CIO responsible for driving digital transformation, say most CEOs in a BT-EIU Survey

CIOs are still being seen as the prime drivers of digital transformation by the CEOs, reveled a new survey among 400 global CEOs. As many as 47% of the responding CEOs said it is their CIOs who are responsible for driving the digital transformation agenda. In comparison, only 26% CEOs said it is being driven by the CDOs. Interestingly, close to 22% of CEOs drive the agenda themselves, the research commissioned by BT and conducted by the EIU, revealed.

Nearly two-fifths of CEOs have digital transformation at the top of their boardroom agenda. The CEOs displayed a high level of confidence that their specific programs would help them achieve their strategic objectives, such as enhancing operational efficiencies, improving customer service and innovating for the future, with security as a key differentiator.

However, 86% CEOs encounter challenges in delivering the ideal infrastructure for their digital transformation programs. Inflexible technology (43%), lack of technology skills (40%) and security concerns (39%) were seen as the main obstacles. CEOs highlighted better integration, reliability, security and cost effectiveness as being the most critical factors needed to deliver the infrastructure which will build the digital business of the future.

Security as a differentiator

When it comes to achieving their digital ambitions, more than a quarter of CEOs regard security as a key differentiator. Among B2C financial services businesses, every one of the two CEOs held this view. Despite this, 22% CEOs view cybersecurity measures as a ‘necessary evil’. The findings suggest that, while CEOs feel perceived security risks should not hold back their digital transformation progress, they nevertheless continue to view security as one of the chief barriers and concerns when considering a digital strategy.

Customer service — and specifically the digital customer experience — is seen by the survey respondents as highly important, with 79% of CEOs saying they already offer a “good” or “excellent” digital customer experience today. However, barriers remain in the form of insight into what customers actually want and the technology skills required to deliver that.

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