Behind The CIO's Desk: The Four Identities The Role Now Demands

InnovationBehind The CIO's Desk: The Four Identities The Role Now DemandsByRafael Pimentel Pinto,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)Jun 01, 2026, 07:15am EDTRafael Pimentel Pinto, CIO. Internationally awarded Innovation and Digital Transformation Expert. getty​A lot has been said in recent years about what a modern CIO must do, but I think the right question to ask is who a modern CIO needs to be. The common framing is that the role has expanded, but the word “expand” does not describe well what has happened to it. The role has fragmented, and I see it fragmented into four identities. Four identities, just like the number of members in two of the most iconic rock bands ever: The Beatles and Queen—each member bringing their unique personality, skills and talent, producing some of the songs many of us still carry on our playlists all these years later. And talking about songs, I bet most of your favorite ones are written in a 4/4 time signature. Or consider the string quartet, a form that has lasted three centuries because four distinct voices, each irreplaceable, can produce something none of them could alone. What happens when an organization needs the equivalent of a quartet, but only has one seat to fill it from? The string quartet works because four people each carry one role and the difference between the physics of each instrument provides a wide range of sound that covers most of the human ear’s musical range, from the cello’s low register to the violin’s high one. So, let’s break out the four voices, or identities, that I consider a modern CIO should have, to be able to cover the organization’s “musical range.”The Technologist Even though this is the obvious one, I just want to make it clear that I mean this in a strategic way, not the technician surrounded by cables in a back room, but the one w...