CIO and chief technology officer compensation is up more than 20% since 2019. The artificial intelligence boom is helping boost the salaries and pay packages of chief information officers to new heights. CIO compensation increased 7.48% on average among large enterprises and 9% among midsize enterprises over the past year. The gains indicate growing investment by enterprises in AI strategies and corporate tech leaders becoming more visible as they are increasingly tasked with new AI-related responsibilities.The artificial intelligence boom is helping boost the salaries and pay packages of chief information officers to new heights.
CIO compensation increased 7.48% on average among large enterprises and 9% among midsize enterprises over the past year—the biggest gains among information-technology job categories, according to salary data from consulting firm Janco Associates.
Overall, CIO and chief technology officer compensation is up more than 20% since 2019, with boosts to base pay and, more often, equity packages, according to IT executive recruiting firm Heller Search Associates.
The gains indicate growing investment by enterprises in AI strategies and corporate tech leaders becoming more visible as they are increasingly tasked with new AI-related responsibilities.
“ChatGPT caught a lot of incumbent technology companies by surprise, and no organization wants to be left behind,” said Shaun Hunt, CIO of Atlanta-based construction services firm McKenney’s.
CIO Pay Hits New Highs
Increase in IT compensation from mid-2023 to mid-2024
Source: Janco Associates
With only a few technology leaders fluent in the emerging field of generative AI, “this increased demand and limited supply of technology leaders is driving up compensation for these critical roles,” Hunt added.
The median base pay for CIOs this year climbed above $220,000 for large enterprises, and reached around $210,000 for midsize enterprises, according to Janco.
Compensation packages, with equity included, being offered to new CIO hires are putting total compensation above $1.5 million for midsize companies and over $1.8 million for large companies, some tech chiefs said.
Among the largest enterprises, Visa President of Technology Rajat Taneja’s total compensation in 2023 exceeded $20 million, according to the company’s proxy filings. That was up from about $16.4 million in 2022, and includes a roughly $2.8 million stock award increase, and a $95,775 salary bump.
Compensation was growing well before AI’s big moment in late 2022. Senior technology leaders became more crucial during the pandemic and remain so as businesses update their technology, Hunt said.
“With technology initiatives more critical to the business and their boards than ever, companies are also offering rich retention packages to tech leaders, which adds to the overall increase in pay,” said Martha Heller, chief executive of Heller Search Associates.
Boosts in CIO compensation have largely followed changes in reporting structures: Roughly 63% of U.S.-based CIOs now report to chief executives rather than chief financial officers or chief operating officers, according to Deloitte survey data. Deloitte is a CIO Journal sponsor.
“It goes back to that evolution of the CIO reporting to the CEO,” said Lisa Davis, CIO of health insurer Blue Shield of California. “Now the compensation has to come with it.”
In some instances, CIO equity packages have increased by as much as 40%, Heller said, especially among private-equity firms seeking to buoy technology assets. “CIOs are a big part of the value and the private-equity firm’s ability to have a good sale,” she said.
While his cash compensation at Syneos Health has remained flat, Larry Pickett, chief information and digital officer for the biopharmaceutical services company, said his equity awards have increased recently.
That is a good incentive, Pickett said, and is based on “helping drive the company forward and the company’s financial success, as opposed to, ‘Do you have the system up and running?’”
Pay increases also reflect the increased duties for CIOs in setting and executing AI initiatives. That includes readying enterprise data for use with AI, managing the technology’s cybersecurity and financial risks, and preparing employees to use chatbots and other AI tools.
“Our CEO tells me all the time, ‘We’re relying on you and your team for a lot in terms of putting in systems, planning the future with AI,” Pickett said.
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