The 1990’s were a great time to be a Chief Information or Chief Technical Officer (CIO and CTO, respectively). As the internet roared to life, creating ephemeral wealth for everyone and their dog (who owned a dot com, at least), every company wanted tech chops to compete.
The prevailing theory was that being on the “interwebs” would fix every inadequacy of your business. Even large companies were in a hurry to gobble up scarce talent that was sophisticated on what this internet this was, and how it could be put to work to justify their most recent compensation package.
Great post, Jordan, as usual. So, what is the skill set of the “new” CIO? Operations + Finance + Technology++? The number of positions that need to be filled seems to far outweigh the number of professions that possess such a unique combination of skills, experiences and passion. Especially in retail/restaurant sectors.
Mike, there is definitely a shortage of talent at the upper echelons. PE firms are bringing in those with outside experience that are doing well… I think that is a good model forward: find someone in a different vertical with a good brain, give them a bump up in title and let them figure it out.