Is Conversation the Key to Alignment Between CEOs and CIOs?

Collaboration between CEOs and Chief Information Officers (CIOs) is crucial for understanding decision making within a company, setting boundaries on innovation and for integrating AI effectively.

A study named ‘Crucial Conversations’ by Netskope found that two in five CEOs report being misaligned with their CEO on key decision making.

The data compiled is from qualitative interviews with 12 global CEOs from companies with 5,000 employees or more, and 202 CIOs across the UK and US to understand their experiences of working with the other role.

Additional findings include that 31% of CIOs aren’t confident they know what their CEO really wants, and 34% don’t feel empowered to make long-term strategic calls, identifying serious problems in many CIO-CEO relationships.

Discussing the research Mike Anderson, Netskope’s Chief Digital and Information Officer, says: “Our goal with this report is to give CIOs a peak inside the minds of CEOs, and offer guidance about how to position discussions in the most effective ways possible.”

Understanding perspectives

Through in-depth interviews with global enterprise CEOs, Netskope found key boxes that CIOs should tick, including:

• Technically expert but focused on business outcomes
• Future-facing tomorrow’s tech developments while staying in the here and now
• Collaborative and involved in multiple departments but not domineering 
• Visionary and strategic but remaining hands-on and detail-oriented

If CIOs are not aware of their expectations, the report says that unclear communication, conflicting priorities and dysfunction will continue to increase.

Despite constant conversation in companies about digital transformation and growing AI adoption, 26% of CIOs say it’s difficult to get answers from their CEO on modernisation and transformation strategies.

The findings also show that 41% of CIOs say their businesses aren’t investing enough in modernising their IT infrastructure, in comparison to 36% who believe their firm’s are.

Recent data from PwC reflected this lack of confidence, with a drop of 20% since 2023 in the proportion of IT leaders who feel their function is ready for reinvention - the year that signalled AI’s popularity growth within enterprises.

David Smoley, former Global CIO of AstraZeneca and Flex, said: “When it comes to your CEO relationship, focus on quality over quantity. It’s more important to have engaged communication and be closely aligned with their priorities, than to have a high number of interactions for the sake of it.”

How can CIOs improve their approach to CEOs?

To build effective relationships with their leaders, CIOs need a better understanding of the conversation areas where those priorities turn into business decisions.

Netskope’s research has identified key conversations that should take place between the two execs to make things happen.

1. Cost 

A challenge CEOs face is knowing how their IT investment will enable efficient business operations. The survey results show that CEOs want their CIOs to simplify technical jargon and explain budget-related decisions in ways that anyone can understand.

2. Risk

The report acknowledges that CEOs see risk as a spectrum and that no decision is free of potential negative consequences. Because of this, they ask their tech teams to present decisions as costed options, including detail on risk level and associated trade-offs for each one.

3. Innovation 

Many CEOs see their CIOs as being too keen for innovation and almost naive to its downsides, so Netskope encourages tech leaders to set out a path for new innovations communicating the rationale behind them.

4. People

With people and AI operating in an increasingly integrated environment, CEOs are encouraging CIOs to communicate about performance and resourcing across the company, not just within their teams.

5. Measurement 

In response to the survey, leaders expressed that they find measuring the performance of technology hard because of their relative lack of technical knowledge. Therefore, the report suggests that CEOs are asking their CIOs to simplify reporting metrics for non-technical stakeholders who sit around the boardroom table.

6. The IT Estate

Whether CEOs allow their CIOs to have complete leadership over software and applications, or the CEO wants complete oversight, leaders are asking for transparency and to know when things may go wrong before they actually do.

Joe Topinka, Founder and CIO of CIO Mentor, said: “For IT and digital leaders driving modernisation, it means intentionally forging stronger ties with the C-suite that are anchored in clear communication and shared goals.”