#17: Leading at the convergence of Business & Technology. Are you and your company ready?

Every company is a Data Company, a Digital Firm that relies on Cloud Platforms, must embrace AI to be successful, and extensively and consistently use Analytics to Grow and Transform the business. The convergence of Business and Technology is here, and leaders and companies cannot afford to be left out. What does it mean for companies and careers?

The "Melting Pot" Situation: How did we get here?

The business-technology divide has always been around. But over the years, progressively, these two sides have drifted closer. What are some of the defining points in this convergence timeline?

1. Internal (front-line agents) and customer-facing applications were the first use cases to start the automation wave. Ease of engagement and speed of support were the early reasons. In most situations, the business teams asked, and the technology teams provided the solution.
2. It used to be easy to focus on one business process, one function, or a particular team. There were subject matter experts on the business side and technology experts with deep tech expertise. The two sides overlapped little, and a handful of architects and business analysts on the data teams used to be the bridge between when basic reporting and analytics were required.
3. With the increasing focus on advanced analytics, a few power users within business teams led the charge and braved the technology learning to bring business and technology areas closer. They managed to be the champions for driving and prioritizing work for technology/data teams. Where they could not get adequate support from their tech counterparts, these SMEs set up their shop. Good or bad, many came to be called "Shadow IT shops."
4. Business leaders interested in growing their functions stepped up and sponsored initiatives to expand data coverage. The most committed leaders among them mandated using and adopting analytics across their teams and functions. They also started holding their technology peers accountable for expanded availability, reliability, increased security, faster performance, and extended analytics across a more extensive data footprint.
5. As the cloud platforms were introduced and the advantages of reducing operational and management costs became apparent, along with faster timelines to set up and expand, the technology leaders started embracing this at large. Soon, we adopted a cloud-first approach, and now companies start and stay in the cloud.
6. Data was of limited use in silos, and the cloud platforms enabled active exchange, validation, actions, and events in real-time and near-real-time windows. Sharing across companies, platforms, applications, and apps became more straightforward. Companies of all sizes and importance competed with garage-born start-ups, as anyone with a great idea can set up a company in hours, spin off a platform in minutes, and deliver a POC / MVP in weeks.
7. As users, we became used to expecting everything yesterday (beyond instant gratification) and questioned, "If company A can do this, why can't company B give a similar experience? Why can't I do that action on my phone or get this update on my smartwatch?"
8. With the acceleration in AI and the latest advances with LLM & GenAI, the ability and range of things a business user can do without the assistance of a technology person is way too much. Similarly, with the right technology capabilities for a technology expert, the reliance on a business user to validate and enable new use cases is dwindling.

What happens now?

We are at a point where one group of people, those who continuously learn, hone their skills, and develop outstanding abilities at the intersection of business and technology, can outshine and perform better than a business-only or tech-only person.

Individual experts are still needed for deeper work, but this convergence means that those in the borders or those who rely on one area of expertise alone will not have a successful career for long.

For companies, this means that it is critical to treat all business initiatives and related investments in light of the overall positioning and growth. It also makes it essential to take a differentiated approach to budget management, planning, prioritization, talent development, organizational design, and succession planning.

Leaders will succeed when they are lifelong learners, focus on creating smaller A-teams comprised of individuals who can learn from each other, and must rotate them across business and technology areas.

Some companies are already doing it, where we see technology leaders become business function owners and CIOs moving into business CEO roles, while product executives are taking over as CIDOs.

A focused and active approach to internal mobility is the solution. If your company does not have a mobility program, it is your responsibility to seek out mobility. Extend your understanding of the other side (depending on your business or technology role), put yourself in situations that stretch your thinking and application, and actively engage in initiatives across the company. Your career is far too important to be left to the managers and company HR departments.

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Who will rise?

Numerous players exist in data, analytics, digital, and tech areas. We have the Chief Data Officer (CDO), Chief Analytics Officer (CAO), Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Digital Officer (CDO), Head of Transformation, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) etc.

