What underscores, and undermines, a successful CIO-CEO collaboration

The worldwide push to digital has quickly promoted the IT department from its back-room origins to the upper reaches within any company or organization. IT leaders, as a result, are now established as part of the corporate core, helping to define strategy with a strong voice and a more direct connection established with group management and boards.

Gabriela Vogel, senior director analyst at Gartner, says that CIO significance is growing because boards rely more on trusted advice on technologies like AI and their impact on investment, ROI, and the overall business mission. So it’s the responsibility of the CIO to not only understand emerging tech but impart the case for how specific approaches to digital and data spur growth. It doesn’t come as any surprise then that technology-related change is the second most important business priority for CEOs after growth, according to Gartner’s 2024 CEO survey.

But change, judgment, and potentially clashing IT strategies can saddle CIOs with more tech debt, for example, which can further undercut long-term outcomes and innovation.

Extracting value from emerging technologies is, of course, a key CEO priority, and many IT leaders are reprioritizing projects that center on AI. But balancing short-term gains and long-term needs can cause its own disruption, especially with increasing pressure to invest.

Another challenge is the scale and speed of the CIO transition. Compared to the steady growth into other C-suite positions like the CFO, tech leadership is relatively new, which raises questions of longevity and the need to prove one’s worth over time. On the flipside, however, according to results from a survey conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value, two-thirds of CEOs admit disturbing long-term IT projects to achieve short-term goals, even knowing that a focus on short-term performance is a main barrier to innovation.

Speed, or lack thereof, can impede progress and how the CIO and CEO coordinate, especially when AI technology changes so fast that when a project gets underway, it can be built on obsolete technology. So there’s a balance to be struck between short- and long-term IT goals that center on cost savings, efficiencies, and long-term goals.

A product of its time 

To understand how the CIO’s position has changed in an organization, we must see where it is now in relation to where it was, from being a technology developer to a technology architect.

“For me, it’s evolved a lot,” says Íñigo Fernández, director of technology at UK-based recruiter PageGroup. “Not so much the relationship, but the importance of the technology team within a management committee.” Fernández explains the IT part used to be represented on the board by the COO or CFO, to whom their manager reported. But in recent years, it’s been strengthened by digital transformation. “CIOs are the backbone of this change,” he adds, “which means they gain more importance and need a much closer relationship with the CEO.

The tech team has become aware it’s not only support but strategy, while the rest of the organization sees the IT leader as an educator or evangelist. “The change comes from two sides,” says Fernández. “One, because the CIO has evolved and wants to be in the strategy. And two, the company needs it. If it’s not there, no one will understand what we’re doing with artificial intelligence, for example.”  

This evolution applies to any field. “We’re definitely seeing a huge change in healthcare,” says Yolima Cossio, CIO of Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona. “I’m a systems director, but my training is of a specialist doctor with experience in data, which wouldn’t have been common a few years ago.” So this implies hospitals in particular are starting to understand that ICT leaders must know the core of the business. “It’s not just about making everything work, but using technology and data to improve the quality of care, making it more efficient and more patient-centred,” she says.  

Onam Pereyra, global head of IT at jewellery chain Unode50, agrees with this more strategic vision. “IT leaders are expected to not only understand technology, but be able to translate that understanding into business opportunities,” he says. “Digitalization has made our voice essential at the boardroom, to talk about technology and contribute to the company’s overall vision. This allows us to be agents of change, driving innovation, and ensuring that technology is aligned with the organization’s objectives.” 

Strengthening CIO-CEO ties 

This evolution of IT leaders levels the playing field among other senior managers, especially the CEO. For Pereyra, the relationship between the two has evolved toward collaboration and trust. “It’s no longer based on receiving guidelines from the CEO,” he says. “The CIO is involved in the formulation of strategies and identifying areas where technology can add value to improve competitiveness and customer experience. The key is to have a shared vision and ensure technology is integrated into every aspect of strategic planning.”

The State of the CIO 2024 report corroborates this, reflecting how 79% of CIOs claim to have a strong educational relationship with their CEOs due to the need to delve deeper into the new technologies that are defining the business IT landscape.  

“There’s an increasing commitment to consolidating the systems area as a strategic direction within the hospital,” says Cossio. “I think this isn’t just a local trend. In the health sector, I’m seeing ICT managers who previously held middle management positions increasingly take on management roles and join management committees. It’s recognized that, in order to truly transform healthcare, ICT leadership has to be present in strategic decisions from the start.” 

Fernández also provides a key to this relationship from the CIO’s perspective. “It’s important they change their mentality from being people waiting for the company’s needs to be met, to proposing the changes it would have to make to evolve technologically, and thinking about how to participate in that strategy with solutions,” he says. Along these lines, the transition from CIO to CEO is increasingly seen, which gives an idea of ​​the relevance he’s taken on, although it isn’t yet something typical, nor will the person leading IT always want to assume the higher role. 

Regardless, open communication is essential, says Pereyra, who advocates constant dialogue that helps align expectations and address concerns. “We’re bombarded by technologies that always arrive with the promise of revolutionizing all sectors,” he says. “So it’s our responsibility to rationalize all this information, give visibility to the company and its business areas of what these solutions can provide, and, more specifically, what is applicable to the company.”  He adds the importance of maintaining a customer-centric approach, “to align our efforts with their needs,” considering that circumstances change quickly, and being willing to adapt is essential to staying relevant. 

If communication is key, then patience and long-term planning are equally vital, according to Cossio, when it comes to digital transformation projects. “You have to have a clear roadmap, with short-, medium-, and long-term objectives, and be aware there will be times when progress won’t be as fast as desired,” she says.

There’s also the need to recognize this isn’t just a technological change, but a cultural change. Flexibility is essential to not only help manage technology, but drive growth and innovation. With this adoption of a new way of working, driven by digital tools, the role of the CIO and the relationship with the CEO, are irreversibly intertwined.