The role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) in today’s business world is rapidly evolving, from a purely technology-focused position to one that is critical in driving growth and modernisation.

The CIO is now expected to be a strategic business partner who can leverage technology to create new business opportunities, improve customer experience, and drive operational efficiencies.

In a recent interview at the CIO Edge conference in Melbourne, Michael Fagan, CTO at Village Roadshow, shared his insights on how the CIO can drive growth and modernisation.

According to Michael, a great strategy is about saying no to good ideas and focusing on a small number of things really well, rather than trying to do everything at once.

One of the biggest challenges in driving growth and modernisation is human nature. As human beings, we tend to be additive rather than subtractive, always looking for ways to add more to our to-do lists. Michael suggests that instead of asking how to improve something, we should ask how to simplify it.

By simplifying processes, we can reduce cognitive load, allowing our teams to make better decisions and focus on what matters most to customers. Another key challenge in driving growth and modernisation is dealing with the demands of boards and executive teams who constantly want more from their teams.

Michael suggests pushing back in the right way by explaining the rationale behind the need to keep things simple and focus on what matters most to customers.

By simplifying processes, prioritising customer needs, and pushing back against demands for more, CIOs can achieve a range of outcomes, including improved employee experience, better customer experience, and increased margin growth.

The role of the CIO is no longer just about technology, but about driving growth and modernisation across the entire organisation.

Contributors
Michael Fagan Chief Transformation Officer at Village Roadshow
An experienced international executive who is people focused and who delivers results. I have lived and worked in Europe, Asia, USA and... More

An experienced international executive who is people focused and who delivers results. I have lived and worked in Europe, Asia, USA and Australia for publicly listed companies with more than 200,000 employees and >$60bn in Revenue.

Key roles have been at Director and Senior Executive level, with P&L responsibility for $1bn businesses. I have a particular focus on implementing difficult large-scale change programmes, delivering strategic, leadership and operational improvements to improve shareholder returns and making businesses profitable.

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Shane Hill Principal Research Analyst at ADAPT
Shane manages ADAPT’s research agenda and is responsible for driving survey evolution.​ He has over 20 years of experience in technology delivery... More

Shane manages ADAPT’s research agenda and is responsible for driving survey evolution.​

He has over 20 years of experience in technology delivery and market intelligence roles. This includes over six years serving technology and services providers at Gartner.​

Shane has deep knowledge of the UK and Australian markets, across financial services, government, professional services and energy/utilities sectors.​

As an IT services expert, he is equipped to advise organisations as they commoditise technology foundations to then differentiate through world-class experiences.​

Shane builds on this expertise to advise on practical ESG, data & AI, and the application modernisation strategies required to realise those aims.​

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Transformation Leadership