New Roles of CTO, CIO, and CEO

We all know what CTO, CIO and CEO stand for, but lately I just think all these titles now stand for something else. Something pretty different.

First, as we all know the full name of CTO is Chief Technology Officer. According to Wikipedia, CTO is an executive-level position in a company or other entity whose occupant is focused on scientific and technological issues within an organisation. Of course I guess “technology issues” include what technology to use, to deliver and to maintain. In the security conference SecureHongKong couple of years ago, renowned security expert Dr. Meng-Chow Kang told the audiences that CTO stands for Chief Trust Officer. I agreed with it wholeheartedly. Technology is crucial to most, if not all, corporations nowadays; but what really matter is the trust that we all shall build among the technology and the stakeholders.

Then what about CIO, Chief Information Officer ? That one is rather easy, as many companies already renamed it to Chief Innovation Officer or Chief Integration Officer. Last year, Deloitte pointed out it’s time CIO to evolve to Chief Integration Officer, and CIO is not only the connective tissue but the driving force for intersecting, IT-heavy initiatives. And of course, to many new startups, innovation is really the single most important reason why the company exists at all. The new Chief Innovation Officer (or CINO) shall manage all the processes of innovation in the organization.

Lastly, the Chief Executive Officer – he or she that shall own the company vision, provide proper resources, build the culture, make good decisions and deliver the company’s performance now may has many new roles. In addition, the modern day CEOs shall understand what experiences the company’s products and services are being delivered to the customers as well as stakeholders. Indeed, many companies already established the role of Chief Experience Office (or CXO).

So, are you possessing one of these job titles ? Are you ready to take on the new role(s) ?

Author: Michael Yung

Michael possessed over 30 years of experience in Information Technology with focuses on complex application development, database technologies and IT strategy. He also spent the last 20 years in Internet technology, eCommerce development / operations, web usability, computer security and Public Key Infrastructure technologies. View all posts by Michael Yung