Six Secrets of Highly Innovative CIOs
The article outlines six strategic actions that visionary CIOs employ—abandoning legacy systems, creating innovation‑focused processes, reimagining work, leveraging their strategic position, cultivating talent and culture, and building credibility—to drive digital transformation and business growth.
They Are Abandoning Legacy Systems
In a cloud‑and‑agile world, digital‑native firms gain speed and flexibility by shedding legacy burdens, while forward‑looking CIOs modernize infrastructure to deliver fast, value‑creating projects rather than merely maintaining old systems.
Research shows many organizations still allocate up to 80% of resources to legacy maintenance, limiting innovation investment and productivity.
They Develop Innovation‑Centric Processes
CIO Vijay Sankaran’s 1,500‑person technology team shifted from a shared‑services model to a product‑first, agile culture, nearly doubling output and adopting higher automation and DevOps practices.
Additional initiatives include collaborative platforms, advanced technology labs, prototyping, hackathons, and incubation programs to surface and test new ideas.
They Reimagine Work
Successful CIOs recognize technology is only part of the equation; they must change how people work, partnering with HR to build a culture that rewards collaboration, DevOps skills, and continuous improvement.
They align technology initiatives with business outcomes, ensuring innovations serve customers and revenue growth rather than technology for its own sake.
They Leverage Their Position
Innovative CIOs use their strategic insight to influence enterprise strategy, bridging gaps between IT and other functions, and treating business units as colleagues rather than customers.
This mindset enables them to champion new products and services that directly impact revenue.
They Build the Right Talent and Culture
Talent and culture are critical enablers; CIOs invest in training, DevOps, and collaborative skills while establishing disciplined talent strategies to address gaps in data, analytics, and business acumen.
Strong workforce capabilities allow them to say “no” to projects that diverge from strategic vision.
They Earn Credibility Among Peers
By delivering reliable operational services and high‑risk innovation projects, CIOs gain trust from CEOs, peers, and employees, which is essential for securing support for transformative initiatives.
Credibility, built on performance and strategic alignment, remains a cornerstone of effective IT leadership.
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