More than two thirds or CIOs base pressured decisions on instinct despite 76% admitting it’s often at odds with data sources or third-party advice, research has revealed.

With IT occupying a more strategic role in businesses than ever before, favouring personal instinct could owe to a greater feeling of accountability for decisions.

In the study by Colt of 201 European IT decision makers, the majority (71%) said intuition and personal experience is, on balance, more effective than data intelligence when making decisions.

When managing external events, more CIOs rated professional experience (69%) as being most important to making decisions than using data and intelligence (66%).

More IT leaders felt that when responding to emerging customer requirements, professional experience (67%) informed effective decisions, rather than relying on data and intelligence (61%).

And, significantly, professional experience was also considered of higher importance (63%) than data and intelligence (56%) when dealing with changing compliance regulations.

Meanwhile, more than three quarters (76%) of survey respondents agreed that trust between suppliers is the most important element in ensuring successful outcomes during pivotal moments. And 78% considered technology partners as a source of technical innovation.

“The research indicates the IT department is often too insulated,” said Carl Grivner, EVP at Colt. “When the stakes are high and a CIO is feeling the pressure to make the right decision that will result in business and career success, the natural reaction is to draw on instinct and professional judgement.

“Other sources of expertise have limited influence – in particular input from peers in other parts of the business. In today’s digital world, there must be a greater engagement with other business areas and external resources to drive success.”

See also: Government CIOs use of data analytics: challenges, opportunities and differences