Are CIOs buckling under the weight of expectation to deliver business value?

Modern CIOs are expected to contribute to areas that stretch far beyond the confines of the traditional IT organization. The board might have previously looked to other executives for the lead on strategy, value, and commercial growth, but modern CIOs must step up and take responsibility for areas once assumed by other business leaders.

In fact, Gartner’s 2024 CIO Agenda survey highlights how 80% of CIOs have expanded their role, with 18% leading non-IT functions. Markus Schümmelfeder, global CIO at biopharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim, says there’s no question the modern digital leader must cover a wider remit. “The world is asking a lot from CIOs,” he says. “You need to have a broad portfolio of skills to do your job well.”

Bev White, CEO at recruiter Nash Squared, agrees modern CIOs are being asked to do more. The digital leader’s focus was traditionally on operational efficiency and IT stability, but those areas are table stakes now and top CIOs work with executive peers to find opportunities for technology-enabled growth.

“Increasingly, the CIO is expected to help drive a difference at the front end as the lines blur between products, services, and technology, improving the customer experience, and supporting revenue and growth,” says White, adding that the forthcoming Nash Squared Digital Leadership Report suggests two-thirds of CIOs believe their CEOs need technology to make rather than save money.

The trend, suggests Eric Johnson, CIO at technology specialist PagerDuty, is a shift to a new type of digital leader who works in concert with senior colleagues to deliver what he refers to as high-impact results across a range of areas.

“CIOs have gone from making sure the phones and networks are working, which is critical, to driving digital transformation, with a focus on leveraging data in generative AI, automation, and proactive cybersecurity projects to deliver tangible business benefits,” he says. “This proactive stance toward business alignment is crucial for modern CIOs.”

Shouldering the load

However, identifying the demand for a certain type of digital leader is not the same as finding skilled executives who can fulfil the role. So, do CIOs have the shoulders to carry the weight of expectation? Are we asking too much of them as they take on more responsibilities?

Schümmelfeder suggests not. “IT is one of the few business functions that has all the possibilities in hand to make things happen,” he says, referring to CIOs’ elevated view across operational processes. “I think if you utilize your IT intelligence as a company, you can create a lot of benefits.”

Other experts also highlight CIOs’ unique position for understanding business change. Technology touches all parts of the organization, from the back-end infrastructure to front-end services. Schümmelfeder says the best enterprises recognize the CIO’s value.

“They invite IT people to the party,” he says. “You can see the difference between companies that think traditionally, where IT is a service delivery, ERP, CRM-type of organization, compared to companies where IT has a seat at the boardroom table and where they make progress in delivering innovative solutions.”

Joe Depa, global chief innovation officer at EY, is another digital leader who says focusing on value is crucial. Non-IT employees can use the cloud and emerging technologies like gen AI to implement solutions to intractable challenges. CIOs should embrace this commoditization and move into new leadership territories.

“If the technologies are now the easy part, the hard part is working out how to leverage this new, amazing technology at speed to create value for the organization,” he says. “That’s the key for any CIO now: using technology to drive revenue, create new products and services, and to boost productivity and efficiency.”

Depa says pioneering digital leaders are change agents who drive technology adoption, which he refers to as the last mile. Whether for internal operations or external services, these CIOs are burdened with expectation to ensure technologies are understood and maximized.

“The differentiator for CIO success in the future, including in my role, will be how much adoption you drive across your organization, whether with your end consumers or your employees,” he adds. “The adoption percentage you drive is the last mile, and your effectiveness in that area is critical.”

That sentiment resonates with Adobe CIO Cynthia Stoddard. During the past two years, she’s reorganized the company’s internal IT department to build closer bonds between IT and the business. Known as Adobe Technology Services (ATS), staff within the organization are aligned with business units, such as the Creative Cloud and Document Cloud product divisions, corporate shared services, and employee experiences.

Stoddard has reporting CIOs assigned to the business units manage strategy and planning. Now the ATS team is busy building an IT organization that meets expectations and delivers change. “There’s a focus on value delivery,” she says. “We’ve focused on data, such as bringing information to life within the organization for AI initiatives and analytics insights. And there’s a big emphasis on customer experience and using our products to show the value internally and with our customers.”

