Trust is the CIO’s real superpower, says Brover Advisory Principal Ellis Brover

CIOs hold an enterprise-wide view that few other executives share.

They can see the connections, risks and gaps across functions, but that perspective only creates influence when it is relevant to the business.

In this interview at CIO Edge, Ellis Brover, Principal at Brover Advisory, explains how CIOs can earn trust by understanding business priorities, working directly with stakeholders and translating technology into organisational outcomes.

Drawing on his experience leading technology at Toyota, Ellis explores how customer-focused transformation, cross-functional delivery and stronger business ownership improve digital delivery and cyber resilience.

Key takeaways:

• CIOs earn influence by connecting enterprise-wide technology insight to the business strategy and the priorities shaping board decisions.
• Transformation gains momentum when technology leaders understand stakeholder challenges firsthand and build credibility through practical results.
• Cyber resilience requires board ownership, clear governance and preparation across the organisation, supported by effective technical controls.

Business relevance gives the CIO influence

CIOs can identify dependencies, risks and opportunities that individual business functions may overlook.

Their visibility across the organisation gives them a valuable perspective on how decisions in one area affect outcomes elsewhere.

Ellis argues that this perspective must be translated into language the board recognises.

A technology strategy will struggle to gain attention when its connection to the business strategy remains unclear.

CIOs strengthen their influence by understanding organisational priorities and showing how technology contributes to them.

Trust grows when IT approaches business teams with humility, empathy and a willingness to solve the problems affecting their performance.

Transformation starts at the source

At Toyota, creating a consistent customer experience involves more than 200 independent dealerships.

Each dealership operates with its own systems, priorities and investment decisions, while customers experience a single Toyota brand.

Ellis responds by going directly to dealers to understand how their businesses operate.

Practical wins establish credibility before larger transformation decisions are introduced.

Fragmented systems and integrations may appear to present a technology problem, but customers experience the consequences through inconsistent service.

Keeping digital technology capability within IT provides oversight across architecture, vendors, contracts and cyber risk.

Autonomous cross-functional teams then bring technology, marketing and customer expertise together around shared outcomes.

Cyber resilience belongs to the enterprise

Some of the largest improvements in cyber resilience come from stronger business continuity, incident response, governance, culture and risk appetite.

Ellis says boards should assume their organisations are targets and prepare for an eventual breach.

Cyber risk cannot sit solely with the CIO or CISO when an incident can disrupt operations, affect customers and damage organisational trust.

Technical controls remain essential, but resilience also relies on decisions made across the enterprise.

Clear ownership, tested response plans and an informed board allow the organisation to respond with greater confidence when an incident occurs.

Strong vendor relationships allow difficult conversations

Strategic vendors influence technology performance, operational resilience and the organisation’s ability to deliver change.

Ellis values transparency, benchmarking and a willingness to hear difficult feedback on both sides.

A supplier relationship creates more value when each party can raise problems early, challenge assumptions and remain focused on what serves the organisation.

Trust gives these conversations substance.

It allows CIOs to address performance gaps directly while maintaining relationships capable of supporting long-term outcomes.