CIOs and CFOs Are Aligning to Spend Less and Secure More

Cybersecurity has become one of the most critical—and costly—areas of enterprise investment. As threats evolve, spending continues to climb. But here’s the disconnect: security outcomes aren’t improving at the same pace.

Tools are being added. Budgets are increasing. Yet breaches, gaps, and inefficiencies persist. In fact, global cybersecurity spending is expected to reach $262 billion by 2025. At the same time, cybercrime costs are projected to rise to $13.8 trillion.

In our last blog post, we introduced the concept of the Visibility Gap: the disconnect between what organizations are spending and what they’re actually securing. That gap isn’t just technical, it’s organizational. And increasingly, it’s where the relationship between the CIO and CFO is evolving.

Historically, CIOs and CFOs approached IT differently

For years, CIOs and CFOs have brought different—but equally critical—perspectives to IT and cybersecurity.

CIOs manage complex technology environments and prioritize risk reduction, uptime, and system performance. Their focus has been operational: prevent disruptions, safeguard data, and keep systems running securely.

CFOs, on the other hand, are responsible for cost control, forecasting, and ensuring financial accountability across all areas of spend. Their lens has been financial: where is the money going, and what is the business getting in return?

These weren’t opposing goals, they were simply parallel tracks. But with cyber threats now creating both operational disruptions and financial consequences, that separation is dissolving. CIOs are being asked to quantify the value of security investments. CFOs are being asked to understand the risk implications of budget decisions.

That convergence is creating a new kind of partnership. It’s one that emphasizes shared accountability, financial clarity, and strategic visibility.

Cybersecurity is now a shared responsibility

As mentioned, global cybersecurity spending is expected to reach $262 billion by 2025. At the same time, cybercrime costs are projected to rise to $13.8 trillion. That gap between investment and outcome is widening, and it’s putting pressure on leadership teams to ask harder questions—and work more collaboratively.

In our work with organizations across industries, we see a familiar set of challenges:

• Too many disconnected tools.
• Too little integration.
• Unclear ownership of risk.
• Overlapping functionality.
• No consistent way to evaluate value.

It’s not that IT teams are underperforming. It’s that they lack complete visibility into what’s deployed, what’s working, what’s not, and how all of it maps back to risk and cost. That missing visibility limits performance and weakens strategic decisions.

What’s encouraging is how many CIOs and CFOs are already stepping into this gap together. According to Deloitte, 84% of CFOs now consider cybersecurity risk part of their core financial oversight. And, there’s real operational alignment taking place. A recent EY survey found that 72% of CIOs and 65% of CFOs are now working more closely than ever to align on technology investments and outcomes.

This shift isn't a theoretical one. It’s a shift that’s already happening. And it’s redefining how organizations think about security, performance, and value.

Signs your have a Visibility Gap

If you’re unsure whether these challenges apply to your organization, here are some common signs to look for. Any one of them could indicate a visibility gap—and a major opportunity to improve performance, reduce waste, and increase control.

• You rely on multiple tools to monitor the same assets or functions.
• You don’t have a single, up-to-date inventory of cyber assets and tools.
• Your team can’t quickly map controls to business risks or compliance frameworks.
• You suspect overspending, but don’t have the data to back it up.
• Security costs are rising—but clarity and confidence aren’t.
• There’s little to no reconciliation between budget and usage (users, throughput, devices).
• Financial planning happens in isolation without input from security or IT leadership.

If any of these sound familiar, you're not alone. This is the reality for many organizations today. But it’s also fixable—with the right visibility and the right approach.

What’s driving the shift

Cyber risk is no longer siloed in IT. The impact of an incident stretches across every function, including finance, operations, legal, and HR. That has elevated cybersecurity to a board-level concern, and it’s brought the CFO into the conversation with greater urgency.

At the same time, CFOs are under pressure to scrutinize growing IT and cybersecurity budgets. It’s no longer enough to approve line items. Leadership wants to understand which tools are working, where overlap exists, and how spending aligns with outcomes.

And for CIOs, that level of financial oversight is no longer a burden. Rather, it’s an opportunity for CIOs to demonstrate value. The most effective technology leaders are embracing visibility not just as a security principle, but as a strategic one too.

When both roles align around shared data and shared goals, organizations benefit from more focused investments, faster decision-making, and fewer blind spots.

Where we see hidden value

At UncommonX, we’ve worked with organizations across industries to map their cybersecurity and IT environments. In almost every case, we uncover value that isn’t being realized. Typically, it’s not because of neglect, but because of visibility gaps.

Here’s where we typically see the most opportunity:

• Redundant tools acquired over time to solve similar problems
• Underused or oversized licenses based on outdated assumptions
• Features that exist in current tools but are not configured or enabled
• Gaps in protection due to misalignment between controls and actual risk
• Lack of alignment between spend, usage, and business priorities

These inefficiencies represent real financial waste. And they limit an organization’s ability to respond to risks quickly, mature security strategically, and demonstrate true cyber resilience.

What happens when CIOs and CFOs align

When CIOs and CFOs operate from the same source of truth, everything improves.

• You get faster answers about whether to renew a tool.
• You get clearer insight into where spend can be reduced or reallocated.
• You get better alignment between operational needs and financial planning.

And, you gain confidence—at the executive and board level—that cybersecurity isn’t just a cost center, but a measurable contributor to business resilience.

This level of alignment is becoming a competitive advantage. It allows teams to move faster, spend smarter, and secure more. All without constantly adding complexity or cost.

A real-world example

One organization we partnered with was spending millions annually on cybersecurity, with a stack that included leading tools and well-regarded vendors. But when we worked with their leadership team to review actual usage and coverage, we found:

• Multiple endpoint detection tools with overlapping functionality
• Firewall capacity sized for a five-year growth plan that never materialized
• Licensing mismatches across SaaS and Microsoft environments
• Gaps in asset protection due to fragmented control mapping

Within months, they identified over $500,000 in potential annual savings, and without sacrificing performance. In fact, by consolidating tools and improving visibility, they increased their control coverage and system efficiency.

The opportunity ahead

Cybersecurity maturity is no longer just about technology. It’s about visibility.

The most resilient organizations are the ones that align people, tools, and budgets around a shared understanding of risk and performance. That alignment starts with the CIO and CFO, and it’s driven by data, not instinct.

When those two leaders work from a common view, security becomes more actionable, more measurable, and more strategic.

An offer, not a sales pitch

At UncommonX, we help CIOs and CFOs gain that shared visibility through our Exposure Management platform and a structured approach that delivers clarity quickly.

• We help you map assets, tools, usage, and risk
• We surface underutilized licenses and overlapping capabilities
• We tie controls to business outcomes and industry frameworks like NIST
• And we give you the insights to make better decisions 

Whether it's through a structured 60-day engagement or an initial advisory conversation, we approach every organization with one question: What would your cybersecurity look like if you had complete visibility and didn’t waste a dollar?

For many organizations, the answer is worth a lot more than they expected. If you’re ready to take a fresh look at your environment we’d be happy to help. Contact us today.