What does a CIO advisory board need to be truly effective?

To make products and services as sticky and relevant as possible, organizations must have broad perspectives from their key audience on the challenges and opportunities their solutions provide. Without this kind of insight, they will miss out on ways to drive the direction of their products and services. In short, innovation will become less effective.

The CIO is the key stakeholder in driving the discovery of the audience perspective. They need to find a way to create dialogue about industry trends and key opportunities customers and prospects are targeting to deliver value back to their organization.

One way to do this is with a CIO advisory board that tackles technology challenges head-on. But a word of warning: Without proper structure, these advisory boards may try to achieve too much, alienate attendees, and fail to drive effective outcomes.

So, to relieve pressure and deliver value, how can CIOs design advisory boards to bring meaningful change?

What is a CIO advisory board?

The role of a CIO advisory board is to provide guidance and strategic advice. The board meets twice a year, usually over a day, to discuss the pressing technology trends facing all members. Key topics from recent CIO advisory boards I’ve attended include:

• Generative AI
• Cybersecurity
• Automation at scale
• Dynamic workforce models, e.g., hybrid work, work from anywhere
• Finding talent and building teams

A good CIO advisory board brings diverse CIOs together to engage them about your industry, technology, and future-looking trends. This ensures you gain a range of insights, expertise, and different perspectives.

The goal of the CIO advisory board is to provide recommendations that help ensure technology strategy aligns with overall business goals, guides innovation, and improves efficiency. But this will only be possible by educating members on your product and how it ties into the trends up for discussion. The key to success is connecting the dots to explain how customers use your technology, the trends facing them, and how your technology could be applied differently or better – but without being drawn into the weeds.

Advisory boards can’t risk being a one-way street. It’s an opportunity to ask CIOs what is important to them. An effective feedback loop ensures meetings provide value for all attendees instead of just the host. In terms of who should attend, the ideal members would be thought leaders in the same space as you, as well as customers, prospects, and friends of the organization.

The trick is nailing the structure. CIOs are already extremely time-poor, and that’s before taking on “extra credit” work. So, it’s vital to make your advisory board as effective as possible.

What does an effective CIO advisory board need?

Here are five keys to hosting effective CIO advisory board meetings:

1. Spend time on your guest list. You have to bring together the right group of CIOs – they need the right background, scope, and levels of responsibility. Opt for members who come from a diverse range of backgrounds and industries to get a rich blend of expertise and perspectives. The end goal is a tight network of highly engaged industry leaders.

2. Consider the value-add for attendees. You can’t make your CIO advisory board another sales and marketing event. CIOs already go to plenty of those. To ensure all attending CIOs get relevant guidance and advice, think about the purpose and objectives and how these align with your strategic goals and those of your attendees.

3. Keep meetings focused on the issues that impact all. Prioritize specific topics or challenges facing you and your peers. Focus on how attendees can collectively address them – while also trying to get insights into how your solutions can help. Consider bringing in guest speakers who can drive conversation, debate, and discussion.

4. It’s OK to talk product but stick to the macro. Attendees will expect you to bring up your product and the space you’re in, given you want your peer’s guidance and ideas. The trick is to foster conversations that encourage a holistic look into your space, where it’s going, and what your solution needs to look like in terms of functionality and use cases.

5. Network, network, network. Create an environment where people can network and get to know each other. An environment that fosters open dialogue and collaboration will create a network of like-minded CIOs you can tap into to facilitate partnerships, access talent, or gain insights into industry benchmarks and best practices.

Maximizing effectiveness

With these five considerations, CIOs can maximize the effectiveness of their advisory boards, easing their burden and relieving some of the pressure CEOs place on them. Thoughtfully designed advisory boards can yield significant outcomes, aiding organizations in navigating changing IT ecosystems, fostering innovation, mitigating risks, and helping to achieve business objectives.

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