In this video I break down what a real technology career roadmap looks like in 2026 when you’re trying to advance on a budget. I’m not talking about “learn everything” advice—I’m talking about the leadership stuff that becomes your bread and butter as you move up: budgets, meetings, strategy, and making sure technology is enabling the business (not fighting it). If you want to be a strong IT manager, you’ve got to think big picture while still keeping BAU running—patching, security, uptime, and all the day-to-day that keeps the lights on. I show you how I structure an IT roadmap so you can present it to a director, CEO, or board: categories (ops, infra, security/compliance, governance, process/management), clear items, current state, rationale and risk, recommendations, importance, effort, cost, timeline, and approval status. Then we talk money—how I build an IT budget with opex vs capex, how to estimate costs, and why I’d rather put a little extra in the budget and get it cut than forget it and get stuck waiting another financial year. The big takeaway: align your roadmap to business goals, get it approved, then put your big boy/girl pants on and deliver.