Are CDOs more likely than CIOs to become CEO?*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*
Friday October 25, 2019
CIO UK Interview with David Mathison:
What CDOs can teach CIOs about how to reach the CEO role
Left to right: Charlie Redmayne: CEO of Harper Collins UK (at the London CDO Summit 2014); Paul Shetler: Co-founder and Partner at AccelerateHQ (at the Sydney CDO Summit 2016); Sarah Wilkinson: CEO of NHS Digital (at the London CDO Summit 2017); Ganesh Bell: President at Uptake (at the NYC CDO Summit 2014).
Thomas Macaulay, Senior Online Editor of CIO UK recently interviewed David Mathison, CEO of the CDO Club, on why Chief Digital Officers are more likely than CIOs to become CEOs.
Below are some excerpts from that interview. The full article is here.
“Mathison believes that the principle reason why CDOs are more likely than CIOs to reach the C-suite is their development of more varied skillsets.
Mathison’s team looked at the CVs of each of the 101 CDOs on their list and found that around two-thirds of them had previously been employed as Managing Director, Executive Director, President or CEO prior to becoming CDOs.
CIOs are more likely to pursue IT career paths, which don’t typically experience of marketing, sales, ops, and finance that CEOs require, particularly at publicly traded companies whose board members and shareholders will be wary of candidates who lack those skills.
“Companies are hiring these people, not so much because of technical chops or because of marketing prowess, but because they know how to take an analogue business and turn it into digital one,” said Mathison.
Mathison advises CIOs who want a different seat in the C-suite to follow the career paths and skillsets taken to the CEO role by people in similar and companies and sectors.
You may find inspiration in the career paths of:
Ulrik Bengtsson was previously CEO at both Swedish gaming company Betsson AB and broadcaster Viasat Sweden before joining William Hill as CDO in September 2019.
Stephen van Rooyen of Sky UK and Ireland, who was promoted from Managing Director of Sales, Marketing & Brand to Chief Digital Marketing Officer before being named CEO.
Charlie Redmayne, who left his job as Chief Digital Officer at HarpersCollins in 2014 to lead Harry Potter digital publisher Pottermore before returning to HarpersCollins as UK CEO.
Vivian Schiller, who was CEO of National Public Radio, and then became CDO of NBC News. What may be seen as a step down in position was a big step-up in organisation.
CIOs also have great opportunities to progress into the C-suite if they are willing to acquire the experiences that the step up requires. And the need for those skills is increasing as outsourcing becomes a growing threat.
“If you’re just making sure the lights are still on, that could be outsourced too,” warned Mathison. “Grab these <digital, data, and analytics> responsibilities while you can, because it’s important – and they’re going to hire somebody else to do it if you don’t.”
Last year, the CDO Club teamed up with investment firm Bain Capital to release a list of 101 CDOs Who Have Become CEO since the CDO Club was founded in 2011 – an impressive number given that Chief Digital Officers are far less common than CIOs, and that the CDO title has only been around for a decade.
Check out the write-ups from every NYC CDO Summit to date below. Our events have been the ‘go-to’ destination to network, learn, and share with the best c-suite digital and data leaders in the world:
Madrid, Spain: May 19-21, 2020 via Digital Enterprise Show.
Tokyo, Japan: June 2020. Our 4th year, via CDO Club Japan.
Austin, Texas: June 2020. CDAO Summit. 2nd year, via Opal Group.
Singapore: September 2020. Our inaugural event.
Mumbai, India: November 2020. Via CDO Club India
Zurich, Switzerland: TBD 2020. Our 3rd year, via CDO Club CH.
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WHY SPONSOR THE CDO CLUB/CDO SUMMIT?
For many vendors, its become increasingly difficult to keep track of who is in charge at their client’s organizations. Shifting budgets, internal battles over head-count, new decision-makers in the C-Suite. Almost every sector has been affected.
Seasoned leaders with experience in digital transformation and data-driven culture are increasingly getting the keys to the kingdom, reporting to the CEO and the Board.
We’ve been tracking this shift since 2011, when there were only a few hundred CDOs on earth. Now, thousands of people hold those titles.
We can help get your message to these highly coveted, C-level digital and data decision-makers. We provide our partners with unparalleled access to the world’s top data, analytics, and digital executives, and enable you to learn more about their projects, needs, timelines, and budgets.
If you provide solutions that add value to enterprise CDOs and CAOs, you should join us this year.
Complete sponsorship details are available via our sponsor portal here and below.
We have a 7-year history of convening bespoke events, in intimate settings designed for networking, and we can also extend your message beyond the Summit, to the 5,000 registered members of our CDO Club, and to our dedicated email list of 23,000 subscribers.
Don’t take our word for it. Hear why sponsors, speakers, and delegates love our events in the video below:
See what previous speakers, delegates, and sponsors had to say about the CDO Summits here.
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Saskia Steinacker: Global Head Digital Transformation at Bayer
“What a wonderful CDO Summit in Washington DC. I really enjoyed it. I now see why your events are going from strength to strength. Count me in anytime!”
Dave Aron: Vice President & Distinguished Analyst at Gartner
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