What does an economic downturn mean for a company’s C-Suite? How can a CIO manage complex financial times—while keeping an eye on profitable growth? And how can a CIO strategy ensure that companies stay relevant, profitable, and thriving? 

The best-in-class CIOs will raise their hands and move with the uncertainty around them instead of against it. They'll do tangible legwork to help their company weather the storm and prepare for the future — whatever that looks like. They’ll contribute to their company in a way that sets every other team up to be stronger and work more efficiently. And with the proper CIO IT strategy, the future will look brighter on the other side of the storm. 

But how? In our conversation with ex-CIOs Sunil Madan and Brian Keare, we learned a lot about the role of a CIO in uncertain times, and how to move forward to set up for success. Key among their insights regarding CIO IT strategy? It’s vital to claim your seat at the table as far as big, C-Suite level decisions are concerned. Check out the whole on-demand Master Class here, or stay tuned for our key insights:

“When you invest in technology, you're investing heavily upfront. But whatever you're building is being used by your employees forever at literally at no cost,” says Sunil. “So, making those decisions upfront from an investment perspective and having your CIO as part of that decision is already in place.”

A CIO is a technology guru, and what they choose to invest in has widespread implications across a company. So, making the rest of the C-Suite understand the importance of choosing the right technology and getting it up and running smoothly is a vital step in claiming a seat at the table. This, in turn, ensures you’re set up well for a difficult economic climate. 

“A CIO is a technology guru, and what they choose to invest in has widespread implications across a company." 

A CIO is a technology guru, and what they choose to invest in has widespread implications across a company. So, making the rest of the C-Suite understand the importance of choosing the right technology and getting it up and running smoothly is a vital step in claiming a seat at the table. This, in turn, ensures you’re set up well for a difficult economic climate. 

“When we were faced with a huge supply chain issue, our CFO created a war room with a bunch of people, with Excel spreadsheets, to figure it all out. It was then that I raised my hand and claimed my seat at the table,” says Brian. 

CIOs can have great ideas, but if they don’t feel empowered to draw attention to themselves, they won’t make an impact. A CIO should highlight the technological advances that they work so hard to implement, as well as the transformative impact that putting these people and processes together has on the overall business. These are huge, and often vital to the ability of a company to stay nimble and keep up with an ever-changing market. Not using this impact to claim a seat in the high-level decision making process is a wasted opportunity for both the CIO and the company.

“Focusing on projects that can produce value in the short term is really important,” says Sunil. “Everyone is focused on the next 12 to 18 to 24 months.” In an economic downturn, it’s crucial to work towards short-term goals without losing sight of the big picture, even if that means butting heads with short-sighted visionaries elsewhere in the company. 

So, how do you balance the short and long term? One pragmatic solution is check-ins. “You may have to check in [with your team] every quarter or month, because it's really important to stay connected with the business and keep discussing what your priorities are. Then if you need to pivot, you’ll be able to pivot faster with a detailed picture of what’s going on,” says Sunil. These frequent meetings mean increased transparency into daily business to understand what’s happening at all times, so you’re not scrambling to catch up to status when the time comes to make a move. 

“How do you balance the short and long term? One pragmatic solution is check-ins.” 

Being nimble will put you in a better position to get creative when pivots are needed, which will also add to your overall value to the company. “If you can enlighten your fellow executives as to how you can help your company be more either nimble or creative in this environment, people might look at you differently,” Brian adds. In that way, this environment presents a big opportunity for professional growth alongside company success. Don’t be afraid to lean into that and think about the value a CIO strategy can have on other C-suite Roles.

Lower headcount, extra scrutiny on revenue…a recession can mean a lot of bad things for a company that have implications for every member of the team. But don’t get fixated on the negative. Sunil argues that a recession presents a great opportunity for a CIO.

“There's peace time and there's war time. A recession is war time. You need to survive. So, you go back to your fundamentals. Do you have the right architecture in place?” War time can present a tremendous opportunity for the detail-oriented CIO to put in place hygienic practices they’ve always wanted to, but that always seem to get sidelined in favor of flashier initiatives. In a recession, there are no flashy initiatives. 

“Recessions can present a tremendous opportunity for the detail-oriented CIO to put in place hygienic practices.” 

“And we always have a lot of cleanup to do,” says Sunil. “You also have time to look at your architecture end to end, and focus in on customer experience. A recession is a great time to review everything, and make sure you provide the best possible experience for the customers.” 

The process of drilling down into the details may not be the most glamorous, but it has the chance to create tangible benefits that are felt company-wide. “Don't be afraid of being afraid,” says Sunil. “Be paranoid, be humble, be nimble, and go back to your basics and fundamentals and you're going to come out of this really, really successful.” You might even find yourself in better shape than when you got into this thing. Or at least, set up for healthier, more data-driven growth.

Product-led growth (PLG) tends to instill intense emotions in executives… sometimes positive, sometimes negative. But if we’re talking about a recession — optimization, reducing headcount and oversight — the question of product-led growth is bound to come up. So, what’s our advice for an CIO’s strategy when it comes to a complicated-to-digest feature that’s taking the market by storm? 

Mostly, it’s about resisting the narrative that adding PLG necessitates a monumental headache. The question you should be asking isn’t “Why would I ever do this?” but rather, according to Brian: “How can I work backwards, if I haven't architected my system to do that? How can I incorporate this new feature in an integrated way? It's hard to do, but I think that's the opportunity.” 

“It's critical to resist the narrative that adding PLG necessitates a monumental headache.” 

In other words, high risk, high reward. And PLG can represent another way to show up for your company in the heat of a recession and make a name for yourself as an implementer of innovative, cohesive solutions that make everyone’s life better. Good systems management requires good leadership, so coming up with a thoughtful, well-researched solution will be key.

Why invest in PLG? Why take a close look at your processes? Because at the end of the day, being successful in a downturned economy is about providing value — real, tangible value — to your customers. Value is what keeps your customers with you. If you can provide tangible, visible and non-negotiable benefits, you’ll hold onto your customer base and even grow (albeit, perhaps at a slower rate) no matter what the market looks like. 

Optimizing for that, even when it includes revitalizing and replacing old systems or adding additional functionality, is the best bet that your company has for weathering a storm and coming out better on the other side of it. PLG is a great example of that. 

Why invest in PLG? Why take a close look at your processes? Because at the end of the day, being successful in a downturned economy is about providing value — real, tangible value — to your customers. Value is what keeps your customers with you. If you can provide tangible, visible and non-negotiable benefits, you’ll hold onto your customer base and even grow (albeit, perhaps at a slower rate) no matter what the market looks like. 

For more of Sunil and Brian’s insights on how to effectively lead as a CIO in an economic downturn (and beyond), take a look at their whole conversation with our team.