When you have a non-techie CTO/CIO

This isn’t an uncommon phenomenon - Nowadays We often see that a non-techie is enthroned as a CIO or CTO.

Some of us adapt to it well and manage to blossom in our careers while others hit stagnation. Sharing a bunch of observations from experience, feel free to add your experiences and views.

Dos

• Respect the post - the seat, the position
• Acknowledge the person - he/she has definitely done something right to be here
• Encourage him/her to be hands-off, allowing you the freedom to work
• Create peer level group to support you in sounding off technical ideas, thoughts and challenges
• Generally focus discussions with the CIO/CTO on outcomes and value
• Operational common ground with him/her - numbers, budget, headcount, timelines and costs
• Strategic common ground with him/her - roadmaps, approaches, risks and mitigation
• Let him/her handle collaboration and relationships with other teams and departments
• Avoid voicing introspective "technical doubts" in the non-techie CIO/CTO's presence
• Ensure that your reservations and conservative (approach) are correctly interpreted

Don'ts

• Try to explain the nitty-gritty - data integrity rules, network bandwidth/switches, micro-services, Lambda/Serverless
• Expect him/her to understand technical complexity in your work
• Expect him/her to appreciate your technical acumen
• Condescend him/her when he/she asks basic technical questions
• Take him/her for granted and skip giving updates and status reports

Generalizing a wee bit - CXOs generally have a higher risk appetite and thus are likely to be less cautious; Sr. techies are often conservative in their outlook and approach. If these two elements can be blended in the right proportion then it can lead to an amazing partnership and happy + productive work environment.