As the CIO role rose to prominence during the pandemic because of increased technology usage and digital efforts, IT now underpins nearly all lines of business. This means CIOs must transform technology quicker than ever before and evolve to a role that continues to change as organizations look to them to head more than just its IT departments.
Here are six ways the CIOs role is evolving, as reported by Becker's since February:
1. Taking on multiple exec titles: As technology becomes a central part in running a business, CIOs are having to take on multiple roles. In 2022, CIOs are being tasked with juggling multiple executive titles as they become a bigger part of the company infrastructure.
2. Staying on top of trends: Hospital CIOs must stay on top of trends to maintain successful digital strategies, as technology and the culture around it are constantly evolving. Some of the trends CIOs should be addressing, according to five health system CIOs, are technical debt, 5G deployment, EHR-based mobility, cloud-first approaches and gaps in cybersecurity strategies.
3. Transforming tech quicker: The demand for interim CIOs, chief information security officers and chief technology officers grew by 83 percent between 2020 and 2021. More organizations are looking at interim CIOs as leaders who need to transform and update technology quicker than before.
4. Drafting environmental strategies: CIOs will become a crucial part in drafting and implementing environmental, social and corporate strategies for their organizations as IT becomes a growing source for energy consumption.
5. Hiring talent: CIOs are now being challenged with the cost of hiring and retaining top tech talent as the tech industry sees wage inflation. This means employees are putting pressure on their employers to boost compensation for key roles by more than 20 percent, causing CIOs to try to convince board members to approve higher spending for tech salaries.
6. Customer experience: CIOs are now being tasked with creating customer experience technology. Creating digital front doors, enabling virtual conferences and rolling out consumer apps are all initiatives that are becoming more routine for CIOs.