CIO Roles and Responsibilities: Twenty-Five Years of Evolution and Change

The IS research community has investigated the evolving and changing role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for more than twenty-five years. This research sought to better understand the recent changes of the CIO role. Our research goals were threefold: 1) To identify whether the CIO’s job has changed from the characteristics suggested by previous studies; 2) to identify a profile of the attributes of CIOs, and 3) to understand what these developments suggest for the education and professional development of CIOs. We found that much of CIO role has evolved to the executive-level management and is centered on working with other business executives inside and outside of the firm to change the firm’s strategy and processes. CIOs are now seen as multi-dimensional C-level executives who need to be experienced with many functions within the organization and possess a diverse set of skills needed to influence the organization.