The New Role of the CIO
Over the last two decades, the channels where commerce occurs have expanded and blurred as consumer expectations have soared. Along the way, retailers that once only needed to build and maintain software for manufacturing and inventory management have found themselves responsible for building consumer-facing technologies to support e-commerce, marketing, mobile, loyalty, fulfillment, real-time inventory tracking, and market-sensing demand planning.
With technology now a key function in every retail company, it’s fair to say the future of retailing will be led by the technology organization. As such, chief information officers (CIOs) are starting to play a more important role than ever before — one that transcends tech expertise and includes being a partner to the business.
To maximize this opportunity, today’s CIO must balance the needs of a traditional IT organization — managing computer systems, overseeing software development, and more — while building a road map for the future. Here’s how CIOs can set themselves and their organizations up for success in this increasingly tech-centric market.
Building Relationships Across the Business
Moving the CIO role from an order-taker for IT to a key player in driving strategy requires the ability to break down silos across the business. That, in turn, requires strong relationships and a cross-functional understanding of the retail ecosystem.
As a CIO, establish regular meetings with leaders across the business to understand their priorities and limitations. Ask each of them: What keeps them up at night? What technology do they rely on, and how well is it meeting their needs? How do they work with other areas of the company? Don’t stop at the C-suite; consider going one level down in the organization’s hierarchy to broaden your knowledge of the business and connect with leaders who are closer to the work being done.
Pick one functional area at a time, go deep, and listen and learn. The goal is to understand each business partner’s pain points and their technology needs so you can solve their problems using technology. By building credibility and knowledge, the CIO becomes a trusted source of advice and a partner in driving strategy across the company.
Advocating for What’s Coming Next
Armed with a solid understanding of current priorities and capabilities within the company, it’s easier to think ahead about what’s going on in the industry and where the company needs to make changes to enable progress. Consider some of the innovations of recent years — ship-to-store or curbside pickup, for example. Each had a technological side as well as an operational one, requiring changes to both.
This provides the perfect opportunity for CIOs to steer conversations about the services the company should be offering. The CIO already controls the tech side, but they can also advocate to ensure the company makes the accompanying operational changes needed to stay ahead. This will require not only being in the right rooms within the organization but also keeping an eye on what the competition is doing.
Setting Up the Tech Organization to Work Effectively
Smaller companies can often get away with a tech team full of people who wear a lot of hats, where priorities and task assignments are highly relationship-driven. If the marketing team needs something done, they may simply tap someone they’ve worked with before.
To scale and position technology as a partner to the business, however, requires the CIO to move the IT organization closer in structure to that of a large, more mature organization, which often has hundreds of tech teams, each owning a single application of a product that’s part of a larger ecosystem.
Start by delineating and defining the different teams within tech that will own different parts of the retail ecosystem. Ensure that each key business person has a counterpart in the tech organization they can go to when they need something. This creates clear lines of accountability and dedicated resources, setting the CIO up as a key player in prioritizing what’s most critical to move the business forward. It also benefits the organization’s tech teams by moving them out of constant firefighting mode and giving them a strategic role, meaning and defined career paths.
Building a Road Map for the Future
By bringing these components together — strong relationships, advocacy, and a clear organizational structure with defined lines of accountability — a CIO can transform what's often a responsive, adversarial relationship into a partnership. It won’t happen overnight, and it will require change management and thoughtful planning. But by starting now, you can build healthier, trusted relationships across the company and instill the organizational structure needed to turn your tech function into a powerhouse player moving your company toward tomorrow.
Bryan Rogers is the vice president of growth at Propeller, a management consultancy that helps leading organizations thrive in change.
Bryan Rogers, Vice President of Growth, Propeller
As the Vice President of Growth at Propeller, Bryan Rogers oversees service offerings, emerging markets, go-to-market strategy, client engagement and the brand and marketing function. He joined Propeller as a consultant in Portland in 2015 before moving to San Francisco to support the growth of the Bay Area offices. Bryan became the managing director of San Francisco in 2021 and has consistently demonstrated his aptitude in client relationship management, retail and technology transformation, and strategic growth. He was a critical force in developing the San Francisco office into Propeller’s second-largest market. Bryan is known for his ability to jump into a new situation, quickly adapt to its unique demands, and take a strong leadership role to get things accomplished. He has a bachelor’s degree in business from Truman State University.
