A core set of digital technologies - mobile, social, the cloud and data - are transforming companies at both an operational and a strategic level. For leading CIOs, these present a major opportunity to expand their role. Learn more by exploring the CIO program report “Born to be digital”.

1. Born to be digital
How leading CIOs are preparing
for a digital transformation

2. 2 | Born to be digital
Are you
‘born to be
digital’?
Across a range of industries and geographies, digital technologies are transforming
the way companies and their customers interact. At the same time, these technologies
are releasing a wave of IT-led innovation, and creating new revenue and cost-saving
opportunities.
This seems like a natural process within internet companies, which are born digital, but
the digital transformation is now spreading rapidly to enable organizations of all shapes
and sizes to reinvent themselves.
Dealing with the challenge of digital change requires an end-to-end response, building a
comprehensive digital strategy, and rethinking the business and operating models.
CIOs need to ask themselves,
What will it take to stand out?

3. Digital-ready CIOs are
typically more able to:
►► Reframe their thinking and present
a positive story to the rest of the
business about the future that
technology can deliver
►► Proactively seek to create
value, with strong engagement
across everything from product
innovation and operational agility
to supporting decision-making
►► Carefully manage expectations,
walking a fine line between keeping
their businesses excited about
the potential of IT, and keeping a
realistic sense of what’s possible
►► Remain eager to keep developing
their skills and capabilities
Source: Born to be digital: how leading CIOs are preparing for a digital transformation, EY, 2014
In return, these CIOs reap
the rewards:
►► Seventy-one percent of digital-ready
CIOs strongly agree that
their standing within the business
has materially improved over the
past three years, compared with
just 54% of CIOs in IT-intensive
industries overall
►► They are seen to hold better career
prospects and are more highly
regarded in the business
►► Sixty percent are able to influence
broader company strategy,
compared with only 45% of their
traditional CIO peers
►► They are more satisfied in their job
and how it is perceived externally
Proactive and positive:
how digital-ready CIOs make their mark
Born to be digital | 3

4. Digital-ready CIOs vs.
IT-intensive industry
CIOs — distinctive traits
Digital-ready CIOs have a strategic vision of how technology
will transform the business — and know how to implement it
By definition, all digital-ready CIOs have a clear
vision about the future of their businesses.
They have a powerful sense of how and where
digital can transform product development or
sales and marketing and open up new lines of
revenue.
Digital-ready CIOs place more importance
on the close understanding of their market
or industry (70% compared with 52% of IT-intensive
industry CIOs).
But digital-ready CIOs work hard to tell that
story in comparison to IT-intensive industry
CIOs in general. Eighty-seven percent of digital-ready
CIOs focus on making the case for IT’s
role in business transformation to the executive
management team, compared with only 72% of
IT-intensive industry CIOs.
The digital-ready CIO also has the ability to
deliver on their vision, drawing on:
►►An intimate knowledge of the firm’s business
architecture
►►An ability to manage and drive complex
implementation programs
It would be easy to assume that CIOs in
any IT-intensive industry — defined as
spending above-average amounts on
IT — would stand out. But this is not the
case. Our research shows that truly digital-ready
CIOs differentiate themselves in six
distinct ways, and we profile the first three
of these here. For more information visit
ey.com/born-digital.
IT-intensive Digital-ready CIOs
industry CIOs
Discussing IT's role
in business transformation
Discussing IT budgetary
issues and infrastructure
management 72% 73% 55%
Providing facts as basis
for strategic decisions
87% 78% 70%
5
Top three engagement areas with the executive management board
4 | Born to be digital

5. “ If you want to run the
operations yourself, that is a
huge management demand,
so it will affect your abilities
on strategy and innovation.
You cannot do both.”
Bruno Ménard, CIO, Sanofi
Digital-ready CIOs move beyond operations and infrastructure
Digital-ready CIOs do more to move beyond
operations and infrastructure issues. They see
these as foundational elements that should be
run as efficiently as possible, freeing up their
time for the more strategic aspects of their role.
Many noted that traditional IT leaders appear to
be no more than infrastructure managers.
Instead, digital-ready CIOs have been placing
more attention on other issues, such as
enhancing business processes and preparing
their organizations for change. Even so, they
do not forget the operational elements —
understanding that smooth operational running
is what allows them to broaden their focus.
IT-intensive industry CIOs Digital-ready CIOs
60%
45%
Satisfaction with their ability
to influence broader company strategy
Born to be digital | 5

6. “ Digital-ready CIOs need to be Digital-ready CIOs are courageous risk-takers
more innovative and risk-taking.
But it’s a real change
from the traditional way of
doing things, where you argue
for budgets, and fill in capital
request forms with a business
case and so on.”
Tom Velema, EMEIA IT Advisory Leader, EY
Finally, digital-ready CIOs must be brave
enough to take a bet on emerging technologies.
This involves a willingness to risk failure — an
understanding that not all digital projects will
deliver as hoped. CIOs must experiment widely
to identify the biggest opportunities for the
future.
Tight budgetary pressures are often cited by
CIOs as the reason why a new project can’t
push ahead. But digital-ready CIOs are more
often willing to find ways to turn such pressures
to their advantage. While nearly all CIOs have
these concerns, digital-ready CIOs are more
willing to embrace risks.
Equally, digital-ready CIOs place no greater
emphasis on IT budgets and spending than IT-intensive
IT-intensive industry CIOs Digital-ready CIOs
81%
64%
11
Bringing innovation to both the business model
and the development of new products or services
industry CIOs. Instead they recognize
that their value is best realized by focussing
on business enabling elements and identifying
where operational IT savings can best be
reinvested to innovate the business.
6 | Born to be digital
About this report

7. Born to be digital | 7
EY’s Born to be digital: how leading CIOs
are preparing for a digital transformation,
published in spring 2014, surveyed over
180 CIOs, chief technology officers and
subject matter experts from a range of
industries that use information technology
(IT) intensively.
For the report, we spoke to representatives
of industries with the highest average spend
on IT as a percentage of total revenue. We
selected businesses that spend a substantial
portion of their budgets on IT because
they are also likely to be investing in digital
technologies. Through this, we strove to
identify how the skills, approach and mindset
of a traditional CIO1 would have to change
with the digital transformation.
Born to be digital spanned key global markets
and focused primarily on large firms: 27%
had annual revenues between US$500m and
US$1b, and the rest were larger, including
20% with revenues of at least US$10b.
From this sample, we identified and profiled a
subset of CIOs in IT-intensive industries who
focus the majority of their time on the most
strategic elements of their jobs. We called
these the “digital-ready” CIOs.
This extract highlights just a few key findings
from the full study. Download our executive
briefing or a copy of the full report here:
ey.com/born-digital.
Born to be digital explores four core themes:
Setting the
scene: the rise
of the digital
business
The DNA of the
IT-intensive
industry CIO
About this report
A mindset for
change: six
traits of the
digital-ready
CIO
Are you born
to be digital?
Self-assessment
for the leading
CIO
1. “Traditional CIOs” or “typical CIOs” refers to CIOs in non
IT-intensive industries as questioned for The DNA of the CIO,
EY, 2012.
This research is focused on the sectors identified
as being most IT-intensive, in terms of annual
spending on IT as a percentage of revenue. Those
sectors include technology (including hardware,
software and other IT services), financial
services, life sciences, telecommunications,
online and e-commerce.
Visit
www.ey.com/born-digital
for further reading.

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