Winning the global race: How European CIOs are building for international success

Tata Communications explains how CIOs can turn complexity into clarity and global ambition into tangible results.

The year 2040 may sound distant. But it’s closer than we think – nearer to us than Bitcoin’s launch. By then, the global economy is projected to double to $221 trillion in GDP.

This represents a huge opportunity for ambitious UK and European businesses. Yet for CIOs, the greatest risk isn’t ambition – it’s stagnation, driven by legacy infrastructure that slows transformation and limits scalability. 

European enterprises must scale globally, while navigating market volatility, political uncertainty, rising costs and complex compliance. Without the right digital strategies and agility, many risk being locked out of the next wave of global growth.

A new global agenda

For European CIOs, the priority is clear: Build a digital fabric that unites data and systems securely, modularly and at scale across geographies. 

This fabric is no longer just an internal asset, but the foundation of how enterprises scale, partner and compete globally. Amit Kapoor, Vice President and Head of Europe, Tata Communications, explains. “Digital transformation in Europe isn’t just about upgrading technology. It’s about integrating infrastructure, gaining observability across regions and adapting to complex regulatory and fragmented technology ecosystems – all at once.” 

Thomas Achhorner, Chief Digital and Information Officer at sustainability consultancy, ERM adds: “The frequency and volume of digital communication is growing at a staggering pace. Providing a reliable, high-performance network is now one of IT’s most important responsibilities.” 

Throughout Europe, complexity grows from fragmented regulation, technical debt – especially in manufacturing – and sprawling infrastructures combining legacy systems, regional networks and cloud overlays. Businesses pursuing M&A face barriers from inconsistent security to siloed IT environments.

Amit Mehrotra, Vice President, Head of UK and Ireland at Tata Communications, notes: “Many UK institutions are still operating with platforms that are five to seven years behind. They’re under pressure from regulators to modernise – but without the right partnerships in place, they end up firefighting instead of building strategically.” 

3 challenges for CIOs

CIOs across Europe face three main challenges on their path to global readiness:

• Consistency & integration – Seamless connectivity, stability and rapid scalability are critical. Yet inconsistent infrastructure, fragmented compliance and varying data laws, such as GDPR, disrupt standardisation. M&A adds friction with identity misalignment and security risk.
• Simplifying international systems – Geopolitical shifts – including Brexit and supply chain vulnerabilities – demand diversification. Establishing compliant and performant environments in new territories introduces risks. Amit Mehrotra observes: “In the UK, many enterprises are still figuring out what digital-first really means – especially for customer experience and hybrid work. It’s why we start with discovery: understanding the business context before recommending the right solutions.”
• The pace of change – Technology lifecycles are shrinking. In many European markets, tech refresh cycles now outpace planned timelines, forcing CIOs to reassess strategy. Kapoor adds, “This shift is making rigid long-term strategies unworkable. Infrastructure plans must now be agile by design – responsive to change, yet grounded in resilient, observable architectures.” 

Solving these challenges requires more than upgrades. It takes strategic partnerships that align infrastructure, regulation and innovation at a global scale.

Why partnership matters

CIOs need partners who can tailor infrastructure by market and evolve with it. Tata Communications brings both. As a global tier-one connectivity provider, it offers the scale and expertise essential to global growth – not just infrastructure, but architecture for efficiency, performance and customer experience. 

Its transformation approach combines local expertise with collaboration. Through its Digital Fabric – spanning network, cloud, interaction and IoT – Tata Communications integrates infrastructure into a secure, observable environment. This ensures every layer scales in sync, reducing complexity, improving resilience and helping CIOs focus resources where they add the most value.

With teams across Europe, it helps customers navigate regulation, vendors and compliance. In the UK it partners with mid-sized enterprises and financial institutions to align infrastructure with FCA requirements and hybrid expectations – supporting transformation that builds trust and resilience. 

It has also helped global organisations like Clariant and Air France KLM build hybrid WAN environments – enabling seamless connectivity, reduced latency and strong digital foundations.

Nick Reeks, Director of IT at Tata Steel, says: “When sales or marketing want to launch a new platform overnight, our job in IT is to make sure the right checks are done – privacy, compliance and integration. With today’s complexity you can’t cover it all alone – you need expert partners who understand the risks and the technology.” 

Tata Communications is simplifying customer experience and communication and through unified platforms such as Kaleyra AI and Kaleyra TX, bringing together SMS, WhatsApp, RCS, voice and AI into one intelligent interface that improves responsiveness, reduces cost and supports faster engagement.

It also co-creates digital roadmaps with CIOs – aligning solutions with sector maturity, regulation and business goals. For Tyger Capital, Tata Communications delivered end-to-end compliance across cloud and network infrastructure to meet India’s Reserve Bank of India (RBI) requirements. 

Amit Mehrotra states: “We don’t believe in a ‘spray and pray’ approach to transformation. Every engagement must be rooted in context, guided by deep industry, domain and data expertise, and a domain-aligned technology approach – because every business operates 
within its own unique ecosystem.”

These partnerships don’t just modernise infrastructure; they deliver measurable impact. Across Europe, enterprises are reducing deployment cycles, lowering overheads, enhancing service quality, improving NPS and freeing up IT teams to focus on innovation.

A global future

As we head toward 2040, digital infrastructure will define who wins and who falls behind. CIOs investing in scalable, secure and observable foundations won’t just keep up with disruption – they’ll lead it.

Across Europe, Tata Communications is already helping enterprises simplify infrastructure, reduce latency and enable secure, real-time cross-border connectivity. From manufacturers in Germany to logistics in the UK and retailers in France, its digital fabric is empowering more agile, confident, high-growth organisations.