What are the Skills That the Future CIO Should Have?

Today, with the rapid advancement of technologies and the digitalization of businesses, the role and popularity of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) within the organization is increasing. CIO is the manager responsible for all processes from IT management to implementation.

Who is Chief Information Officer (CIO)?

The Chief Information Officer is the company executive responsible for the management, implementation, and usability of information and computer technologies. Oversees the company's IT-related systems at the process level and in terms of planning. It analyzes the advantages of new technologies, determines which technologies will be more beneficial for the organization, and evaluates its work. The CIO focuses on increasing the efficiency of business processes to ensure effective communication and smooth operation of the organization.

The CIO is a person of critical importance to the company, who creates value not only for the IT department but for the entire organization. This person who manages the processes from IT management to implementation must be effective and successful. There are some qualities that a successful CIO must have.

10 Skills the Future CIO Should Have:

Some skills must be found as the basis of a successful CIO. These abilities increase the competence of the CIO and make him stand out among his competitors. We've listed 10 key traits to be a successful CIO.

1. Combining Business Expertise with Technology

Knowledge is a force that guides us through all of our business processes and governs everything we do. Keeper of knowledge in an organization; It is the CIO who develops a plan by analyzing how information is obtained, stored, organized, and processed. CIO's impeccable ability to understand and manage information enables it to play a strategic role today. As technology advances and digital transformation accelerates, the needs for managing information are also changing. CIOs must also move beyond managing IT to help businesses strategically gain a competitive advantage. CIOs who can advance their business expertise in an integrated manner with developing and transforming technologies should be trained.

2. Being Successful in Communication

A CIO should also be a manager who can communicate well outside of his core roles. Being able to communicate well is a must. CIOs must be individuals who can adapt to change and have the ability to convey to employees the importance of new technologies and modern ways of thinking about data systems. He should be able to communicate skillfully so that operational processes are not disrupted and can progress quickly. Although it is important to be technology and data-oriented, it is of great importance at this point to have strong communication skills.

3. Evaluate Data Strategically

CIOs often want to acquire and use a lot of data. CIOs need to get a clear context for how data is used strategically. They waste time acquiring data that would otherwise never be used. It also means wasted resources used to obtain the data. For this reason, strategic evaluation of data is important in terms of being useful in business processes.

4. Ability to Integrate Capabilities with Business Requirements

More important than doing things right is doing the right things. This is where the difference between being effective and being efficient comes into play. It is the identification of business needs that need to be done to be effective and the realization of business processes by integrating these needs with technical skills. A CIO creates an efficient and effective business by analyzing business needs and integrating them with his expertise.

5. Having Experience in a Commercial Market

Another essential feature for a CIO is to successfully meet market needs experiences in a commercial market. It is not a talent or skill, but a necessary experience. Being able to strike a balance between value and cost and having experience developing commercially successful products or services adds value to a CIO candidate.

6. Being Adaptable

CIOs need to be adaptable so that IT people can adapt to changes in business processes. It's not just about adapting teams to changes. The important thing is that you can adapt yourself to all the changes that occur. Restructuring, producing new brands, changes in employees, etc. It is important to be ready for all changes. Being able to easily circumvent such processes is related to the adaptability of the CIO.

7. Having Sales Skills

There are many qualities that a CIO should have outside of his technical skills. Chief among these is the ability to sell. It should be able to sell this service by informing its teams about the benefits of any product or service being produced in the business. Lack of sales ability may result in negative results of business processes.

8. Having Digital Literacy

Changing technologies in today's conditions and businesses entering the digitalization process reveal that one of the most important issues that a CIO candidate should focus on is developing their digital skills. The only way to catch up with the dynamics of our age is to have technical knowledge, have digital competence, and be open to change and development. Therefore, a CIO without digital competence cannot be successful.

9. Understanding and Translating Complex Terms

The role of IT teams in the modern business world is increasing day by day. The CIO must have the ability to synthesize complex concepts and terms into digestible terms so that their teams and stakeholders can make the right decisions in operational processes. It should support its employees to achieve successful business processes with descriptive and clear sentences.

10. Being Sincere and Responsible

Adopting a sincere attitude by nurturing a discipline of responsibility produces positive results for both employees and a CIO candidate. Responsible managers, as an example to employees, actually ensure the formation of a culture that permeates the entire organization. Fewer disruptions occur in the operational processes of a business that acts with the awareness of responsibility and sincerity.