It is widely acknowledged that CIOs (and other tech leaders such as CTOs) on average spend a relatively short time in their roles compared to other executive leaders.
The average CIO tenure is in the range of 3-5 years, appreciably less than CEOs and CFOs where the average is upwards of 5-7 years.
Last year’s Nash Squared Digital Leadership Report found that over 70% of CIOs had been with their organisation for less than five years. Just under 40% in post for two years or less.
Tenures appear to be getting shorter – the last year where we have directly comparable data is 2018, when 60% of CIOs had been with their employer for five years or less and 31% had been in post for less than two years.
Needless to say, there are exceptions and outliers to this. Some CIOs occupy their role on a much longer-term basis – the Digital Leadership Report found that 17% of CIOs had been with their organisation for 10 years or more
Cycle of change and transformation
There is a logic behind the short tenure phenomenon. The rate of change in technology is faster than in perhaps any other business function, and it continues to evolve at pace. Nearly all businesses are on a tech transformation journey of digitisation and change. A CIO is usually appointed to steer the organisation through a key phase of that transformation – such as the adoption of a cloud-based enterprise platform or the integration of AI or automation technologies – setting the organisation on a sustainable path into the future.
The job of the CIO doesn’t end there of course, just as the transformation doesn’t end. Technology transformation, after all, is never ‘done’. It’s more a case of a constant evolution with the tech stack flexing and evolving over time.
Nevertheless, the CIO is likely to have come into the business with a mindset very focused on successfully guiding the organisation through a major development cycle – and when that is done, they may naturally begin to feel that they are ready for a new challenge. The CIO may well have a previous track record of transformations elsewhere – that’s the talent pool they have been recruited from – which makes it likely that they will want to continue on that transformation path.
Size and sector variations
As we have indicated already, it is not a uniform picture. Every individual has their own personal motivations, priorities and career ambitions. Some CIOs may want to stay longer in post, steering the organisation through its cycles of evolution: having led the business through a concentrated period of transformation, they want the satisfaction of seeing the results bed in and becoming business as usual.
There are also variations according to company size and type. In very large PLCs with many thousands of staff, the role of the CIO is likely to be more about leading through complexity than the delivery of short-term change. It’s a more evolutionary role by its nature – and the CIO is likely to have a number of transformation leaders reporting into them who deliver discrete change projects. Smaller businesses including start-ups and scale-ups will tend to go through cycles of change at a faster pace and therefore may see higher turnover of tech leaders as they move through the phases. For instance, a CIO at a big financial services organisation would likely have a longer tenure than at a fintech disruptor.
In terms of sector, it’s true to say that the remit of a CIO in governmental and public sector organisations will tend to be longer-term, as the rate of change is slower. There isn’t a clear pattern across commercial sectors, where the key determinants are the organisation’s individual circumstances, tech maturity and strategic aims.
Implications for organisations
From the organisational point of view, it’s a fact that finding the right person to navigate the business through a key phase in its transformation journey probably means acknowledging that they may not stay much beyond a few years. This can cause a degree of unease. I have seen many instances where a business has paused over appointing a strong candidate because they have a history of only staying 3-5 years. But this rhythm is part of who they are and what makes them tick and excel. Have an open conversation with them upfront about this. If appointed, continue that honest dialogue. See how the fit goes, from both sides. The situation may change in any case as new technology priorities and challenges open up – be prepared to be fluid.
Implications for individuals
From the individual perspective, a high rate of change is something you’re almost certainly used to. It’s not just technology leadership roles that have short tenures – most positions across tech teams are subject to rapid evolution. New skills need to be learned all the time, new focuses such as generative AI emerge – the roles that people perform are in synch with the changing face of technology itself.
However, don’t assume that if you are or have aspirations to be a CIO, you are lining yourself up for a lifetime of constant moves. While the CIO role often has a strong focus on delivering technology change, it is also broadening in scope. Our Digital Leadership Report shows that nearly 70% of CIOs or equivalent have a seat in the boardroom. CIOs are now engaging across the business – not just the technology team – and are more involved with overall business strategy. Tenure is therefore linked to both the personal objectives of the CIO and delivery of key objectives.
There are also more career models opening up. Interim CIOs – appointed on a short-term basis for specific objectives – are becoming more common, as are fractional CIOs where the postholder may have a portfolio of part-time appointments. Senior CIOs often also graduate to non-executive positions in the later stages of their careers, bringing them the opportunity to add value from a new perspective.
Moving with change
The pattern of relatively short CIO tenures is here to stay. Indeed, with the speed of tech change only increasing, especially with the advent of generative AI, it could become even more pronounced. In itself, this is neither a good nor a bad thing. It’s simply a reflection of how technology transformation moves – and how organisations and technology professionals need the agility and flexibility to move with it.