The CIO role appears set to continue its ongoing metamorphosis.
Over time, the position’s focus has shifted from facilitating tech support to becoming a business enabler and then a business partner. But in the latest phase of the journey, CIOs have evolved into strategic value creators.
Technology is pivotal to how most organisations operate today, enabling growth, driving efficiency and facilitating innovation. As a result, business and digital strategies are converging.
Modern CIOs see themselves as business leaders first and foremost
Because technology cuts across and underpins all areas of business, CIOs are finding themselves in a unique position. Theirs is one of the only roles with a full view of the enterprise, including each of its functional areas and how they work.
This vantage point, combined with the advent of advanced technologies, such as AI, means all eyes are now on the CIO to provide leadership on how to harness them effectively.
The emergence of new chief information and transformation officer positions reflects this shift. Now, their role is to challenge the status quo and drive innovation by steering organisation-wide change based on digital transformation.
Business leaders first and foremost
To be able to do so, however, CIOs must be proactive, pragmatic, commercially-minded strategic thinkers. Jean-Pierre Green is partner and head of digital & technology practice at executive search and interim management consultancy, Eton Bridge Partners.
“We’re moving away from CIOs being technology gurus to being digital strategists,” he explains. “Modern CIOs see themselves as business leaders first and foremost. So, having business acumen, transformational leadership and communication skills, commercial nous and an ability to create value and drive revenue stream opportunities, are all desirable qualities - while also knowing a thing or two about technology.”
These broad requirements mean that having a traditional tech background is no longer the only route into the job, although it is still the most common. For instance, functional directors and divisional heads made up 7% of all new appointments in 2022 and 2023, according to Eton Bridge Partners’ latest CIO Pathways report.
As Green points out: “We’ve seen former operations directors, finance directors and transformation directors all become CIOs without any technical backbone. The focus here is on leadership skills rather than technical strength and depth, although you do need to be digitally savvy to have credibility.”
Other increasingly popular pathways into the role include people with a project management background and experience of leading successful transformation initiatives. Such candidates have often worked for the Big Four consultancies in the past.
Rooting innovation in commercial outcomes
As for aspiring CIOs who have followed a more technological path, Green recommends building up their commercial expertise over the course of their career. The report indicates that just over two-thirds of CIO appointments were external. In comparison, this is a much higher proportion of external hires than the analysis of data looking into CEO appointments.
“You have to constantly reinvent yourself and build your business knowledge and commercial understanding by spending time outside of the tech function,” Green advises. “It’s important to get a variety of experience, so it’s common to take secondments in operations or other functional areas to gain profit and loss responsibilities, for example.”
Just as vital though is that CIOs, whether aspiring or otherwise, continue to keep their thinking fresh and open by adopting a continuous learning approach.
“CIOs that are insular in their thinking will become obsolete very rapidly,” Green says. “It’s about being open to ecosystems and partnerships, finding ways to challenge and remove your own biases around technology and innovation to stay ahead of the curve.”
But Green also warns against becoming laser-focused on the ‘shiny and new’.
“The key question is how can innovation drive the business forward? So, it’s about rooting innovation in commercial outcomes and making sure the right talent is on board to help achieve these goals,” he concludes.
As the role continues to evolve, CIOs must balance innovation with business impact, ensuring technology drives meaningful and measurable outcomes.
Download your copy of Eton Bridge Partners’ CIO Pathways Report here
