The CIO’s Leadership Moment

 IT chiefs are expected to be more than technologists. The hallmarks of success today are C-suite relationships, a customer mindset and workflow digitization.

Technology is projected to change organizations more in the next several years than it has in the last several decades. What does that mean for technology leaders?

We polled 516 CIOs around the world, and interviewed about a dozen more experts, to understand how the CIO role is evolving. We learned that 67%s of CIOs agree that their role is more focused on digitizing workflows today than three years ago. But it’s also focused on a lot more. 

Their role now includes educating other members of the C-Suite on the future of work, partnering with HR to set talent strategies for the new types of jobs, supporting corporate customers as much as employees, and setting organizational strategy for the entire business with the CEO.  According to our Workflow CIO Quarterly, their role now includes educating other members of the C-Suite on the future of work, partnering with HR to set talent strategies for the new types of jobs, supporting corporate customers as much as employees, and setting organizational strategy for the entire business with the CEO.

“No longer are companies using technology to run their businesses,” says Martha Heller, chief executive of Heller Associates, a recruiting firm specializing in the CIO, CTO and CISO roles, and contributing editor to CIO magazine. “Technology is their business.” 

As a result, the CIO is now in the unique position of being the institutional expert on how companies must operate to succeed. 

While most CIOs recognize the opportunity, most aren’t fully prepared to take the reins. We created a maturity model for CIOs to investigate how many are well-positioned to lead. Take the quiz to determine where you rank.