In the world of corporate tech leadership, the role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) has long stood as a strategic pillar. But recent trends are raising eyebrows: some companies are eliminating the CIO role altogether. What’s going on—and should small and mid-sized businesses care?
Absolutely.
The InformationWeek article, “The Death of the CIO?”, dives into a new shift happening inside large enterprises. Increasingly, IT strategy is being distributed across multiple departments or absorbed into the broader C-suite. CIOs, once gatekeepers of all things tech, are being replaced—or redefined.
But for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), this trend holds a different kind of lesson: it’s not about whether to keep or kill the CIO title. It’s about asking who is really thinking strategically about your technology?
The Problem Isn’t the CIO Role—It’s the Assumption That Someone Else Is Covering It
In large companies, CIOs are sometimes seen as too slow to innovate or too siloed from the rest of the business. As a result, marketing teams bring in their own tools, HR signs up for their own SaaS platforms, and data governance ends up scattered and inconsistent.
Now imagine that happening in a 40-person company—where there’s no CIO at all.
At Chief Second, we work with businesses that are technically “covered” from an IT support perspective—but lack someone thinking upstream. Questions like:
- How should we plan for future growth with the right infrastructure?
- Are we choosing the right tools—or just the cheapest?
- What’s the long-term risk of keeping this legacy system around?
If those questions aren’t being asked, let alone answered, it’s not about having or not having a CIO. It’s about having a leadership gap.
That’s exactly why we advocate for the role of a Virtual CIO.
Learn more about how a Virtual CIO can bring strategic clarity to your business in this post.
Tech Isn’t Just a Department Anymore—It Is the Business
One key point from the article: many organizations are flattening tech leadership into broader business roles. Instead of a dedicated CIO, they may lean on the COO or CFO to manage IT strategy.
But that only works if those leaders truly understand the tech landscape—and few do.
For SMBs, this presents an opportunity. With limited internal resources, business owners can no longer afford to think of technology as “just support.” It’s a growth driver. A risk mitigator. A competitive advantage.
So the real question becomes:
If you don’t have a CIO, who’s helping you stay ahead of the curve?
If you’re unsure, it might be time to rethink how technology decisions get made in your business. Not with more tools or apps—but with better leadership.
What SMBs Can Learn (and Do) Right Now
Here’s the takeaway: the role of the CIO isn’t dying. It’s evolving.
And if you run a growing business, you don’t need to hire a six-figure executive to start thinking like a CIO. You just need access to strategic technology leadership that aligns with your business goals.
That’s where the concept of a Virtual CIO (vCIO) makes so much sense.
It’s flexible, affordable, and focused on long-term value—not just quick fixes.
➡️ Read more: What is a Virtual CIO—and does your business need one?
Final Thought
As titles change and org charts shift, one truth remains: someone needs to own your technology vision. Not just the devices or passwords—but the why behind every tool, process, and investment.
The death of the CIO? Not quite.
But the rise of smarter, more agile tech leadership? That’s already happening—and it’s available to businesses of all sizes.
Want to talk through your technology roadmap with someone who gets both business and IT?
Let’s have a conversation. You don’t need a full-time CIO—you just need the right partner.
