Serious question… if I am interested in becoming a CTO/CDO one day, what should I do for the next 5-8 years to prepare for this? Are there specific roles in tech that prepares you for a CTO role? I am currently in sales engineering with over a decade in consulting experience.

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Domain expertise, strategic planning, and financial intelligence are what keeps you at the top. Demonstrated management skills and solid technology strategy are what gets you to the top.

You need to be able to distinguish between working the business and running the business.

You need to be able to manipulate and balance a P&L worth several millions, even hundreds of millions.
You need to be able to lead hundreds of people.
You need to be able to implement processes and technology strategy that affect the bottom line.

It’s an arduous process. I started at the bottom (and never had to network) but progressed quickly due to my technical domain expertise and management skills. I went from a tech Director (at a Fortune 15) to VP in 3 years. I will be an SVP within two years. At each level, the scorecard gets more intense than the last.

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What is the difference between “working the business” vs “running the business”? Could you please provide and example? Thank you

Start networking with board members in your area. Develop a relationship with them. Show them you have the capability to be a CTO. That’s how you’ll get “picked” to be a CTO somewhere.

Or you can start your own company and be the CTO. You’ll need to hire or co-found with a CEO though.

If you want to get “promoted” to CTO it’ll be a long road full of management skills development, and chances are you won’t make it at any single company.

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I agree that networking will be critical. It’s been a bit of a mystery to me since I noticed that CTOs come from so many different technical backgrounds. In terms of promotion to CTOs, I’m seeing a lot of those from former directors or VP of engineering

Budgeting, strategic planning, employee/team management responsibilities are all skills that you’ll need to be able to demonstrate on your resume. If you can already do that, great. If not you should be seeking those experiences out.

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Why does the role appeal to you?

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It’s hard to describe it here, but based on my research so far, I find the problems that CTOs tackle challenging and very interesting. This includes the responsibilities of maximizing output of the current technology infrastructure while keeping up with emerging technologies that can enhance current capabilities. I work in the public sector and it’s even more challenging in my opinion. I think it would be a senior leadership position that can make the most meaning impact as I’m seeing partnership between government and private sector improve.

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