This Is What It Takes to Be a Top Tech CEO Today Do you know what it takes to be a leading technology executive? Let's find out.
By Steve Taplin Edited by Chelsea Brown
Our biggest sale — Get unlimited access to Entrepreneur.com at an unbeatable price. Use code SAVE50 at checkout.*
Claim Offer*Offer only available to new subscribers
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Do you know what it takes to be a top tech CEO? In short, top tech leaders need a clear vision, a sharp focus on execution and consistency amid business pressures and challenges. A tech leader also bridges the gap between business and engineering, guiding the team to achieve a shared goal. Below are a few other abilities one needs to be considered a leading technology executive today:
Ability to solve complex engineering problems
Apart from managing people, DevOps tech leaders solve challenging engineering problems while seeing the bigger picture. They also deeply understand how their decisions impact the team's success, and ultimately, the IT business.
Apple's Tim Cook, Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Adobe's Shantanu Narayan,and Google's Sundar Pichai are great examples of the world's most influential and respectable CEOs. And they have a few things in common; they are effective listeners, savvy data analysts, and have a strong instinct that makes them successful business people.
Related: 6 Success Secrets From the Most Influential Tech CEOs
Use of robots to reduce the labor strains
Top CEOs are passionate about seeking new methods to reduce their workload efficiently, while at the same time, trying as much as possible to improve how well they meet and satisfy the demand for their products and services. While labor shortages are the highlight of the economy during the pandemic, robots are quickly filling this gap with better outcomes, too.
First, they do more jobs with more speed and efficiency. Secondly, they are diverse and are usable in multiple industries, including manufacturing, agriculture and construction. Business leaders who are labor-constrained should consider employing robots in their activities to boost productivity and enhance their daily operations.
A natural curiosity and willingness to learn
Top leaders are naturally curious and eager to learn to expand their mindset. Tech leaders should always embrace continuous learning to understand the fast-changing nature of the industry to adapt quickly, grow their skills and effectively manage their teams. Top tech leaders also mentor junior engineers to help them advance in their careers and be more responsive to market demands.
Offering customized purchase insurance
Businesses that sell products or services online, including flights, rental real estate or books, offer purchase insurance at checkout. And such online insurance could expand to new industries like shipping, car sales, construction and financial services.
New insurance carriers could emerge soon to offer industry-specific insurance coverage. Tech leaders should explore the benefits of partnering with such carriers, or better still, create their own.
Tech leaders lead by example
Successful leaders inspire their tech teams by leading from the front. Giving their recommendations to their IT teams is essential, but it's even more effective to practice what they believe in, even if it means they have to dive deep into the code.
Inspirational CIOs also collaborate actively, encouraging teamwork and enforcing the belief that no problem is unsolvable. Working beside your team goes a long way in showing your resolve to achieve a common goal.
Related: 6 Crucial Characteristics of an Effective Tech CEO
Use of simulations to solve operational problems
One of the best ways to share a leader's vision is by using software simulations to map out the company's activities to identify loopholes and pinpoint growth opportunities. Simulations can also solve technical challenges like supply chains that rely on a single provider.
While most organizations could lack an in-house function to set up such simulations, exploring the possibilities is critical. There are powerful tools you can use to envision significant improvements, even if it means outsourcing.
Use of virtual customer service deepfakes
Many of your customers may not be tech-savvy and may not understand some technical issues and possible solutions. While a company can hire customer service and human resources to attend to online queries, some may struggle to hire and retain these critical staff.
Top tech leaders explore the alternative: virtual deepfakes, which are digital videos of human replicas that help to offer customer service, entertainment or gaming. The applications are endless and can help to streamline your business operations.
Use of predictive software to boost productivity
Predictive software uses data to predict your next word or phrase, which is how search engines such as Google work. But in this sense, the software indicates the code likely to come next, thereby helping in faster development to help you boost productivity. This functionality is invaluable, especially where there's a labor shortage, and tech leaders should explore the possibilities of such predictive software.
Encouraging ownership
When IT teams acquire ownership of a project, they play an integral role in the overall IT firm's vision. But take care not to micromanage IT teams and their leaders. Instead, allow them to lead, run their businesses and grow as leaders.
Inspired employees are happier and more productive, and in turn, they make the clients happy as well. Top tech leaders allow their employees to buy a share of the software and apps they develop, making them more loyal to the company's values, vision and goals.
An inspirational leader takes a firm stand on critical issues, especially regarding major decisions for your firm. Successful tech leaders believe in the company's mission and goals and communicate them to all IT teams. The goal is to lead by example instead of being reactionary.
Related: How This Tech Leader Found Her Voice and Took the Reins of a Major Company
An effective leader assembles highly skilled teams to support the company's ability to stay on top of its game in the highly competitive IT and software market. But to remain relevant and consistent in the industry, regular training and retraining are necessary to equip your teams with new skills and refresh the existing ones.
To gain a competitive edge, the most successful tech leader is one who will incorporate software solutions to streamline business and facilitate team activities. These solutions could be applicable in marketing, offering customer care and predictive software for faster development of apps.
