If you’ve made it to a management or director role in technology, you may well have aspirations to make it to the tech C-suite as a CIO, CTO or other leadership position. But competition amongst talented professionals is fierce, while the advent of AI means that the technology landscape is changing and moving at a pace never seen before.
So, how can you maximise your chances of making it to the tech C-suite? Here are five key tips from our experience of supporting organisations in their executive leadership searches.
1. Prove yourself through results – and be prepared to wait. To really stand a chance of making the C-suite, you’ll need a deep and broad track record of leading impactful projects, driving change and transformation underpinned by innovative tech-based solutions. What boards are most interested in is results: outcomes rather than job titles. Make sure you can show what you’ve actually achieved, how you did that, and the financial and or performance/productivity impact it had for the organisation. Don’t expect your C-suite ambition to happen straightaway. Following on from working in junior and management roles, generally a candidate would spend 5-10 years operating at Director level, perhaps reporting to a CIO. Be realistic about your strengths and weaknesses, and any gaps in your experience you need to fill. For example, a strong track record on the engineering, systems and apps side – the front-office, customer-facing applications of tech – is generally at a premium. So if your experience lies more in the back-office infrastructure and networking domain, look for opportunities to build your credentials in frontline digital, data and AI where technology translates into measurable business outcomes.
2. Be flexible about career paths. If you’re working in a FTSE or other business, there is the question of whether you want to stay in that environment all of your career – or whether you would be open to moving to an SME or start-up as CIO or other tech leadership role as a first step (before potentially going back to a FTSE again). Conversely, if you’re in an SME or start-up now, do you want to try to get into a bigger corporate and work your way up in an environment where there may be more potential routes up? That’s a pathway we quite often see – the CTO of a start-up moving into a Director role in a large corporate, for example. But there are challenges involved both ways due to the significant differences in working environment, team sizes and culture. A FTSE hiring manager may be concerned that someone from a start-up will struggle to adapt to the more formal and process-driven environment in their business, while leaders in a start-up may worry that a candidate moving from a corporate may not fit the agile culture. You really need to think hard about whether such a switch would work for you: do you have the ability to adapt?
3. Upskill yourself and gain experience in AI. The rise of AI has fundamentally altered conversations around executive hiring as our wider client base seek leaders who understand how AI can be applied responsibly and effectively at an enterprise level. The pace of change has been extraordinary. AI now features in some way in almost every senior hiring mandate we receive: knowledge and experience of AI, along with wider digital and data literacy, are becoming the expected currency of tech leadership. Our clients, without exception, are telling us that their new technology leaders need to be able to straddle the old and the new, embracing AI in a meaningful and benefits aligned manner. Tech leaders need to be skilled in developing practical AI strategies aligned to organisational goals and driving adoption across the workforce. Put your hand up for any AI project opportunities in your current role. This isn’t just about technical understanding either – balancing innovation with governance, ethics, security and risk management is also critical, so look for opportunities to contribute to these key aspects.
4. Focus on personal development and leadership skills. Being a tech leader these days is about much more than just being a technology expert. Boards are looking for rounded leaders: people who understand the commercial drivers, are critical thinkers, excellent communicators, embrace innovation, can deal with ambiguity, and have the ability to lead, manage and inspire teams. Work on your soft skills. If there is training available here, take it. Tech leaders need high emotional intelligence and be able to manage diverse teams. Learn from others you admire – is there an opportunity to get a mentor? A common theme amongst many successful tech leaders is that they have proactively sought out mentors to support them with their personal development, helping them reflect and learn about everything from business and strategic thinking to personal resilience and leadership skills.
5. Develop your personal brand. This is an area that some tech leaders pay significant attention to. Building your profile in the market obviously helps you get noticed and may open up doors. Look for opportunities to get involved in PR and marketing activities, such as contributing to articles, speaking at events and participating in webinars, panels and podcasts. Consider also getting involved with activities that resonate with you personally, such as supporting efforts to increase diversity in tech or open up pathways into the profession. All of these activities help you build your network, be more visible and uncover opportunities.
They say Rome wasn’t built in a day – and neither are tech leadership careers. Have patience. Build a clear plan, invest in your technical skills and work on your leadership capabilities. In that way, you’ll be better equipped to take advantage of the opportunities that arise along the way.
Kirsteen Bell and Peter Birch are directors of technology & digital executive search at Harvey Nash
