Advancing Technology Calls for New Tech Roles

The expanding use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is causing tech officers to rethink the way they operate ­— and the roles they play.

A McKinsey & Company study found that this “new era of technological change” could boost the economy by more than US$4 trillion and about two-thirds of organizations are regularly using AI — about twice as many as reported during the previous survey, said Delphine Zurkiya, a senior partner with McKinsey & Company, during a McKinsey Live webinar on Monday. There has been phenomenal adoption, she said.

During “Redefining the Role of the Tech Officer,” Zurkiya said that another AI trend is that it can boost innovation as well as revenue within an organization. But successful introduction of AI into the workplace means that people have “to completely, fundamentally change the way they work,” Zurkiya said. It means rescaling (and) rethinking processes.

It also means rethinking tech roles. “Every platform revolution or generational technology has changed the scope of enterprise technology and consequently the roles” of the chief technology officer, chief information officer and enterprise tech leader, said McKinsey senior partner Aamer Baig. “With that in mind, generational technologies come with generational career opportunities.”

The career opportunities translate into four tech officer roles: protector, operator, orchestrator and builder, he said. He described the positions:

Protector. This position encompasses securing technology as well as protecting business resiliency: Moving beyond cybersecurity to ensure protection of revenue and continuity. Over the years, cyberattacks have increased: “Cybercrime may end up costing all of us globally as much as $10.5 trillion,” Baig said. “That’s what makes being a protector really important … for the enterprise.”  However, currently, only about 30 percent of enterprises are well protected, he said.

Operator. This role involves improving tech services to “covering a number of adjacent areas like customer experience, operations, innovation and sometimes even strategy,” Baig said. “Many of the business functions are now looking at tech to generate the next tranche of value,” he said. As one example, generative AI could make administrative tasks 40 percent more productive while automation in the supply chain function could drive productivity by more than 50 percent. “CEOs and boards are now looking to their tech officer to take on even more responsibility and play a role in other functions,” he said.

Orchestrator. This position centers around outcomes, and not just in terms of delivery of tech. It includes leading digital and AI across the business and becoming a change leader.

Builder. “Perhaps the most exciting evolution is to be a builder,” Baig said. While most tech officers have been builders of software and technology, they now have the opportunity to be builders of businesses as well. “That requires bringing technology skills as well as business skills and product skills,” he said.

McKinsey researchers spoke with dozens of CEOs, board members, investors and technology leaders about the evolution of the tech officer role, Baig said, and the conversations, interviews and research have shown that role shifts are already taking place or are in the process of happening.

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