The new role will include heavy lifts in the supply chain space at Hershey, which has already seen changes this year. Recent manufacturing acquisitions from Weaver popcorn are preparing the company to strengthen its supply chain capabilities, building out its supplier and manufacturer network. As the role of a CTO cto role and responsibilities changes according to the stage of that company’s life-cycle, we’ll briefly detail how a CTOs responsibilities may change. Product management – Technology and product often go hand-in-hand in the tech space. A top CTO should understand the product life-cycle and how to build new products and maintain existing ones.
Here’s a closer look at what education a professional requires to be considered for the CTO role. The CTO is also responsible for recognizing any skill deficiencies within their organization and procuring highly-skilled personnel to fill those roles. Despite this, most companies do not consider themselves prepared for the major technological shifts already occurring in the world. A survey by McKinsey found that as much as 79 percent of North American companies consider themselves “not ahead of the curve” when it comes to such shifts. We’re going to break down the steps of how to become a CTO, take a look at the skills you must possess, and show you how choosing certain education paths over others will deliver the biggest advantages in your career.
What Is a Chief Technology Officer (CTO)?
However, a lot of businesses fail to understand the CTO role, and it is often the least defined role in the C-Suite. Those who love all things IT will likely already have the knowledge needed to land a position with a company. You’ll also need to start small, learn the ropes and work your way up into a management position. To this end, it’s important that CTOs are open-minded when building their teams. During her time as CTO, Maler has “witnessed the power of diverse perspectives in driving innovation and problem-solving”.
- We want to tell you how the news matters to you — not just as a decision-maker at a game studio, but also as a fan of games.
- Since innovation and technology go hand-in-hand, it is crucial for a CTO to have a creative mindset and stay on top of the latest technology trends.
- For the success of both technology startups and global stable software companies, the role of a Chief Technology Officer is essential.
- This program was designed in collaboration with national intelligence organizations and IT industry leaders, ensuring you’ll learn emerging technologies and best practices in security governance.
- They need to also find the right balance between business and technology strategies, absorbing information and breaking it down into simple, important, trends that highlight where an organisation needs to go next.
So much so, in fact, that some businesses – including established enterprises – have opted to rely more on a CTO than a CIO. “Scaling the team became the next priority in order to grow the business and to keep pace with our ever-increasing ambitions,” he says. In a single day, a CTO might find themselves managing team issues, debugging machine-learning code, reviewing legal documentation and then presenting at a JavaScript conference in the evening. Most definitely, says Dave Bishop, CTO at lovethesales.com, who says responsibilities vary greatly depending on the maturity of the company.
Why you need a CTO—and how to make her successful
This role type is commonly found in organisations where technology underpins the business model and where technology must be highly responsive to the business. It relies on a deep understanding of technology and technology trends, combined with insight into how competitors are leveraging these technologies to innovate. A lot of innovation will come through strategic partnerships with start-ups, vendors and technology companies. Having an ecosystem of partnerships is a great way to de-risk and accelerate innovation.
Total compensation for these positions ranges from $89,000 to $294,000 per year. Organizations looking to hire a CTO should seek someone who is ambitious and bold, “someone who can shake the status quo, stay resilient, and turn technology into something useful for the organization,” Aksakal says. These traits can be demonstrated by earlier career choices and accomplishments.
A willingness to learn
Because the CTO is the public face of technology for the company, they need to display their technical prowess and insight to the business, customers, and external stakeholders. This is important for attracting talent, getting the best from vendors, and driving valuations with investors and analysts. An important part of technology leadership is developing cultural values, ethics (important in AI models), inclusivity, diversity, and addressing gender pay gaps. Chief Technology Officers need to hire, build, grow, and develop high-performing technical teams.
A CTO carries the power of envisioning how technology can help a company excel, and the responsibility of implementing feasible changes based on time, budget, and necessity. A professional who is interested in how to become a CTO is entering a rapidly growing field, with new technologies emerging almost daily. Having multiple technology executives as peers creates the wrong behaviours and often creates unnecessary friction. Due to the importance of technology in the modern business environment, it is the CTO who should be the most senior technology executive. In my opinion, an organisation operates better when there is a single leader who responsible for all of the technology – because there is often friction when the CTO and CIO are peers. In a world where technology is core to customer propositions, it is the CTO, who should be the most senior technology executive.
Importance of Chief Technology Officers
They will have to design a pragmatic operating model, working out how to structure their teams for maximum effectiveness, knowing what to outsource and what to insource in to get the best return on their technology investment. Sign up today to receive our FREE report on AI cyber crime & security – newly updated for 2023. When it comes to a CTO’s base pay, data from the company review website Glassdoor estimates the average at around £93,901 a year. This pay can range anywhere between £46,000 to £193,000 depending on experience. We spoke to four CTOs to get their view on the skills that have helped them, both personally and professionally, and how others might refine these skills in order to be successful in their role. CTO’s must push for change in all parts of a business, where they see it needed, and also have to motivate people, both internally and externally, to do this.
A CIO may handle the details on the ground-level, overseeing the implementation of specific technology. At Maryville, we are committed to not only showing you how to become a chief technology officer, but to providing you with the educational foundation and critical skills that make employers take notice. In addition to technological expertise, a CTO must have the confidence to effectively lead a team of people across multiple departments. To become a successful CTO, a professional must be proficient in technical, business, and management skills. While the first human inventions took thousands of years to progress, major shifts in computer technology are occurring every few years, if not months, in the 21st century. For businesses, having a chief technology officer (CTO) who keeps up with advances and leads technology programs is increasingly important.
A CTO is an evangelist
Chief technology officers have a job description that focuses on creating technology to sell to customers and growing the business externally. CTOs and CIOs often work together to combine their technical and engineering knowledge for the benefit of the whole company. They collaborate with the rest of the C-suite to develop the business’s vision and direction. The CTO, in particular, will be the C-level executive who knows how technology can and will affect the future of the organization.
These executives, in many cases working in collaboration with CIOs, are oftentimes at the forefront of innovative technology products and services. And they can help steer their organizations toward greater efficiencies and better performance by adopting these tools. Depending on the organization, A CTO typically oversees the information technology https://www.globalcloudteam.com/ (IT) and technology of a business. Whether the role oversees a private company or a public institution, the CTO must be capable of making company-wide decisions regarding technology. They must be well-informed about the latest technology, be innovative, and have the leadership skills to run all technological aspects of their organization.
Chief Technology Officer Responsibilities
The first industry many think of when considering the role of CTOs is big tech. The CTO is a vital executive role focused on developing long-term technology goals, staying abreast of industry tech trends, and working with other executives on a company’s direction. While not every company needs a CTO, this role can enhance the alignment between a product or service’s strategy and a company’s technology strategy. The chief technology officer (CTO) is the senior executive who focuses on the technological requirements, opportunities, and challenges within an organization.