CIOs on the Management Board, Supervisory Board and part of the operational management

Despite the ongoing technical revolution and digital transformation, it is still rare to find persons with CIO/CTO backgrounds at the highest management levels (executive board, board of directors, supervisory board). This needs to change, for it is time to ask new and different questions—as could be observed with some amusement during Marc Zuckerberg’s rather awkward US Senate hearing.

Getting CIOs or CTOs back into leading management positions might induce some movement in a boardroom culture dominated by Finance and General Management. For the digital transformation is changing everything—business models, operations, value propositions, markets, manufacturing, structures, risk models and much, much more. This also means that different topics have to be addressed and different questions need to be asked.

According to Gartner, CIOs should be asking the following five questions in the boardroom: How will our vision for the digital future of our industry beat that of future competitors? Is management delivering to targets for digital revenue and profit growth? What percentage of customers is using our digitalized products and services? How are we accelerating the development of digital tech capabilities? Are our tech partners and providers the best strategic fit? A Gartner initiative in the UK led to the first five CIOs appointed as non-executive directors (NEDs) in the UK.

More: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamgordon/2019/09/27/gartner-cio/#6b9651b72120, https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamgordon/2018/04/15/cio-cto-board-ready-gartner/#33a7bc182d27 /2018/04/15/cio-cto-board-ready-gartner/#33a7bc182d27

Dr. Tobias Höllwarth (Sourcing International, Vienna)