the board
Is what I say at a CIO Cafe table really off the record?
Yes. Every CIO Cafe table runs under the Chatham House Rule: you may use what you hear, but never attribute it to a person or an organization. Tables are not recorded. The Field Brief that follows is anonymized and reviewed by the people at the table before it circulates.
Will vendors or sponsors be in the room?
No. Tables are closed to vendors, sponsors and sales roles. Nobody can buy access to members, attendee lists or contact details. If CIO Cafe ever takes sponsorship, it will fund public research, never seats at the table, and that will be disclosed on this page.
How much time does membership take?
Plan on one 90-minute table a month and a pre-read of about ten minutes. Asking peers questions between tables is optional. Tables are scheduled around quarter-end and board cycles, not over them.
Who can join CIO Cafe?
CIO Cafe is for sitting CIOs and the leaders who share their decisions: CTOs, CDOs, CISOs and VPs on the CIO track. Every application is reviewed by hand so that each table stays peer-level. See who it is and isn’t for.
What does it cost?
You will see the full terms before you commit to anything: price, renewal date and how to cancel. Cancelling takes two clicks, with no phone call. Founding-cohort terms are shared with applicants during review. Owner: publish pricing here once set
Can I leave whenever I want?
Yes. You can leave from your account in two clicks. No retention call, no exit interview and no guilt copy.
Founding tables now forming
Your next hard decision deserves better company.
Tell us what you’re working on. A person reads every request and replies within two business days.