The role of the modern CIO is changing. No longer simply an IT manager, these leaders are becoming key players in their company’s innovation and revenue growth. They must learn to be flexible and adapt.

CIOs can successfully navigate the transition by developing hard and soft skills and increasing their knowledge of companywide strategies. This article will outline the journey.

The Reason Behind the Evolution

Once upon a time, CIOs were limited to making tech-based decisions and implementing them in their organizations. They identified the products that would best suit their organizations, oversaw training, and ensured new systems were successfully integrated into business processes.

Today, tech is playing a bigger role in company-wide operations. Data is utilized in decision-making, software is at the backbone of almost any process, and risk management and cybersecurity are priorities. Modern leaders must be aware of technology’s impact across departments, which requires them to make informed strategic decisions.

Where Tech and Business Strategies Overlap

Tech and business strategies overlap in various applications, as follows:

• Supporting a Competitive Landscape: Today’s organizations rely on tech products to remain competitive in their industries. CIOs must be familiar with the market and identify the software and hardware required to excel in their fields.
• Cross-Department Collaboration: CIOs must collaborate with other departments to determine which tech products and services are suited to their needs. Knowing the unique operations of each department will help them find systems that facilitate success.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Leaders often rely on data for insightful decision making. They utilize historical and predictive data to inform decisions based on market trends, customer behavior, and other relevant analytics. CIOs are called upon to determine the best methods for data collection and to provide insights on how to use and apply the data.
• Cybersecurity and Risk Management: Cybersecurity is becoming a more prevalent issue as technology becomes more integral to business operations. CIOs must consider the best way to manage risk across departments and implement systems that protect sensitive data.
• Agility and innovation are essential characteristics for company growth and are often closely tied to technology. CIOs are responsible for determining which products best support agility and innovation across the company.

Making the Leap

Once CIOs recognize the need for evolution in their roles, they must develop the necessary knowledge, hard skills, and soft skills to facilitate the transition. Here’s what’s involved.

• A Deep Understanding of Company Strategies: CIOs must develop a deep understanding of company strategies across departments. They must regularly meet with executives and attend board meetings to understand the company’s overall goals and identify the technology that supports growth.
• Developing Communication Skills: Techies are widely known introverts, but today’s CIOs should be anything but. They should seek out knowledge and work on communication skills. Active listening is necessary as it ensures a comprehensive understanding of departmental requirements. CIOs should also avoid using jargon and communicate in a way that provides a broad knowledge of systems and terminology.
• Finance Savvy: Budgeting is at the core of many technology decisions. Modern CIOs require an understanding of which products align with the company’s budget and deliver a return on investment (ROI). CIOs may collaborate with CFOs to determine which products produce positive financial output.
• Breeding Company Culture: With new products being introduced all the time, leaders must ensure their employees can adapt to a culture of agility, innovation, and resilience. Typically, the promotion of company culture is carried out by the CEO and within departments. However, in the modern landscape, CIOs may need to take a more critical position in overseeing cultural adoption.
• An Overview of the Customer Experience: Organizations should consistently prioritize the customer experience in their decision-making processes. With clients and customers being the lifeblood of their business, they must determine which systems support customer satisfaction. Therefore, CIOs should make all decisions with the end user in mind.
• Technology Foresight: A CIO has always been responsible for exploring upcoming technologies and ensuring they align with business goals. However, they must adopt a new approach to identify products and systems that support organizations across departments as they evolve.

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