How the CTO role is changing from 2025 onwards

The CTO role confusion

Right now the CTO role is in a deep state of confusion. Here’s what many companies think counts as CTO:

• Software Engineers who are part of the founding team of a startup
• Software Engineers or developers who are leading a team of engineers or developers (often in a company that’s growing beyond 20 people)
• Solutions Architects with a lead on a particular industry are often labelled as CTOs, especially in larger companies
• Software Architects are also often labelled as CTOs, especially in medium to large companies
• Senior Scientists who were often an early member of staff or founder of a tech mixed with science company (like biotech for example) are also often called CTO or more rarely, CSO (Chief Scientific Officer).

5 types of jobs mis-titled as CTO

The CTO role is going trough transition

What the CTO role has been

In the past we had businesses who had a bit of technology in the corner, but these days every business is a technology business.

Traditionally, the CTO was seen by the CEO and board as a “Chief Technologist” (in the UK, they were sometimes called “Technical Director”, CTO came later…