Theme: The CIO and the C-Suite

In class we talked about Gartner's predictions for strategic technology trends for 2016 and 2017( Virtual reality, Internet of things, Smart Machines, Drones, Self Driving Cars, Robotics, *Blockchain*).  Assume you are the CIO of a company of your choice (you decide the company and set the stage upfront).  Assume you are having a meeting with your CEO and CFO to discuss big picture plans for your company as you look out a few years to plan the direction for the company's future.   Provide five points that are priorities for you to make at this meeting.  You do not need to go into a lot of detail - just identify the main points. 

Later in the day you are meeting with the CMO to discuss some projects related to the company's digital transformation plans.  The CMO would like to implement some projects around virtual reality / augmented reality in order to keep pace with the competition and possibly move ahead in this domain.  He is asking for advice from you.  What one suggestion would you make to move forward on this technology while also aligning with the company's overall corporate strategy? 

Before the day ends you will also be meeting with the CSO.  The two of you will make a joint presentation at the next Board meeting to lay out a security vision for moving forward in this uncertain time of changing technology.  The Target, Home Depot and other company data breeches have put companies on the offensive in terms of security issues.  You will begin by addressing what you see as the major security risks for the company.  What are the three top risks as you see it?

In class, we discussed the role of the CIO and the relationships to other key positions in the C-suite (CMO, CFO, COO, CSO, Chief Digital Officer, Chief Data Officer and others such as Chief Customer Success Officer).  What C-level position do you aspire to (it may also be CEO of your own company)?  What is your plan to achieve this goal?