The Tech Executive Operating System: Creating an R&D Organization That Moves the Needle

Appendix A: Common Tech Executive Titles and Roles

This appendix lists titles you might come across in your career and how they differ. Keep in mind these are the most common cases , but your mileage may vary:

• CTO: Chief Technology Officer is by far the most common title and also the most ambiguous. In smaller companies, the CTO is likely to hold all of the LEAP responsibilities described in Chapter 1. If, along with the CTO, the company also has a VP managing the execution, the CTO tends to focus on Architecture and Evangelism responsibilities in most cases. In these cases, CTOs and their teams serve the role of bringing in innovation, researching new approaches to be taken, and communicating with the outside world. In the vast majority of companies, ...