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CTO – Chief Technology Officer

In today's world, any business's success is based on the use of advanced technologies. Whether it's hyperautomation, machine learning, artificial intelligence or the use of quantum computing. Just as in general digitalisation. CTOs help organisations to maintain their competitive edge or not to be left behind technologically. They are responsible for managing and adding value to technology in a company.

CTOs monitor the status of the technology in use and create corresponding guidelines. To do this, they also need to have the appropriate business knowledge to bring their technology-driven decisions in line with the company's goals. Their role is also highly dependent on the size of the company.

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Chief Technology Officer vs. Chief Information Officer

Traditionally, a Chief Information Officer (CIO) had a dual role as CIO and CTO. But as technology advanced and became more complex, it became necessary to split this role. The result is the CTO.

Dependent on the size and direction of the organisation, the role of a CTO may still overlap with that of a CIO. So how do the two roles differ?

CTOs have a more outward-looking, strategic planning role. CIOs, on the other hand, perform a technology-oriented, operational role. They are responsible for the technologies relating to the internal business processes. CTOs are responsible for the technologies that grow the organisation externally by implementing products and services for customers. So this is about product development, architecture, research and development and technology trends.

A Chief Technology Officer's most important tasks

Even though the role of CTO has been around for decades, it is one of those management positions that is quite vague and can vary greatly. Both the industry and the size or maturity of the organisation dictate the position. However, one thing is for sure - CTOs must maintain their technological edge and constantly keep abreast of trends and technologies that could change the course of the company.

Nevertheless, there are key skills and areas that all good CTOs have in common:

• Technology Leadership
• Technology Governance
• Innovation and R&D
• Product Development
• Business IT

Technology Leadership

The ultimate role of the CTO is to add value to the business through the technology chosen and to achieve the business objectives through it. They develop the technological vision and strategy to scale as a company and build a competitive advantage.

Technology leadership is ostensibly characterised by strong communication and influence. CTOs must also communicate their technical goals to employees who are less tech-savvy, while at the same time getting them excited about them.

Building high-performing technical teams is also an important part of this. This means hiring, promoting and developing the right people. This requires a culture in which these professionals can both develop themselves and also advance their careers. And so does the development of cultural values, ethics (in relation to artificial intelligence), inclusion and diversity.

Technology Governance

Technology governance is about managing technology investments appropriately, setting appropriate guidelines and policies, and managing resources wisely. As part of management, CTOs often manage extensive project portfolios as well as a range of stakeholders that need to be aligned.

In this context, the architecture is of central importance in the CTOs' responsibilities. Together with policies and guidelines, it is the foundation for the organisation's technology governance.

Innovation and R&D

Due to ever faster technological developments, it is even more critical to always have an overview of developments in this area. That means observing the competition, the environment, the market and trends. In this context, it is also helpful to analyse customer information and customer behaviour, as this means "real-time data" and can be used for product development, among other things. Furthermore, all these insights need to be leveraged to drive innovation for the company.

Because CTOs represent the technological flagship of the organisation, they must demonstrate their capabilities in this area to customers and stakeholders. This helps to attract the best talent as well as influence the evaluation of investors and analysts.

Furthermore, innovation often comes from strategic partnerships with start-ups, suppliers and other technology companies. Such an ecosystem of relationships and collaborations supports business resilience and risk reduction, and typically accelerates the pace of innovation.

Product Development

In product development, CTOs work with CPOs (Chief Product Officers) to develop improved technology-enabled products. The objective is always to increase revenue, sales and customer satisfaction while strengthening the brand.

Responsibilities in technical product development include the following:

• Software and product development
• UI (user interface), design, user research, testing, DevOps
• Building world-class software teams
• Technical support for customers
  

Business IT

Business IT is about driving basic technology investments. The goal is to support business operations and ensure that budgets and systems are managed efficiently.

Managing enterprise IT systems such as ERP, finance and CRM has always been a central task of the CTO. In this wake, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) as well as other forms of process digitisation have become a meaningful and influential part of corporate IT.

Again, CTOs need to pay attention to enterprise software developments and work closely with these software vendors to ensure enterprise operations. These include ensuring and maintaining service levels or the flawless use of new functions.

Executive Search 4.0

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