A CIO can act as an enterprise integration point by connecting business priorities, technology capabilities, people and partners—and can use that view to help shape strategy. “Chief integration officer” is a useful way to describe this expanded role, not a standard job title or a prescribed organization chart. Influence comes from shared work with business leaders, clear decision rights, business knowledge and executive sponsorship; a CEO reporting line alone does not guarantee it.
What it means for a CIO to be a chief integration officer
The CIO’s integration role is broader than keeping systems running. It is about connecting parts of the enterprise that might otherwise plan and deliver technology separately:
- Business and IT teams: Bring technology specialists and business-area staff together around shared initiatives.
- Business and IT objectives: Link technology investment and delivery to the outcomes the business needs.
- Partners and capabilities: Coordinate external partners in service of the company’s goals, rather than letting separate relationships create disconnected solutions.
Khalid Kark, Deloitte’s global CIO research director and managing director of its CIO Program, describes the shift this way: “The CIO role has become much more strategic. It’s not about a functional responsibility anymore; it’s about orchestrating the technology capabilities to deliver what the business needs.” CIO, “The CIO as chief integration officer”
That orchestration can include monetizing data and technology, reimagining work through automation, and applying emerging technology to business problems. Some organizations put data, digital and technology leaders under the CIO to create a more cohesive strategy; that is an organizational pattern, not a rule every company should follow.
How integration works in practice
Steve Zerby, CIO of Owens Corning, describes the value of seeing across a centralized but global company: the CIO can spot supply-chain synergies, connect higher-performing geographies with areas that may benefit from their approach, and see when technologies, processes, people or strategies are moving in conflicting directions. He says senior leaders are “in the best positioned to connect those dots, draw those parallels, and see collisions that are about to happen.” This is an executive account of the role, not a controlled demonstration that a particular structure produces better results. CIO, “The CIO as chief integration officer”
The practical test is whether the CIO helps teams make connections early enough to improve decisions: for example, by identifying overlapping work, surfacing dependencies, or ensuring that a technology choice supports the business outcome rather than a single department’s preference.
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How CIOs can influence business strategy
Influence grows when technology leaders are involved while priorities and plans are being formed, rather than only after decisions have been made. McKinsey’s 2026 Global Tech Agenda reports on a survey fielded September 29–November 10, 2025, with 632 C-level executives or IT professionals. Nearly two-thirds of respondents at top-performing companies said technology leaders were very involved in enterprise strategy, compared with 52% at other organizations. Across respondents overall, 29% said business and technology teams cocreated strategic plans throughout the year. These are reported survey associations, not proof that involvement caused company performance. McKinsey, “Global Tech Agenda”
Earlier McKinsey evidence points in the same direction but should be read in its own historical context. A February 2015 article reported results from an online survey of 713 executives fielded October 7–17, 2014: 363 respondents had a technology focus and 350 were C-level executives from other functions. The findings were weighted by national contribution to global GDP. Just over half said their CIO was on the most senior team, while only one-third said the CIO was very or extremely involved in shaping enterprise strategy and agenda. Respondents reported higher IT effectiveness when CIOs were more involved; the survey does not establish causation. McKinsey, “IT’s future value proposition”
McKinsey also reports that respondents whose CIO reported directly to the CEO were 2.5 times likelier to say the CIO was very involved in strategy than respondents in other reporting arrangements. That association does not show that changing a reporting line by itself creates influence or improves performance. The same source identifies practical barriers CIOs may need to address: unclear priorities, operating-model weaknesses, talent gaps, inefficient governance or work intake, weak business–IT alignment and unclear roles.
Choose a model for shared digital leadership
CIOs do not have to lead every digital initiative in the same way. Gartner’s October 17, 2023 release describes three approaches from its annual survey of CIOs and technology executives. The figures below describe the respondents surveyed, not the share of all organizations using each model.
| Approach | Who owns delivery | Business participation and governance | Share reported by Gartner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | The CIO retains digital delivery responsibility. | C-suite peers sponsor business initiatives, while delivery remains primarily with IT. | 55% of those polled. |
| Explorer | The CIO begins involving business peers and staff in delivery. | Business participation grows, with shared work developing but not necessarily full co-leadership. | 33% of those polled. |
| Franchiser | Business and IT leaders co-lead and co-deliver. | Multidisciplinary teams co-govern initiatives and organize around the work closest to value creation. | 12% of those polled. |
Gartner reported that 63% of enterprise-wide initiatives in the franchiser model met or exceeded outcome targets, compared with 43% in the operator model. This survey comparison does not establish that the model caused the difference. Gartner also noted that enterprise culture and CEO sponsorship affect which approach fits. Its Distinguished VP Analyst Mandi Bishop said CIOs should “co-own efforts with business leaders to place the design, delivery and management of digital capabilities with teams closest to the point where value is created.” Gartner, October 17, 2023
When selecting or evolving a model, examine who owns delivery, how closely business-area staff participate, how decision rights and governance are shared, and whether teams are organized around value-producing work. Gartner’s 2023 release also reported that 45% of CIOs were beginning to work with C-suite peers to bring IT and business staff together for enterprise-wide co-leadership. That suggests movement toward collaboration, not a universal mandate to adopt one model.
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A direct line to the CEO can improve access, but it is neither a sufficient condition for influence nor a universal prerequisite. Deloitte’s February 2024 CIO Pulse Survey of 211 U.S.-based technology leaders found that 63% said they reported directly to CEOs. Deloitte’s June 2024 release also said respondents named unified technology strategy and vision as a leading priority (46%); transformation and innovation (59%), topline value (57%) and change-agent work (54%) as desired CIO traits. These percentages describe that survey’s respondents, not all CIOs. Deloitte’s Anjali Shaikh said that being a technical expert is “necessary but insufficient,” and emphasized the need for CIOs to be business and people leaders. Deloitte, 2024 CIO Pulse Survey
Historical reporting-line figures provide context, not a current benchmark: Deloitte’s analysis of more than 500 CIO reporting relationships, drawing on data associated with its 2018 Global CIO Survey, found that 46% of global enterprise CIOs and 51% of U.S. CIOs reported to CEOs. Deloitte’s analysis argues that CIOs outside the CEO reporting line can still be strategic partners through business knowledge and an influential executive sponsor who treats technology as part of corporate strategy. Deloitte, “CIO Insider: Business strategy”
In practice, assess influence through several questions rather than the organization chart alone:
- Does the CIO have access to the people making strategic decisions?
- Can the executive sponsor explain technology’s role in corporate strategy and advocate for it?
- Does the CIO demonstrate enough business knowledge to connect technology choices to business priorities?
- Does the role have the breadth, authority and relationships needed to coordinate across functions?
The capabilities behind the expanded role
The role combines technology delivery and operational responsibility with business and people leadership. In Deloitte’s 2024 U.S. survey, respondents’ stated priorities and desired traits included unified technology strategy, transformation and innovation, topline value and change leadership. Those findings describe what that specific group of technology leaders reported; they are not a universal ranking of every CIO’s responsibilities. The practical implication is that integration requires both the ability to understand technology and the ability to build alignment among people who own different outcomes.
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