Ben Cole, Senior Executive Editor, InformationWeekMay 13, 20256 Min ReadNataly Turjeman via Alamy StockAs technology has evolved, so too has the chief information officer role. As artificial intelligence and advancing tech continue to be vital to business success, the CIO has moved away from the behind-the-scenes exec that keeps IT running smoothly and into a vital voice in the C-suite.Identifying how to best incorporate rapidly advancing tech into business processes has always been a big part of the CIO’s role, says IT leadership recruiter Tarun Inuganti, a senior client partner and global managing partner responsible for Korn Ferry’s Global Technology Officers Practice across North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America. In this interview with InformationWeek, Inuganti discusses the changing CIO role and how advancing technology has always influenced how IT executives approach the day-to-day.This interview has been edited for clarity and length.What do CIOs need to know about the job and the current CIO job market?The role of the CIO has dramatically changed in the last five to 10 years, moving away from the back-office job that keeps our Zooms working and our bills being paid. I’m not dismissing that; it’s important, but it’s a lot more than that today, particularly given data analytics and AI. The ability of CIOs to use new technologies to enable the digital transformation journeys most organizations are on has been accelerating in the last eight to 10 years, I would say. It started with digital transformation;, now it’s data analytics and AI. CIOs need to be well-versed not just in technologies, but [in] how you apply those technologies for business enablement and growth. Differentiating themselves from anyone else is going to be important.Related:How is the CIO’s day-to-day role evolving, especially as tech like AI continues to evolve and influence the business?There are multiple dimensions to that. First, there are obviously huge opportunities AI can provide the business, whether it’s cost optimization or efficiencies, so there is a lot of pressure from boards and sometimes CEOs themselves saying ‘what are we doing in AI?’ The second side is that there are significant opportunities AI can enable the business in decision-making. The third leg is that AI is not fully leveraged today; it’s not in a very easy-to-use space.That is coming, and CIOs need to be able to prepare the organization for that change. CIOs need to prepare their teams, as well as business users, and say ‘hey, this is coming, we’ve already experimented with a few things. There are a lot of use cases applied in certain industries; how are we prepared for that?’ The CIO is part of that evolution.Related:A lot of organizations are trying to get ahead of that. One healthcare organization recently hired a chief AI officer, and when we asked the CEO why they were doing this now when the organization may not ready for it, he said he wanted everyone to start thinking about it because it is coming, and it could be so impactful on the business. Anything from a better patient-care environment to better use cases to better enablement of the patient experience -- and that is just healthcare. AI is going to change everything you and I do, and it is going to affect business as well. What are companies looking for in a modern CIO? Are things like an MBA important, or are there any specific certifications that are proving more valuable?It doesn’t hurt to have an MBA, but it is not something specific that our clients ask us for because by the time you get to the senior executive levels, most of those deep technical skills are not quite necessary. You need to know enough to call ‘bs’ when you have to, but you don’t need to get into the weeds. We don’t look for deep technologists, but if you have technology heritage or pedigree in some way, maybe it’s a bachelor’s in engineering or a bachelor’s in computer science, that is certainly helpful. An MBA is very nice to have, or a master’s degree in some applied math, is nice to have, but is not necessarily a requirement. At this time, it’s all about experience: You’ve had multiple roles; you’ve learned from those; you’ve applied them; you’re a leader and you’ve used technologies to impact change. Those are the kind of traits companies are looking for in a CIO.Related:It’s more about fit and culture. We have a lot of assessment tools to help clients make better decisions on that front.Are there certain CIO-specific skills that companies have a hard time hiring?Yes. AI is certainly right on top of the list. I try to remind clients that AI has been around in a variety of forms. It’s called AI today; a few years ago it was machine learning;, and before that it was behavior and analytics. This is the acceleration of the journey we are seeing with AI. I sometimes have to educate clients that what you talk about  AI has been around in different forms for a long time. You don’t have to know it all; you just have to go sometimes by that previous experience.Tarun Inuganti, Korn FerryJust having that vision to see where technology is going and trying to stay ahead of it is important. Not necessarily chasing the shiny new toy,, new technology, but just being ahead of it is the most important skill set. Look around the corner and prepare the organization for the change that will come.Also, if you retrained some of the people, you have to be more analytical, more business minded. Those are good skills. That’s not easy to find. A lot of people [who] move into the CIO role are very technical, whether it is coding or heavily on the infrastructure side. That is a commodity today; you need to be beyond that.What are CIOs looking for in employees and the organization when they are considering taking on job?This would be their wish list: Reporting to the CEO is going to be important. Being at the leadership table, being part of the executive team, is important. Most good technology leaders want to be in the conversation when decisions are being made so they can actually help with that decision and influence that decision, rather than being told, ‘Here’s what we decided; you guys go and implement it.’ That’s what they don’t want to do. Third and very important is budget, an appetite for investment and having the resources.The fourth is all about is how you fit culturally in the organization. Can I work with this team, do I believe in its vision, do I know where they are heading? All of those are fair and important questions to ask.Any other trends you are seeing in relation to the CIO role?We all talk about the CIO, but that title in and of itself is becoming less desirable for a lot of technology leaders. They want to be called chief digital and technology officer or chief technology officer, I’ve seen a variety of titles. The CIO title just sends a signal that it is more back office.Years ago, CTOs were more infrastructure people, those that ran the back-office infrastructure. Now ‘CTO’ sends a signal that the company is thinking about technology differently.Analytical business minds are needed. Finding that balance, somebody who leans into business and connects better with the business, is the skill set that is getting more important. We still have a lot of people who get enamored by the technology and forget who their audience is.About the AuthorBen ColeSenior Executive Editor, InformationWeekBen Cole is a senior executive editor for InformationWeek. He has more than 25 years of editorial experience, and guided award-winning technology coverage as editor for TechTarget sites covering CIO strategy, regulatory compliance, data science, security, data management, business intelligence and AI. Earlier in his career, Ben worked in healthcare media and as a reporter with Massachusetts-based daily newspapers.See more from Ben ColeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like المصدر: https://www.informationweek.com/it-leadership/ask-a-cio-recruiter-where-is-the-i-in-the-modern-cio-role-