From devops to CTO: 5 things to start doing now

Extend your technology expertise across disciplines

To ascend to a leadership role, gaining expertise in a handful of practices and technologies is insufficient. CTOs are expected to lead innovation, establish architecture patterns, oversee the full software development lifecycle, and collaborate and sometimes manage aspects of IT operations.

“If devops professionals want to be considered for the role of CTO, they need to take the time to master a wide range of skills,” says Alok Uniyal, SVP and head of IT process consulting practice at Infosys. “You cannot become a CTO without understanding areas such as enterprise architecture, core software engineering and operations, fostering tech innovation, the company’s business, and technology’s role in driving business value. Showing leadership that you understand all technology workstreams at a company as well as key tech trends and innovations in the industry is critical for CTO consideration.”

Devops professionals seeking to develop a deep and wide breadth of technology knowledge and expertise recognize it requires a commitment to lifelong learning. You can’t easily invest all the time required to dive into technology expertise, take classes in every technology, or wait for the right opportunities to join programs and teams where you can develop new skills. The most successful candidates find efficient ways to learn through reading, learning from peers, and finding mentors.