The rise of the CTO in the age of ‘business unusual’

Years ago, I spent a lot of time making the case for why IT mattered in large enterprises. It’s fair to say the landscape has changed—dramatically.

Where I once had to argue for IT’s strategic importance, I now find myself doing the opposite—pushing back on the exuberant view that technology alone can fix everything from poorly designed processes to unclear roles and responsibilities.

After decades of serving as essential—but often background—enablers of enterprise strategy...