5 steps to help CIOs land a board seat

When longtime CIO Edwina Payne set her sights on a board seat, she took a very different route from how she landed any of her IT leadership roles.

She started with her network, building a Microsoft Excel sheet cataloging every CEO, CFO, and board member she’d worked with — along with the boards they served on — to chart potential pathways. It paid off. A financial services CEO she knew introduced her to directors at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, where she eventually joined the board.

Julie Cullivan, who’s held CIO, CTO, and CHRO roles, did it another way. She tapped into a nonprofit program designed to prepare executives for board service. Her second board appointment came by way of an executive search firm. 

Different routes, but the same result finding a seat on the board, and more IT leaders are making the leap. In fact, new directors with tech or telecoms backgrounds outnumbered all other pedigrees in 2024, according to Spencer Stuart’s Board Index.

Still, the leap isn’t automatic. Many CIOs discover that while their technical expertise gets attention, it’s their business acumen that ultimately opens the door. “Not every board conversation is about technology, so they need to demonstrate their depth across a variety of business areas,” says Ed Stadolnik, who leads Spencer Stuart’s technology and digital officers practice.

Board vs. C-suite

For all the excitement around CIOs joining boards, the transition is rarely straightforward. The first question aspiring directors need to ask themselves is if it’s the right move.

Serving on a board isn’t an extension of an operational role. One issue CIOs face is not understanding the difference between executive management and governance, Stadolnik says. “They’re there to advise, not audit or lead the current company’s CIO,” he adds.

In the boardroom, the mandate is to provide strategy, governance, and oversight, not execution. That shift, Stadolnik says, can be jarring for tech leaders who’ve spent their careers driving operational results. 

Too often, IT leaders think technical nous is the ticket into the boardroom. Stadolnik cautions otherwise. Yes, topics like AI, cybersecurity and digital transformation are critical to boards from a governance perspective, but CIOs must bring a more well-rounded business sense to be considered for a board seat. “If they tend to have more of a classic, IT background — think ERP, infrastructure — and they’re really not talking of those high-level, leading-edge topics, they’re not going to be getting the board’s attention,” he says. 

So despite a trend of CIOs populating boardrooms, breadth of expertise goes further than simply depth of tech, which will raise the bar for opportunities that could start to diminish.

“There were some broad risk areas where having strong technical leadership was valuable, but it was hard for boards to carve out a full seat just for that, which is why having CIO-plus roles was very beneficial,” says Cullivan.

The issue of access is another uphill battle for CIOs. As Payne found, the network effect can play a huge role in seeking a board role. But not every IT leader has the right kind of network that can open the door to these opportunities. 

It’s no coincidence, Stadolnik notes, that CIOs get put on boards based on connections. “The network effect can sometimes be perceived as luck, whereas it’s actually because those CIOs have done significant networking and cast a wide net out there, and they’re able to catch the opportunity,” he says. 

Building your path to the board

For CIOs determined to join a board, there are concrete steps to take. 

1. Understand the role of the board: The first mindset shift is distinguishing governance from management. One way to do that, Stadolnik says, is to join an advisory or nonprofit board. “First, you start to understand the level of thinking the boards have around technology topics,” he says. “Second, you start to understand the difference between executive management and governance, which often can come as a shock to a first-time board member.”

2. Create a new network: For Payne, that meant moving beyond the peers she’d known as a CIO. “My old network was filled with fellow CIOs, and I love my fellow CIOs,” she says. “But odds are, they aren’t going to help me land a board opportunity.” So, as she did at the beginning of her board journey, she urges CIOs to be intentional about cultivating a new network — or a “next” network, as Cullivan says — of leaders who can open doors. 

3. Grow your knowledge: While Cullivan says she didn’t seek specific certifications, she’s engaged with organizations like the National Association of Corporate Directors (NADC) to network and grow her expertise in key, board-specific topics. Still, she feels added depth can only strengthen a CIO’s viability for a board appointment. “The mix of hands-on experience is sometimes more valuable than going through that program,” she says. 

4. Seek out opportunities to expand your expertise: Boards expect directors to bring scope across business disciplines and issues, not just depth in one functional area. Stadolnik encourages CIOs to utilize their strategic orientation, results focus, and collaborative and influence skills to set themselves up for additional responsibilities like procurement, supply chain, shared services, and others. “It’s those executive leadership capabilities that will unlock broader roles,” he says. Experience in those broader roles bolsters a CIO’s board résumé and credibility. 

5. Hurry up…and wait: Payne says CIOs shouldn’t wait until retirement to start their board journeys. “Boards are concerned about relevance,” she says. “If you wait a year or two after you retire, are you really current any longer?” Instead, CIOs should discuss with their CEO their desire to join a board, as beneficial opportunities can emerge. But once you begin the process, prepare for a long ride since board recruitment is considerably longer than C-level recruitment. “If you’re currently not on a board but want to, treat it as a multi-year journey,” Stadolnik says.