Other CIOs are expanding their roles beyond IT as digital strategies become a crucial part of their businesses. Many are taking on new revenue responsibilities, and IT leaders are managing teams tasked with generating revenue-generating capabilities. Additionally, many IT leaders are automating business and IT processes, creating new products and services, and making data more available. Some CIOs have expanded their roles to include ownership of both IT and office services organizations, such as Andrew Ho of Global Strategy Group, who is responsible for evolving employee experience and engagement through remote and in-office work. At TIAA, Sastry Durvasula has a focus on AI and automation to transform client services, from front-office client engagement to fraud management and client support services. He believes technology’s front-and-center role in business strategy has changed the game, and CIOs must balance their focus equally on both technology initiatives and business strategy. Dow Inc.’s Chris Bruman has a dual role as the first chief data and analytics officer, leading a centralized data and analytics team, and building a data and analytics strategy for the entire enterprise, to enable growth and empower productivity. The company’s data operating model has been updated to a hub and spoke approach, and a company-wide program has been launched to upskill the enterprise in the language of data and how to take advantage of data and analytics.
State of the CIO, 2023: Building Business Strategy
The State of the CIO survey 2023 results indicate that CIOs are playing a critical strategic role with an impact beyond IT modernization and transformation work. The CIOs continue to develop a strong relationship with other executives, and 77% of respondents have established a strong educational partnership with the CEO and board of directors. Nearly half (49%) of IT leaders now report directly to the CEO. CIOs have also retained oversight of some of the newer C-level positions, including chief data officers (53%) and chief digital officers (42%), who fall under the CIO’s management umbrella. Chief security officers and chief analytics officers are also more likely to report to IT leadership.
IT retains direct control over approximately 43.5% of the IT budget at most companies, and respondents expect that ratio to increase to 50% over the next three years. CIOs are commanding oversight of budgets allocated to some of the newer executive titles, with 58% of those surveyed saying the CTO budget was factored into overall technology expenditures under CIO management, and 63% confirmed that chief data officer expenses came under the CIO and IT department’s remit.
CIOs’ leadership stature and immersion in the business have been growing steadily over time. The pandemic has underscored the significance of the role when it comes to business strategy. During the pandemic, the level of transformation was unrivaled compared to prior periods, and the business strategies and foundational platforms put in place call for IT leadership to promote broad adoption and oversee continuous care and feeding. This is evident in the fact that CIOs are still playing a critical strategic role, even as IT modernization and transformation work remains a focus.
JP Saini, the chief digital & technology officer at Sunbelt Rentals, a global player in the equipment rental market, points out that ongoing economic uncertainty and the vast potential of emerging technologies to transform business have further highlighted the importance of the CIO’s role in business strategy.
Note: All information in this text is taken directly from the original article, with some minor rephrasing for clarity and flow.
Digital Transformation Initiatives and Business Strategies for 2023
JP Saini, the Chief Digital & Technology Officer at Sunbelt Rentals, stated that businesses must maintain the edge created with implemented business strategies. Digital transformation is an ongoing value creation formula, with continuous development happening year after year. Sunbelt Rentals is investing in new collaboration technologies and Zero Trust initiatives to empower its employees for hybrid work, regardless of their location and device.
Sunbelt Rentals’ 2023 Docket
Sunbelt Rentals’ roadmap for 2023 includes evolving its digital platforms to improve areas such as omnichannel ecommerce, dynamic pricing, service, supply chain, and warehouse management. They are focusing on a single group reporting to Saini to accelerate delivery of systems that drive business strategy forward. Time is of the essence, and having a good roadmap is critical to keep ahead of competitors; otherwise, the value of ecommerce is eroded.
Deepa Soni, CIO at The Hartford Insurance Co., stated that technology initiatives and business strategies for 2023 are interconnected. The company is focusing on cloud deployment, AI, analytics, modern data ecosystems, and digitization of more business processes to simplify interactions for customers, brokers, and agents. They aim to bring the power of digital tools to employees to make better decisions while understanding risks.
Agile Practices at The Hartford
The Hartford has embraced agile practices as a company-wide business practice, not just in the IT domain. They are organized around customer-centric value streams that start with product owners in the business and extend into technology. By leveraging data and technology, The Hartford aims to deliver capabilities faster to capitalize on future opportunities. CIOs must guide businesses to think differently and recognize opportunities to harness technology to create solutions for business partners, customers, and employees.
As new technologies continue to disrupt markets, CIOs must play a pivotal role in guiding businesses towards a digital future. Sunbelt Rentals and The Hartford Insurance Co. are just two examples of companies that are investing in digital transformation initiatives that are tied to their business strategies. By leveraging technology and embracing agile practices, these companies are poised to capitalize on future opportunities and remain competitive in the years ahead.
