CIO pay continues to rise as IT chiefs move higher within their organizations and have to understand emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, CIO reported.
Compensation for CIOs and chief technology officers has climbed by over 7% since 2023 and more than 20% since 2019, according to data from IT recruitment firm Heller Search Associates cited in the Sept. 9 story. Median CIO pay is $196,000 at large organizations and $176,000 at midsized enterprises, per tech consultant Janco Associates. That includes an increasing number of retention bonuses.
"The strategic importance of technology leadership has never been greater, especially as organizations attempt to tackle information security, artificial intelligence, cloud transformations, etc.," Craig Stephenson, North American managing director of technology and digital officers at consulting agency Korn Ferry, told the news outlet.
More than half of CIOs now report directly to the CEO, according to Heller Search Associates data cited in the article. Five years ago, at least 60% of CIOs reported to lower-level leaders. In turn, tech chiefs' pay is now catching up to CFOs', per Matt Richard, CIO of the Laborers' International Union of North America.
"I would argue that the person running all of the technology has a far deeper understanding of the day-to-day operations of an organization than the person in charge of the money," Mr. Richard told the publication.