Presently, a CIO’s role is definitely evolving into that of a business visionary. His role is in the center of an organization, and among all functions that involve technology. Technology is involved in every department or aspect of a business: be it HR, administration, finance, marketing, manufacturing, or procurement.
Any function that you can correlate in any kind of company and in any sector, it uses technology and the CIO happens to be in the heart of the operation. CIOs know exactly what the entire operation is all about. They are the ones who know the entire business, how it functions. They are technology-driven and are, in turn, able to drive the business better. Thus, they automatically learn about the business from every possible angle and get automatically molded into business visionaries.
It is more of a de facto process, but it also requires effort to have an open mind and contribute effectively into helping and enabling each and every department in doing better than what is anticipated. The CIO has to be smart enough to be a business person and do a value-add to each department.
Presently, each strategy across organizations is technology driven. There are two aspects to it. There is one which is a complete business strategy, which is oriented toward sales. However, the enablement of that strategy would be done by technology, technical means or infrastructure that enables managers to pull off the operations. Technology expertise makes sure that the CIO is in a great position to drive the organization’s strategy the way it is expected or desired to be.
In my sector, what we were traditionally, and what we are today, the role has completely changed. Two decades back, it was not very IT savvy. Presently, it is one of the savviest organizations in the world, as a lot is expected from a media company to give any kind of help or value-add to any of its clients. The clients look at us as more IT or digital savvy and we have to be on our toes all the time. Therefore, the CIO’s role is much stronger in media companies than it used to be. Currently, my role also involves in helping the business grow, more than just being a technology leader.
The evolving role of the CIO requires that every CIO should have a mind-set which is open. They have to be very supportive of the business and they must communicate about where the business needs to grow to the top team. In the evolving role of the CIO these are essentials. He has to be a contributor more than a listener all the time.
These days, in every forum people are talking about the transition from CIO to CEO. It is a major transformation that people expect. It is because the CIO understands the complete functionality. One does not need to have a complete hands-on experience, but one needs to be aware and CIOs are aware of these functions. However, the transition will only happen if CIOs prove their capabilities. Being CEO is the next best step. If a CIO proves himself in small projects as well as large, then the organization will have faith in his capability—and will let the CIO lead the company and transform it in the digital world. I believe these are the words at the crux in the evolution of a CIO: leadership, vision and growth.
Sunil Mehta is Senior VP & Area Systems Director, Central Asia, JWT