Growth is a top three priority for 54 per cent of CEOs and senior executives according to a global survey of large enterprises conducted by Gartner. Many have identified technology as an important lever to deliver that growth.

According to the technology analyst there is an engagement with technology coming from the C-suite that has not been seen since the end of the 1990s.

The survey of 410 C-suite executives (including 21 based in Australia and New Zealand where Gartner’s $US250 million company revenue cutoff would have limited eligibility to participate) uncovered particular enthusiasm for cloud computing and deployment of big data initiatives to steer decision making.

Certainly there is renewed optimism about the business outlook. According to the most recent index from Business Network International which was released this month 67.5 per cent of business leaders in Australia and New Zealand reported an improvement in business conditions compared to the year earlier.

Despite the improving business conditions Gartner has warned that although CEOs have an appetite for technology led transformation, many are lagging in terms of their understanding of what it will take to become a truly digital business and the disruption that might ensue. And although 22 per cent of CEOs said that IT was a top three business priority for the year ahead, only 3 per cent said that innovation or research and development was a top priority– which suggests a mismatch between ambition and understanding.

Gartner vice president Mark Raskino warned; “A decade of believing that IT was a commodity function, to be mostly outsourced, has left many business leaders in a position of relative weakness. Their vision and knowledge of the changes that technology makes possible are not strong enough. Their abilities in making deep, technology-enabled business change happen are not well practiced.”

There is also some evidence that CEOs might prove “me-too” technophiles as they grasp at technology as a way to snare some of the share market excitement being generated by technology companies and new listings.

Gartner’s report notes that digital disruption is expected to heat up across multiple business sectors over the coming two to three years. However its warning that; “We are not quite seeing bubble behavior yet – but we do see the investor herd instinct at work,” could temper some CEOs’ digital dreams.