In a world where digital defines the battleground and agility is king, the question isn’t who should lead—the CIO or the CTO—but whether either can truly succeed without the other. And yet, many organisations still lean on one, often at the expense of the other, creating an imbalance that fractures digital ambition.

We’re entering an era where business and technology are indistinguishable. The lines are blurred, and so are the roles. This blog aims to dissect the realities, debunk some myths, and provoke the uncomfortable questions CIOs and CTOs need to be asking themselves—and their boards.

What’s Really at Stake?

Many organisations confuse digital delivery with technology leadership. They assume that appointing a CIO or CTO—interchangeably—will “fix” their tech stack, align their business, and fast-track transformation. But this false equivalence often results in:

• CIOs focusing on business alignment but losing technical credibility
• CTOs driving technical vision without business grounding

It’s a costly imbalance. According to McKinsey (2024), 70% of digital transformations fail due to organisational silos, lack of technical execution, or misaligned leadership accountability.

The uncomfortable truth? A CIO without enterprise-grade architecture is just an operations manager. A CTO without customer-centricity is just a glorified engineer.

And this misalignment is exactly why so many technology investments fail to deliver their promised value. (To dive into that topic alone a bit more, read our blog: Making IT Investments Count)

The Classic Divide: CIO vs CTO

Here’s how the roles traditionally divide. But tradition is exactly what’s being disrupted.

	CIO	CTO
Primary Focus	Business outcomes, strategy, cost, service	Technology architecture, engineering, innovation
Reports to	CEO / CFO / COO	CIO / CEO
KPI-driven by	Service availability, business alignment, ROI	Speed of delivery, scalability, technical resilience
Core Traits	Commercially fluent, governance-heavy	Deep technical authority, innovation-driven
Common Pitfalls	Lacks technical depth, outsources risk	Lacks business alignment, builds in isolation

But what happens when only one role exists?

The Risk of a Single-Hat Strategy

Choosing just one (CIO or CTO) often leaves critical gaps. Here’s how each model exposes the business:

👔 Only a CIO?

• May struggle to drive deep technology strategy or platform architecture.
• Risks over-relying on third-party vendors and consultants.
• Lacks ownership of developer culture and engineering excellence.

🧠 Only a CTO?

• Risks building great tech that no one in the business knows how to use.
• May fail to influence investment cases or connect with finance.
• Lacks a governance framework or ITSM maturity.

You don’t feel the pain of this leadership gap until transformation starts stalling in the run stage. (We touch on this very subject in this  frank blog: Why Command & Control Fails)

Enter the CTIO: A Merged Reality?

Some organisations are betting on a Chief Technology and Information Officer (CTIO) as a hybrid. In theory, this creates a singular accountable executive, but in practice:

• Very few individuals genuinely span both disciplines.
• The hybrid often leads to diluted impact: too shallow to lead architecture, too technical to influence business cases.

“The CTIO is often a compromise solution—not a strategic one,” argues Deloitte in their 2024 CIO Survey.

It’s why many boards are revisiting whether their current leadership model actually supports real ITIL execution—or just theatre. (We dive into the theatre of execution in this thought provoking blog: The Leadership Void in ITIL Execution)

How Can They Co-Exist and Thrive?

Successful dual-role models are built on three foundations:

1. Clear Swimlanes, Shared Outcomes

Both roles must align around the enterprise’s strategic outcomes, not their departmental KPIs.

• CIO: Owns the “why” and the “what.” Translates business strategy into IT strategy.
• CTO: Owns the “how.” Designs the technology capability to deliver that strategy.

2. Mutual Accountability and Peer Review

The CTO should challenge the CIO on architectural feasibility. The CIO should challenge the CTO on value delivery.

• Create joint scorecards with business-centric metrics.
• Include each in the other’s planning cycles.

3. Cross-Pollinated Teams

Blur the lines of their reporting structures:

• Let the CIO own enterprise service management, with CTO inputs on automation.
• Let the CTO run technical enablement, but include CIO-led stakeholder feedback loops.

The Role of Their Lieutenants

If only one executive role exists (either CIO or CTO), then the supporting leadership must be deliberately structured to close the gap:

In a CIO-Led Org:

Title	Role
Chief Architect	Guards technical integrity and platform thinking
Head of Engineering	Owns DevOps, SDLC, technical health
Product Lead	Brings agility, user centricity

In a CTO-Led Org:

Title	Role
Head of Business Technology	Translates business demand to digital capability
Head of Service	Owns ITSM, continuity, service performance
Portfolio Lead	Aligns roadmap with enterprise planning

Are CIOs and CTOs Underselling Themselves?

Absolutely. Many tech leaders are defaulting to comfort zones—CIOs leaning into service delivery, CTOs into cloud migration—without owning the cross-functional leadership their roles now demand.

If you’re a non-technical CIO, it’s time to:

• Partner with architecture and engineering early in the planning lifecycle.
• Own the language of platforms, APIs, and tech debt.

If you’re a non-enterprise CTO, it’s time to:

• Sit at the table with finance, HR, and legal.
• Learn the rhythms of business planning and value articulation.

We’ve already seen what happens when leaders assume service happens automatically—it doesn’t. (To see it first hand, have a read of: Event Management: The Good, The Bad, The Broken)

Gartner’s 2025 CIO Playbook suggests the best tech leaders can “straddle the tension between innovation and governance”—those that can’t will find themselves edged out by Chief Digital Officers.

The Uncomfortable Questions Every Executive Should Be Asking

For CIOs:

• Are you shaping strategy or reacting to it?
• Do your architects work for you or around you?
• When was the last time your board reviewed your platform debt?

For CTOs:

• Can your team explain business value in a board setting?
• Are you building products the business doesn’t know how to use?
• Who owns the roadmap? You, or the PMO?

For Boards & CEOs:

• Do you understand what each of these roles really delivers?
• Are you rewarding outcomes or activity?
• Have you assessed your leadership model against transformation readiness?

Final Word: Stop Choosing, Start Architecting

Choosing between a CIO and a CTO is like choosing between oxygen and water. You need both to thrive. The real challenge is designing an operating model that gets the best from both, without overlap or power struggles.

Because in the age of digital everything, having only one of these roles is no longer a leadership model—it’s a liability.

Next Reads:

• Making IT Investments Count (CIO Series)
• Why Command & Control Fails (CIO Series)
• The Leadership Void in ITIL Execution
• Event Management: The Good, The Bad, The Broken