Note: All information in this text is taken directly from the original article, with some minor rephrasing for clarity and flow.
Leveraging Data, Analytics, and AI: IT Priorities for 2023
According to the 2023 State of the CIO survey, IT leaders are prioritizing data/business analytics, security and risk management, and machine learning and AI. Thirty-four percent of IT leaders stated that data/business analytics is a major tech initiative driving IT investments. Machine learning and AI were cited by 26%.
Dow’s Approach to Data and Analytics
Dow Inc. has combined its data and analytics teams into one group, elevating a new dedicated leadership role for data and analytics. Chris Bruman, Dow’s first chief data and analytics officer, leads a centralized data and analytics team, while also being accountable for building a data and analytics strategy for the entire enterprise. Dow has updated its data operating model to a hub and spoke approach, expanding the data initiative to harness both structured and unstructured data. Bruman’s group has invested in data literacy, launching a company-wide program to upskill the enterprise in the language of data and how to take advantage of data and analytics.
With the federated or hub and spoke approach, the power of leveraging analytics rests in the business functions, enabling data democratization and empowering spokes to do more on their own. According to Bruman, analytics are critical in how they do work every day, and a fully centralized team cannot keep up with the demand.
Dow’s Investment in Digital Platforms
Apart from data and analytics, Dow has invested considerably to put digital platforms in place over the past few years. The digital platforms aim to improve and speed up the pace of innovation, delivering a better digital buying experience on Dow.com and expanding direct connections with customers. Dow is also working to digitize its manufacturing sites, channeling data to the field where it’s needed to drive decisions and improve operational efficiency, operating discipline, safety, and reliability.
According to Melanie Kalmar, a corporate vice president and Dow’s CIO and chief digital officer, digital at Dow represents a company strategy, not just an IT strategy. Dow’s investment in digital platforms reflects the company’s approach to embracing technology as a driver for growth and productivity.
The CIO-Plus Role Takes Shape
IT leaders today are expected to play a strategic role in the business beyond managing technology infrastructure. CIOs are taking on additional responsibilities, such as overseeing data and analytics, digital transformation, and innovation. Melanie Kalmar’s dual role as CIO and chief digital officer at Dow exemplifies the evolving CIO-plus role. As digital transformation becomes an enterprise-wide strategy, IT leaders are expected to provide a strategic perspective, promote digital literacy, and drive innovation across the organization.
Note: All information in this text is taken directly from the original article, with some minor rephrasing for clarity and flow.
The Expanding Role of CIOs in Digital Strategies
The latest State of the CIO survey found that CIOs are playing a more strategic role in businesses, transcending IT. The survey revealed that 77% of CIOs have developed a strong educational partnership with CEOs and boards of directors. In addition, many C-level positions such as Chief Data Officer (53%) and Chief Digital Officer (42%) now come under the CIO management umbrella.
According to the survey, data and business analytics are one of the major tech initiatives driving IT investments. As a result, companies like Dow Inc. have combined their data and analytics teams into one group. Dow’s Chief Data and Analytics Officer, Chris Bruman, leads a centralized data and analytics team and has accountability for building a data and analytics strategy for the entire enterprise.
CIOs are also expanding their oversight responsibilities beyond IT, taking on new revenue responsibilities, and managing teams tasked with new revenue-generating capabilities. As part of this expanded revenue charter, IT leaders are automating business and IT processes (47%), creating new products and services (40%), and making data more available (34%).
The move towards hybrid work has also seen CIOs expand their roles and oversight responsibilities beyond IT. Many CIOs now have ownership of both the IT and office services organizations. This allows for the evolution of employee experience and engagement, as technology requirements cannot be separated from construction when reconfiguring office space.
Sastry Durvasula, who holds both the CIO and client service officer titles, balances transformation through a digital-first agenda built around data and AI for hyper-personalized experiences, while at the same time, modernizing the core platforms and processes by harnessing automation and orchestrating hybrid, multicloud migration.
As digital strategies move front and center in the business, CIOs are taking on more strategic roles with impact that transcends IT. With data and analytics a critical engine for driving business strategy, CIOs are expanding their roles beyond IT and taking on new revenue responsibilities while also ensuring that employee experience and engagement are evolving to meet the changing demands of hybrid work.
Sastry Durvasula, TIAA’s CIO and client service officer, believes that AI and automation will transform the way TIAA engages clients, manages fraud, and provides client support services. He believes that there would be a significant benefit to have proximity to technology in Client Services as they would be the biggest beneficiary when it comes to AI, automation, and digital services. Durvasula says that technology’s front-and-center role in business strategy has changed the game and set IT leaders on a new course, requiring an equal focus on both technology initiatives and business strategy. According to him, technology is disrupting business in many ways, and this is the best time to be on the CIO career path.
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