The CIO of XPO Logistics is set to take over as CEO, illustrating the depth of business experience that companies' top tech leaders often have, the Wall Street Journal reported Aug. 16.
CIO Mario Harik will succeed CEO Brad Jacobs after the Greenwich, Conn.-based logistics provider spins off its brokerage arm in the fourth quarter.
"When you think of a CIO, usually, a lot of times you think only [of] a technology platform. But I've been part of the team that effectively has made decisions in every part of how we operate," Mr. Harik told the Journal.
As CIO — and this might sound familiar to healthcare IT leaders — he has dealt with analytics-driven pricing and staffing platforms, and machine-learning algorithms to increase efficiency among employees.
The evolution of the job of a hospital tech executive — from running bigger teams and budgets to having a hand in more parts of the operation — could similarly lead to more CIO-to-CEO moves in healthcare.
One recent example is Suresh Gunasekaran, who was appointed president and CEO of University of California San Francisco Health in March. Mr. Gunasekaran had been CIO of Dallas-based UT Southwestern Medical Center for more than a decade.