Satyajit Sarker: Manifesting The Art Of Contributing To Organizational Growth In Line With Corporate Aspirations

In the current world, technical knowledge and expertise are given, and this area has transformed into a service-oriented model. This has enabled the CIOs with time and opportunity to focus on the business and by realigning and balancing between outsourcing vs in-house or cloud vs on-prem structure. A CIO has an uncut role, which can vertically cross all other functions and departments. The right kind of balance & understanding of every single functional process and their current state of challenges is the key priority area of an effective CIO. Based on this, a CIO can take a holistic approach to unlock business values with untapped opportunities in the form of designing delivery platforms and business solutions.

CIO of the Year - 2021

As the role of a CIO continues to transform, more so in the aftermath of the pandemic, the conventional wisdom will no longer work by itself. The CIOs will be required to learn and unlearn in line with the changing requirements of the business ecosystem in order to continue to contribute productively to their organization's growth. It is also imperative to comprehend the fact that technology-intellect alone can no longer cut it for a CIO. s/he needs to know the business and have a sense for it. An analysis by Accenture had found that almost onethird (30 percent) of CIOs across the globe had non-IT jobs prior to their current position. Today, CIO is not necessarily an internal hire, either. According to the same report, in 2019, almost 80 percent of CIOs were hired from an outside organization. In other words, business acumen and a broader security sense along with other skill sets like interpersonal communication skills, market sense, and cross functional knowledge - all can be decisive in a modern CIO becoming successful. Recognizing the radical changes and developments in the Indian technology ecosystem and leaders within it, CIO Insider has come up with the yearly special issue, ‘CIO of the Year - 2021’. The list comprises modern day CIOs who have shown immense proficiency in adapting to the new normal, growing a digital backbone for their organization to function in the virtual world, and future-proofing their endeavors. The following list has undergone strict scrutiny by a panel of experts that include industry veterans & subject matter experts, CMOs, CEOs, analysts, and the CIO Insider editorial team.