CIO Role Expands During Pandemic

Chief Information Officers have seen an increase in responsibility since the start of the pandemic. Some of the responsibilities they have taken on include reconfiguring the supply chain, helping with the speed of automation in AI factories and overseeing bigger IT budgets. None of it should be surprising, given the evolving technology businesses in which businesses are investing, combined with accelerating and broader digital transformation projects.

Navisite, in a recent survey, explored how the CIO role, compensation, budgets and priorities have evolved since the start of the pandemic. Fifty-one percent of CIOs say their job role expanded or changed over the last two years, and 83% of CIOs took on new responsibilities beyond the traditional IT role to support one or more departments and functions across all areas of the company. These changes include:

• 37% adding new titles such as president, chief operating officer, etc.
• 21% reported directly to the CEO
• 18% were named to a company board or participated on board calls.

"Organizations underwent major shifts during the pandemic to support remote workforces, new ways of operating and other business impacts that continue today," said Gina Murphy, president and chief transformation officer of Navisite. "The survey results underscore how CIOs have taken on a greater leadership role to help navigate these changes and are increasingly engaged at the highest levels of an organization and across departments and functions."

Additional findings include:

• Compensation: 59% of respondents received an increase by 10% or more in their annual compensation since the start of the pandemic.
• IT budgets: 52% of respondents say their IT budgets increased since the start of the pandemic, with 6% noting a budget decrease.
• Digital transformation: 33% of respondents are spending 21% or more of their IT budget on digital transformation projects compared to 26% of respondents before the pandemic.