CIO Succession is a Double-Edge Sword

Succeeding an award-winning, long-tenured CIO is a double edged sword.  Chances are good that the successor will inherit well run operations and a strong team, and get right to the innovation and high value work.   But at the same time, it can be tough for the successor of a beloved CIO to chart his or her own path.

Such are the challenges confronting two new CIOs, hired as a result of two major CIO retirements, announced this month. 

Procter & Gamble’s CIO, FilippoPasserini, will retire in June 2015 after more than 30 years of service.  Replaceing Passerini as CIO is Linda Clement-Holmes, who previously acted as P&G’s global Information & Decision Solutions Officer.

Last week, Ford Motor Company announced big changes to its C-suite, including the retirement of the company’s CIO, Nick Smither who was with the company for 34 years.  Succeeding Smither will be Marcy Klevorn, previously Ford’s Europe CIO. She will report to CEO Mark Fields.

CHS Inc., a farmer-owned cooperative and a global energy, grains and foods business, named veteran enterprise IT strategist David Black the company’s CIO in October. Black joins CHS from Monsanto where most recently was VP, IT, responsible for its global business operations.

According to Cathy Hotka’s “The Insider” newsletter, David Sondergeld has been promoted to VP of IT and CIO at Gymboree. Previously, he was the company’s VP of Applications, and before that, Senior Director of Product Management for Walmart Global eCommerce.

Delhaize America announced today that Michael Laurenti will join Delhaize America as CIO and a member of the Delhaize America Leadership Team on Nov. 17, 2014. Laurenti previously served as CIO for Belk Department Stores. He succeeds Deb Dixson who announced her retirement from Delhaize America earlier this year. 

DocuSign, Inc. announced that Eric Johnson, former SVP and CIO at Informatica, has joined the company. Johnson will serve as DocuSign’s CIO and member of the company’s executive leadership team, reporting to COO Gordon Payne

Cubic Corporation announced the appointment of Jan Marshall as VP and CIO responsible for delivering a broad range of IT initiatives. Marshall comes to Cubic with nearly 40 years of experience .Most recently, Marshall founded jlm Coaching and Consulting, an executive coaching and consultancy firm focused on transformational leadership and guidance of IT organizations. Before that, she served as CIO at Southwest Airlines from 2006 to 2012.