What company leaders expect from their technology leaders

Hopefully, getting your CEO focused on digital is no longer a hurdle you need to overcome. In fact, just the opposite may be occurring. Our recent survey of over 1,300 CEOs found that chief executives across industries and around the globe are fully embracing the technology mantle—and they are demanding a lot.

In our conversations, we learned that leading organizations understand how digital can create ever-better (and safer) customer experiences through strategic investments in data and analytics, mobile technology, and cybersecurity. Many are also looking to leverage technology to boost their innovation capacity and improve decision-making.

But here’s the kicker: CEOs still expect the operational efficiencies that technology has traditionally delivered.

Here’s how one of the 28 US CEOs we spoke to described the situation:

“We can see technology coming into every part of the customer experience, in the store, driving efficiency in our delivery system, and there’s many ways how we can access the customer for marketing purposes. We just continue to find more and new and interesting areas that we can apply technology to, and it all has a terrific return on investment.”

If only every company could say the same—that for each area they make tech investments, they see real ROI. The reality is that realizing that value can be a tall order, especially when you’re focused on so many priorities and you need to manage and improve existing technologies.

So, where do you start?

Begin by getting on the same page about your company’s strategic priorities and vision. That includes looking beyond current digital investments—like mobile and data analytics—and thinking about emerging technologies that will be important to your business in the next few years.

For example, how might sensors, wearables, robotics, and other less mainstream bets bring value to customers or operations? And how can you continually monitor, evaluate, try and prioritize potential technologies?

We encourage our clients to experiment with different emerging technologies and find out what fits best with your digital strategy. Experimentation doesn’t necessarily take a lot of investment, either. What you find might surprise you.