Any advice for a new CIO planning their first budget for IT? What tips do you have for securing the funding IT needs?

Make sure you include all the budget on tech and leave nothing that is shadow. Reason is that when cuts come, you want to be able to manage the totality, not be left with a part that might have been optimized already.

For a first IT budget, my advice is to link every dollar to business outcomes—show how tech spend drives efficiency, security, or citizen value. Start small with quick wins that build trust, then layer in long-term investments. Speak the language of finance, not just technology, and frame IT as an enabler, not a cost center.