What is a Cheif Technology Officer?

What is a cheif technology officer?

A Cheif Technology Officer (CTO) is the highest-tech executive position within a company and leads the technology or engineering department. Develops policies and procedures, and uses technology to improve products and services that focus on external customers. The CTO also develops strategies to increase revenue and performs cost-benefit analysis and return on investment analysis.

What is the job of a CTO?

The functions of a CTO can be summarized in three main pillars:

  • Long-term delegate of technical strategy:
    • A CTO must efficiently maintain, develop, articulate and continually evolve the direction of the company's technical strategy .
    • The CTO is in charge of ensuring that the company continues to have the best technology, offering a highly competitive space in dynamic evolution.
    • The CTO establishes a balance between the commercial strategy and the technological strategy , efficiently connecting the external world with the internal one by distilling information into key trends, which indicate which direction the company should take.
  • Technical preacher:
    • The CTO must inspire and excite internal people about the company's long-term vision, and must also convince people outside the company that if the direction the world is taking is X, their company is the best option to take them. to such an extent.
    • The CTO must speak with authority about market needs, must convey credibility to customers, and must be able to articulate business value and return on investment to a variety of audiences at different levels.
  • Maintaining a technical culture in a company:
    • A CTO is responsible for leading the engineering organization toward the organization's long-term technical goals.
    • The CTO will inspire new engineers to join the engineering organization.

How did the role of a CTO come about?

The CTO title has been used for ten years, but in some cases, there is still confusion about the role and how it differs from a CIO . The title gained popularity in dot-COM companies in the 1990s and then expanded to their departments. The CTO job became popular as the information industry grew. Although it is also used in other industries such as e-commerce , healthcare, telecommunications and in government.

Skills that a good CTO should possess

In most companies, the Chief Technology officer plays numerous roles. This requires a wide range of skills based on technical and business settings. To get the most out of our business , look at a few of the essential skills and capabilities of a CTO:

  • Technical Competence: One of the most obvious skills a CTO should have is experience with multiple technologies. Not only does it mean they have more on-hand knowledge to offer the organization, but it will require a strong foundation for future learning in the industry.
  • Independence: A good CTO should be able to work independently with the more effort, the better results and when you focus on high growth, you won't need more than that.
  • Work in a group: CTOs are leaders , therefore they will need to be able to work well with others. Which includes team coordination and working with other executives.
  • Versatile: Must be able to adapt to change, with the strong and excessive evolution of technology, the chief technology officer must be able to adapt to change and quickly learn new trends in the use of technology so as not to become obsolete.
  • Business sense: Requires an understanding of how the company works and how it can benefit from different technologies.
  • Communication: A CTO must communicate effectively , with the greatest business focus towards team members and customers.
  • Creativity: The rapid growth process of technology means that the CTO needs innovative ideas to implement them in the company's daily work.