The CTO, A Champion of Digital Transformation

Introduction:

Change is the one thing that is inevitable, but growth is a choice, and disruptive change is the new normal. The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is indispensable to prepare businesses to be able to respond, adapt and evolve with resilience and success. As the fast-paced technological evolution is embraced, there are new roles and new skills to earn, new Ways Of Working, and servant leaders will need to guide their tribe through these changes, inspiring them and, when necessary, mitigating fears of the unknown by removing impediments.

As the business organizations scale up, so does the role of the CTO to upskill. They need to focus more and more on building the potential of their workforce, moving away from the sole technical and moving toward the workforce to collaborate for the good of the business. Today, technology has taken a driver’s seat at the tables of strategic discussions and decisions. Wherever your organization is in the life cycle, It is embedded in everybody’s and everyday business routine. So, the role of the CTO is evolving, meddling with the potential of people, power of technology and the potential is abundant.

The Role of CTO (Chief Technology Office) plays a pivotal role in the success of digital transformation in any organization and for any industry. Digital transformation puts technology at the core of the business strategy. This approach for adaption can reduce operating expenses and inefficiency. It could even change the course of your business. With a unified change model across business and technology, it's easier to envision achieving your goals. How can organizations respond to present-day uncertainty and manage constant change? One of the solutions is the adoption of emerging technologies that allow organizations to dramatically transform the way they work and deliver value to their customers. So, digital transformation means implementing the latest technologies to enhance processes and optimize overall operations. This comes in many forms like automating a time-consuming process, using AI (Artificial Intelligence) to make informed decisions, utilizing cloud services to streamline data management, and more.

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO):

First, let us understand the CIO and CTO roles. If we see the definition provided by Gartner, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) oversees the people, processes, and technologies within a company’s IT organization to ensure they deliver outcomes that support the goals of the business. As digital becomes a core competency, the CIO plays a key leadership role in critical strategic, technical, and management initiatives from information security and algorithms to customer experience and leveraging data that mitigate threats and drive business growth. The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) role has overall responsibility for managing the physical and personnel technology infrastructure including technology deployment, network, and system management, integration testing, and development of technical operations personnel. CTOs also manages client relations to ensure that service objective expectations are developed and managed in the operations areas.

Even though these are well-defined roles, organizations may be using these roles and their functions differently depending on their specific needs, market language, and strategic objectives, and these roles may change based on where an organization is on its “digital transformation” journey. For CIOs and CTOs, success is achieved through seamless collaboration and operation on goals that ultimately contribute toward a shared vision. The successful transformations are defined by the organizations’ ability to control, adopt, absorb and scale the rapid evolution of technology and digital advancements within their organization, with the CIO and CTO working closely together to achieve this.

The Role of CTO, Disruptive and Digital:

The Role of CTOs in Digital Transformation is very crucial as digital transformation climbs up the top of every business agenda, organisations are grappling to put their best foot forward while embracing new technologies to stay ahead of the race. Naturally, a CTO is expected to be a part of every transformation initiative. With one eye on emerging IT technologies and the other on building a link between business and technology, they drive digital transformation, leveraging their technical tribe. Let us understand further, what the role of a CTO looks like in Digital Transformation Programs:

1. Set business strategy & goals: CTOs always consider their company’s strategic goals when executing their IT strategies. Using logic, awareness, and research, CTOs can influence the overall business strategy of their firms. They have a knack for anticipating new threats, foreseeing new technologies, and embracing the maturity of secular trends.
2. Innovate to Adopt: CTOs have redefined the importance of a business’s competitive advantage in the digital spectrum. They require new-era capabilities and board-level skill sets to incorporate changes to existing frameworks.
3. Focus on customer engagement: CTOs understand that for companies to remain relevant, and profitable, customers should be their priority. They diagnose the root cause of issues and create unique value propositions around their customers.
4. Visionary tech leaders: CTOs know what the future holds. They constantly build upon their vast knowledge of systems and security, which makes them aware of the next big thing. Likewise, they use these skills and experience to attract and hire new talent to help them reach their goals.
5. Build Technology and integrate Business: CTOs not only build assets but also leverage technology ecosystems. With their strategic and commercial expertise, they develop partnerships and execute decisions for organizational growth.
6. Transform a company with resources and budget planning: A CTO uses his/her skills to enter new areas of operations within a company’s environment and contribute to its top and bottom lines. Indeed, CTOs are the architect of strategic transformation in their industries.
7. Create operating models: A well-structured operating model will link strategy with operations. For a clear competitive advantage, a CTO addresses the IT concerns across businesses.

?Conclusion:

The role of the CTO varies considerably in relation to the size of the company they work for, and its area of business. Digital transformation is not the rule per se but it should be adopted where it will be most useful and effective in terms of measurable results. That is why a CTO must seamlessly follow digital trends, anticipate technological changes and adapt to crises.

As a CTO, you must be accountable for the actions taken by your company, while helping other C-level executives to understand and adapt to them. A common dictionary and a consistent set of KPIs are the foundations for this. Correctly describing the relationship between the company’s activity and the revenue streams related to digital transformation is another central point to bear in mind. In particular, when digital transformation sets in, the re-mapping of the business’ strategy depends on your ability to make the CFO truly understand and financially embrace the digital changes that you intend to implement.

In summary, Digital transformation does not come easy. Leaders like CIOs, CTOs, CEOs, and Directors become transformers of their enterprise culture and strike the right balance between short-term improvement and long-term value. The CTO must be well-positioned and well-equipped to outline and implement digital technologies. They are the officer that understands the relationship between people, business and technology and are aware of their failings. This makes them one of the most influential roles in driving digital transformation.

NEXT100 CIOs, AWARDS 2022

This article is an inspiration by NEXT100 CIOs, an annual awards program instituted by IT Next magazine and the 9.9 Group that aims to identify 100 experienced IT managers who have the skills, talent and spirit to become CIOs.

I am glad to be one of the recipients of “Next 100 Future CIO Award winners, 2022” and this article is dedicated to the entire winning team, Jury team and organizers.