The CEO of Technology

Chapter 4Leaders of Transformational Change

As Connected Global Economy Grows, CIOs Rise to Meet the Challenge

I've been writing about the elevation of the CIO for more than 10 years, long enough to see what began as a hopeful vision become a firm reality. CIOs have earned their seats at the table and become trusted partners with their peers in the C-suite.

Building on that foundation of trust, many CIOs have moved higher in the enterprise value chain, evolving into strategic business leaders and key drivers of long-term growth.

Scott Fenton, VP and CIO at Wind River Systems, is an excellent example of today's rising technology executive. Wind River is a world leader in embedded software, an area that has become a sweet spot for growth in the connected global economy.

Wind River was acquired by Intel in 2009 and is considered an essential technology vendor in the rapidly expanding markets created by the Internet of Things (IoT). The McKinsey Global Institute estimates the IoT will generate somewhere between $3.4 and $11.1 trillion annually in economic value by 2025, and the World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates it will generate $14.2 trillion by 2030.

As the IoT gains traction as a real business opportunity for thousands of companies, premier technology providers such as Wind River are perfectly positioned for success.

“This is a very exciting time to be at Wind River,” says Scott. “We're right in the middle of the IoT revolution, which is great. We've been providing embedded ...