Things pile up in IT—whether it’s emails in the inbox, tickets at the help desk, or those 20 outdated Windows 10 laptops that are currently blocking the door to your office.

But it’s a new year, which means it’s a perfect time to get the most unwieldy IT jobs in order.

A selection of IT pros shared the tasks that lead to the most messes, build-ups, and disorganization, along with their recommendations on how to clean things up in 2026.

List it.—BH

There are certain types of chief information security officers (CISOs)—three specifically, according to research group IANS—who get invited to the executive dining room: Executive-level CISOs, who engage with the board and support corporate strategy, director-level CISOs, who maintain operations and protect data, and VPs, who do a little bit of both.

But a new IANS and Artico Search report reveals a gradual vanishing of the VP-level security officer, leading to more executive-level positions and a greater division between exec CISOs and their director-level counterparts.

According to the report, which polled over 660 CISOs in the US and Canada in 2025:

• Just under half (46%) of CISOs have executive titles; VPs and directors each represented 27% of respondents
• Executive-level CISO roles at large enterprises rose from one-third in 2023 to 47% in 2025
• Executive-level titles grew, thanks in part to VP-level promotions or replacements

Corner office time.—BH

When Sara Bee, senior staff software engineer at Slack, recently visited the company’s New York office, she used the latest version of Slackbot to help connect to the printer.

That might not sound like a big deal, until you realize that in order to accomplish that everyday IT task, the Slackbot needs to pull the answer from conversations on the company’s help-desk channel, which requires it to parse texts for precise instructions. For good measure, the bot added some internal documentation.

“I can get an answer really quickly without having to invoke another human for a question like this,” Bee said.

Bot to the future.—BH

CollabWORK connects you to the hidden job market through IT Brew and other trusted channels. Browse roles curated specifically for this community by clicking through to the job board.

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