Understanding the complexity

A picture emerges of a new type of business-centered CIO who looks very different from the IT director of the past. While this image is broadly correct, Gabriela Vogel, VP analyst in Gartner’s executive leadership of digital business practice, suggests technology leadership is very nuanced. 

There are three types of modern CIO: technology function leaders, who focus on IT matters, not business-related discussions; business digitalization leaders, who lead enterprise-wide initiatives with a digital component; and business function and growth leaders, who expand their role by leading other functions, such as operations or strategy.

Vogel says it’s crucial to recognize that not every IT executive will be a growth leader. “As everyone focuses more on the value of technology, there’s a move toward that third type of CIO, and there’s a lot of talk about leaders in that space,” she says. “It doesn’t mean all CIOs are going there, though.”

She adds that some executives are happy to be technology function leaders, concentrating on IT matters. But few will be brave enough to speak up and say they don’t want to fulfil a role that focuses on value and business growth. “It’s still a bit of a taboo for an executive to decide where they want to be,” she says.

As an added layer of complexity, just as the type of CIO can vary, the enterprise expectations for the IT function are segmented into three overarching archetypes: IT as digital partner, IT as business-minded indirect contributor, and IT as business-minded direct contributor. Gartner suggests that misalignment between CIO ambitions and enterprise expectations leads to dissatisfaction.

Vogel says effective CIOs build strong bonds and co-own delivery with their executive peers, particularly the CFO and COO, and a cohort of CIOs and CXOs, known as the Digital Vanguard, work together to meet or exceed 71% of digital initiative outcome targets, Gartner data shows.

In a complex business environment, where the expectations of the business and the CIO role vary, the best way to avoid dissatisfaction is for digital leaders to align their requirements with the wider demands of the enterprise. Vogel says this reality has important consequences.

“For me, the question isn’t are we asking too much of CIOs, but are CIOs asking too much of themselves,” he says. “Have they realized that, as things progress to value and growth, they can’t do it alone, and if they do, they’ll most likely fail.”

Embracing new responsibilities

So while the role of the CIO isn’t changing entirely, the focus of the most successful digital leaders has shifted from operations to value and growth.

Nick Woods, CIO at MAG, a UK airport group that owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted, and East Midlands Airport, recognizes how successful CIOs get close to the rest of the business to understand their requirements. The good news is their digital transformation awareness gives effective CIOs a head start.

“We’ve lived in a world of bringing disparate things together for a long time; the network, firewalls, compute platforms, server platforms, and applications,” he says. “Being able to step back and make sense of that complex picture is what you need. The key skill is articulating that potential to the board without being too technical.”

Boehringer’s Schümmelfeder agrees the new world of digital demands a focus on value that won’t be achieved without deep integration. “Rather than meeting once a month or quarter with your business peers, you need to be there constantly,” he says. “You need to have a seat at the table and then prove yourself through the ability to deliver faster and make an impact.”

Interestingly, Schümmelfeder’s CIO predecessor was promoted to CFO. This type of transition would’ve once been considered anathema, but Boehringer’s approach shows that the modern CIO’s ability to deal with processes and financials brings new expectations and opportunities. Schümmelfeder says he’s comfortable assuming new responsibilities.

“I’m happy to step up,” he says. “This was always my aim because IT isn’t only about managing tickets and service desk calls. Every IT organization should be able to do this work in a meaningful, cost-effective, and user-efficient way. The new world demands an additional piece, which is value delivery.”

The key message, suggests EY’s Depa, is that CIOs will be successful if they have a mindset that recognizes they don’t have all the answers. Digital leaders who carry the weight of expectations build an open ecosystem that draws in talents of disparate players from business stakeholders and end consumers, to technology partners and nimble startups.

“CIOs with low ego and humility, who are learning and listening, and can craft, orchestrate, and empower, will be critical for the future of the business,” he says.