You've likely heard the quote that "every company is a technology company", mostly used in the context of companies needing to be doing everything they can to leverage and exploit new technology, or they'll be left in the dust by more proactive competitors.
With that in mind, a key quote for me in the article was this:
>To help spur internal disruption, the company keeps tabs on 2,000 technology ventures, using about 100 in pilot programs that will eventually join the firm’s growing ecosystem of partners.
I think there will be a role emerging within Enterprises, (sort of like an "insurance broker" who finds the best coverage options among a sea of choices), that will be responsible for surveying new technologies that could potentially help the firm, and running pilot programs to see how they potentially help make the org. more efficient or more competitive.
One could argue that this is really the CTOs role, and it is, but often CTOs are focused on building their own technology, or maintaining existing legacy systems, and not so much on finding and implementing new technology that has not yet hit the main stream. So, at least the focus needs to shift.
Quite a few banks have something called "Innovation Labs" or similar whose job is to do exactly that: match emerging technology with appropriate internal use-cases. Part need-finder and part technologist. Capital One Labs, for instance, was crucial in helping the startup where I work land its first F500 deal. I'd imagine that "innovation labs"-type units are probably emerging at enterprises outside of finance as well.
> I think there will be a role emerging within Enterprises, (sort of like an "insurance broker" who finds the best coverage options among a sea of choices), that will be responsible for surveying new technologies that could potentially help the firm, and running pilot programs to see how they potentially help make the org. more efficient or more competitive.
You have just described my role. We're calling ourselves Emerging Technology Specialists for the time being.
As someone who built a major crypto exchange working on a second fintech business, this sounds interesting. Can you explain a bit more about where you work, the types of tech you've worked with and how you see this evolving? Feel free to reach me by email if you'd prefer not to discuss here.
Very cool. I was just thinking about this yesterday. It'd be really interesting to have the roll of researching the upcoming techs and trying to see how they'd integrate. Are you a start up or do you work for a larger corporation?
It depends on whose definition you use with respect to the CIO/CTO role. In my experience, CIOs are typically more focused on the internal IT infrastructure, keeping it secure, running smoothly, etc., (i.e. an more inward facing almost operational role), whereas a CTO should be outward facing looking and building technological advantage for the firm (i.e. a more outward facing commercial role).
However, I've seen it argued both ways. I'd be interested to hear what others think on the differences in the CIO and CTO roles.
Why would the Chief Investment Officer at a bank be involved in which technologies to adopt? Or did you mean Chief Information Officer or Chief Innovation Officer (which Wikipedia says exists, but I had never heard of)?
With that in mind, a key quote for me in the article was this:
>To help spur internal disruption, the company keeps tabs on 2,000 technology ventures, using about 100 in pilot programs that will eventually join the firm’s growing ecosystem of partners.
I think there will be a role emerging within Enterprises, (sort of like an "insurance broker" who finds the best coverage options among a sea of choices), that will be responsible for surveying new technologies that could potentially help the firm, and running pilot programs to see how they potentially help make the org. more efficient or more competitive.
One could argue that this is really the CTOs role, and it is, but often CTOs are focused on building their own technology, or maintaining existing legacy systems, and not so much on finding and implementing new technology that has not yet hit the main stream. So, at least the focus needs to shift.
*edit: typos