Almost one in five CIOs in the 2014 CIO 100 are still in their 30s with the four youngest aged just 35 – however the responses to our survey show that leading the IT function at an executive level is still an overwhelmingly white and male role. While the achievements of the UK’s business technology leaders recognised in this year’s CIO 100 should be celebrated, the make-up of the list shows the diversity challenge facing the technology industry is as relevant as ever at the executive level of IT leadership. The average age of a CIO in the CIO 100 was 45 years and three months, and although some 18% of CIOs were in their 30s and the oldest just past 60 – more than half of CIOs were between the ages of 40 and 49. Furthermore, only 7% were women and the list was almost exclusively white. The seven women is actually more than the 5% in 2013 and 6% in 2012, although some CIOs at major organisations did not respond to this year’s survey. The 7% on the CIO 100 is also lower than the 8% of women accounting for CIO roles worldwide reported by Harvey Nash last year – a figure rising to 9% in the UK. Judge and CIO UK columnist Mike Altendorf expressed concern about how this reflected the industry. “So essentially what this is telling us is that your average CIO is a 45-year-old white guy,” Altendorf said. “That is unsurprising but slightly depressing. “I wonder how much disruptive change has been brought about by 45-year-old white guys? Hopefully more than I suspect. This isn’t to say that the traditional profile of the CIO can’t deliver change but it does tell us that horizons haven’t broadened much since the last time we sat here.” Fellow columnist and digital strategist Ade McCormack could see some positives, however, in an element of youth creeping into the IT function in the C-suite. He said: “If people are hitting the CIO role at 45 they still have substantial career span left. Hopefully they will be setting their sights on CEO roles.” Related content BrandPost The future of trust—no more playing catch up Broadcom: 2023 Tech Trends That Transform IT By Eric Chien, Director of Security Response, Symantec Enterprise Division, Broadcom Mar 31, 2023 5 mins Security BrandPost TCS gives Blackhawk Network an edge with Microsoft Cloud In this case study, Blackhawk Network’s Cara Renfroe joins Tata Consultancy Services’ Rakesh Kumar and Microsoft’s Nilendu Pattanaik to explain how TCS transformed the gift card company’s customer engagement and global operati By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 31, 2023 1 min Financial Services Industry Cloud Computing IT Leadership BrandPost How TCS pioneered the ‘borderless workspace’ with Microsoft 365 Microsoft’s modern workplace solution proved a perfect fit for improving productivity and collaboration, while maintaining security of systems and data. By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 31, 2023 1 min Financial Services Industry Microsoft Cloud Computing BrandPost Supply chain decarbonization: The missing link to net zero By improving the quality of global supply chain data, enterprises can better measure their true carbon footprint and make progress toward a net-zero business ecosystem. By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 31, 2023 2 mins Retail Industry Supply Chain Green IT Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe