CIO's Role
Tizi is pleased that at AGL he will report to managing director Greg Martin, because he believes being at that level facilitates discussions with other C-suite executives. A CIO has to manage a lot of expectations and frequently has to deliver both positive and negative messages. Being a CIO at the right level in the organization, he believes, makes it easier to negotiate the best outcomes with colleagues in the best interests of the company, while CIOs at lower levels can find themselves driven by demand that may not be in the best interests of the company.
He sees his first priority is gaining a broad understanding of the needs of his fellow executives and what they will look for from their systems in the future. "I'm expecting my colleagues to measure my success," Tizi says. "If you ask any of my colleagues in the senior management team, in the leadership team, [whether they] get from IT what [they] want and they say: 'Yes I do', then I know I have been successful."
The departing Boyles also has some thoughts on the evolving role of the CIO.
"Look, I'm probably an outlier on my thinking on this, but I actually believe that CIOs should be outstanding technologists," Boyles says. "I think it's absolute rubbish [not needing an IT background], the stuff of marketing-type CIOs, or whatever. The reason for that is this is like any other specialized profession. How do you really understand things like architecture and infrastructure and the role of these things, and the future of a company, if you don't actually understand what's happening with technology?
"First and foremost, I would say that a lot of the models that I have seen in people's discussions publicly are just strange. So you have to be a good technologist. Secondly, and just about as important, you have to be a good business person. So I do agree with the statement that a good business person should be able to run IT. I say: 'Yes, a good businessperson who happens to be a great technologist can run IT.'"
Boyles fully expects IT to get far more complex over time, meaning the CIO's role is likely to remain of vital significance. As he eases his way into another few years of a retirement that isn't, he can expect plenty of time to observe the wisdom of his prediction, as the future unfolds.
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