According to Jamie Miller, senior vice president and CIO of General Electric, this is the best time to be in IT.
Speaking to a group at Deloitte University, Ms. Miller said, "CIOs today can define how business gets done by setting the vision, leading the transformation and driving growth and innovation. We can be heroes at a time when the world needs more heroes," according to the Wall Street Journal.
First, Ms. Miller said to use individual strengths to lead from one's domain. Ms. Miller's career background is in finance and technical accounting, but she is using that knowledge to make the case for IT, largely by using her financial understanding and skill to demonstrate to leaders that they need to further invest in IT, according to the report. "Position IT as a function that amplifies the business strategy, explain how to invest for ROI and funding will follow," she said.
Ms. Miller has also focused on reducing outsourcing for a preference for insourcing. GE's portfolio mix is aligning businesses that have underlying similarities and then using those similarities to develop business centrally. "Our businesses need to invest in developing great IT talent. We need deep technical domain, and we'll get it, in part, by making it cost-neutral to the businesses," she said.
CIOs have the chance to shape the future of their businesses by developing, communicating and executing a strategy centered on innovation. Ms. Miller said GE's business leaders are starting to notice the changes in GE IT. "They see investments in data, cloud and employee experience. They see more IT talent in GE's DNA. They see an organization that's more outcomes-driven."
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