Depending on the size and industry of the company, all of these separate roles may be needed. However, in most cases, I see the Chief Information and Digital Officer (CIDO) role emerging as the core driver of a company's future. Given where they are, these individuals are positioned to be a mix of business and technology. The data and innovation leadership can easily be aligned with the CIDO.

Over the last ten years, the Chief Data Officer role has gained popularity. Primarily driven by the governance mandate from the regulatory sector, we saw a sharp increase in placements.

Many companies rushed to appoint one, and sometimes, a project management leader with no specific business or technology expertise was assigned to this role. However, an individual's success and longevity in this role will largely depend on their ability to grow stronger during this business and technology convergence.

Pure play business or tech-only CDOs stand a high chance of getting merged under a tech or business function without a 'C' title. And it is okay, as several high-profile leaders with large budgets and impactful mandates do not have a CDO title. Chief Analytics Officers may remain aligned as part of the business functions, with several aspects of their role becoming part of the technology functions or having a tight overlap and dependence on emerging tech.

How to prepare to succeed?

As an Individual

1. Step out of your comfort zone.
2. Consistently learn about your business processes and technology platforms/applications that bring them together.
3. Know what your company uses.
4. Seek out individuals in other areas and learn.
5. Deidentify your alignment with one side - it doesn't matter if you are a technologist or business user; the collective value that your skills, capabilities, and experience bring to the company is what matters.
6. Embrace career mobility.

As a Leader

1. Even if you have a large team, build several micro-teams. It's not just about business or technology expertise. We need to develop leaders from every team. Micro teams help make that possible. Deep, multi-level hierarchies can still exist on paper for phonebooks and administrative purposes. Still, when execution happens through micro-teams, a director-level architect will support an analyst as she leads a project.
2. Know your business and technology. No one in leadership has the luxury of not knowing how their company can make more money, save more, become efficient, deliver products with better capabilities, increase the experience of employees and customers, protect adequately from risks, align with compliance needs, or build sufficient audit trail. That level of knowledge only comes when we actively learn about the work of leaders across functions.
3. Promote internal mobility. Actively identify and engage with top talent across the company, and offer your talented team members to other leaders within the company. Only those leaders who have not worked to create good processes, training, succession bench strength, and capability overlaps across their teams need to worry about what happens when someone leaves their team. Having a single point of failure is a leadership failure, and we cannot depend on any one individual in our team to the end that we cannot promote internal mobility. A culture of mobility is good for the company, suitable for the individual, and good for the leaders who promote it.

As a Company

1. Stop budget leaks. To be successful in this convergence wave, it is crucial to stop budget leaks at all levels. Historically, many leaders are used to signing off on work within their budget. However, when we spin off multiple engagements, sign up various vendors, or bring in platforms and tools that are overlapping, conflicting, or not well aligned with the target progression of the company, we create friction, rework, and waste resources that could otherwise be used towards the advancement of the company. How do we solve this? I suggest you make the CFO and CIDO additional approvers on all sizable initiatives. Not just technology programs. Here is why: If a supply chain leader is signing up with a vendor to do some activity, and if, upon consideration of details, that same problem could be solved with a tech-play, we just found a reason to stop the budget leak. However, this problem is cultural, and the impacted CXO will fight it or at least not take it lightly, as it will be seen as an intervention play, which it is not.
2. Rethink performance and compensation practices. The technology and data functions are only an enabler. Even in companies that are labeled tech firms, the teams that manage tech are only enablers. As such, every CXO and their leadership team in a business function must be made accountable for the adoption and utilization of the tech-enabled capabilities and products that are delivered. Their responsibility does not end with sponsorship but starts with it. Providing adequate air cover, enabling active learning, promoting experimentation, actively fighting resistance to change, and eliminating individual disruptive behaviors to embrace the collective good across the company are core responsibilities of these leaders. When performance goals and compensation (risk/reward) align with the company's intended growth, it is easier to promote a unified culture.

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