<p>I really hate this kind of discussion, as if there's a mold that fits a good CTO or CIO.</p>

<p>Let's examine the qualities of a good executive rather:</p>

<ol>
<li>Practices enabling and empowering engineers and local team leadership</li>
<li>Deflects bureaucracy from external sources</li>
<li>Helps remove organizational blockers to change and improvement</li>
<li>Does not mandate architecture from the top down</li>
<li>Acts as an evangelist for software first solutions</li>
<li>Promotes automation and solid foundations for solving problems rather than implementing patches</li>
<li>Knows how to avoid unrealistic deadlines and demands quality, but not perfection, over quantity of features</li>
<li>Uses data to solve problems and constantly evaluates the integrity of the data gathering</li>
<li>Values iterative development rather than long, cumbersome planning processes</li>
<li>Values education and internal training &amp; advancement over outsourcing</li>
</ol>

<p>I'll add some more if I can think of them. We need to stop assuming a CTO or CIO is a list of resume qualifiers and start hiring people who really understand the process of building, maintaining, and delivering software from sun rise to sun set.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-11T19:15:29.830Z
2017-12-11T19:21:17.223Z
2017-12-11T19:21:17.223Z
Matt O.
<p>According to this <a href="http://www.tomsitpro.com/articles/cio-career-plan,1-997.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">blog</a>, one could become a CIO if one meets the following criteria:</p>

<ol>
<li>BSc in Computer Science</li>
<li>Proven experience in Project Management</li>
<li>Specialized in an certain area by becoming certified</li>
<li>IT Governance and Risk Management</li>
<li>MBA</li>
</ol>

<p><strong>Discussion</strong></p>

<p>I wonder whether the above mentioned criteria would be sufficient to become a CIO. I think that soft skills are important as well to be promoted to such a function right? I do not think whether only mastering hard skills would be sufficient to become a CIO.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-18T19:36:21.310Z
You voted to close your own question?
Xiong Chiamiov
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-18T20:35:45.863Z
Yes. I agree that this question is off-topic.
030
<culture>
How to become a CIO?
030
# How to become a CIO?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-09)

According to this [blog](http://www.tomsitpro.com/articles/cio-career-plan,1-997.html), one could become a CIO if one meets the following criteria:

1. BSc in Computer Science
2. Proven experience in Project Management
3. Specialized in an certain area by becoming certified
4. IT Governance and Risk Management
5. MBA

**Discussion**

I wonder whether the above mentioned criteria would be sufficient to become a CIO. I think that soft skills are important as well to be promoted to such a function right? I do not think whether only mastering hard skills would be sufficient to become a CIO.

**Tags:** culture

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You voted to close your own question?  
> **username_0**: Yes. I agree that this question is off-topic.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-12-11. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

I really hate this kind of discussion, as if there's a mold that fits a good CTO or CIO.

Let's examine the qualities of a good executive rather:

1. Practices enabling and empowering engineers and local team leadership
2. Deflects bureaucracy from external sources
3. Helps remove organizational blockers to change and improvement
4. Does not mandate architecture from the top down
5. Acts as an evangelist for software first solutions
6. Promotes automation and solid foundations for solving problems rather than implementing patches
7. Knows how to avoid unrealistic deadlines and demands quality, but not perfection, over quantity of features
8. Uses data to solve problems and constantly evaluates the integrity of the data gathering
9. Values iterative development rather than long, cumbersome planning processes
10. Values education and internal training & advancement over outsourcing

I'll add some more if I can think of them. We need to stop assuming a CTO or CIO is a list of resume qualifiers and start hiring people who really understand the process of building, maintaining, and delivering software from sun rise to sun set.


---

