While you can’t always predict when big chances will come your way, you *can* definitely get ready for them. Here are eight smart strategies for tech leaders in DevOps to boost their game and earn a spot in the C-suite.
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</div> I became a CTO in my late twenties, which is pretty common for startups today, but back in the ’90s, it was quite rare. I wasn’t as experienced then and was still figuring out the business side of things. Even though I was a solid software developer, it wasn’t my knack for architecture or coding that got me into a C-level position.
Among all my technical abilities at the time, my DevOps skills truly made the biggest difference. Of course, the word devops hadn’t even been coined yet! We didn’t have fancy CI/CD pipelines or infrastructure-as-code either. Still, I automated our builds, wrote scripts for deployments, made sure our infrastructure was consistently configured, and kept a close eye on system performance.
Building that foundational structure allowed our development teams to really concentrate on creating and testing applications, while our operations team handled infrastructure upgrades. With solid automation and a tech-focused team, I could then shift my attention to bigger-picture tasks: understanding what our customers truly needed, collaborating with product managers, grasping our marketing goals, and learning about sales. When our previous CTO moved on, I got the incredible opportunity to step up into that leadership position.
In my book, Digital Trailblazer, I dive deeper into my personal journey from being a developer all the way to a CTO and CIO. Since its release, I’ve had many readers reach out, asking for tips on how to fast-track their own careers. So, in this article, I’m going to share how promising individuals in DevOps roles—including both developers and engineers—can begin charting their course toward a CTO position.
Lead AI Initiatives That Truly Benefit the Business
Research tells us that quite a few generative AI experiments never actually make it into production. The latest MIT State of AI in Business report even revealed that a staggering 95% of companies aren’t seeing any return on their AI investments. Of course, experimenting is a vital part of learning, especially with new tech and AI models. However, C-level executives are really pushing IT departments to show a better return on investment (ROI) from their AI efforts.
DevOps leaders have a fantastic chance here to really impact both their organization and their own careers. Take the lead on a successful AI project, get it deployed, prove its business value, and then share those best practices so other teams can follow suit. The most effective DevOps leaders aren’t just chasing the easy wins; they’re actively seeking out opportunities that can truly move the needle for the business.
Here’s what we suggest: Seek out projects that come with clear vision statements, engaged sponsors, and a team truly dedicated to achieving those goals. Consider stepping up as an agile delivery leader and work closely with a product manager who can pinpoint the ideal user personas, set priorities, and define success metrics for your AI program.
Create Clear Standards for Effective AI Tool Use in Development
Another fantastic way for DevOps engineers to show off their leadership skills is by creating clear standards for how we use generative AI tools across the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC). When you’ve got powerful tools and capabilities, you need smart strategies to make sure best practices aren’t just for the early birds, but are adopted by many teams, helping everyone succeed. Here are some questions worth thinking about:
- When is ‘vibe coding’ a valid development approach?
- How can teams make sure they’re using AI code generators to get accurate and reliable results?
- How exactly can generative AI enhance the quality of user stories and help keep technical documentation up-to-date?
- Where should teams prioritize investing in test automation and observability to guarantee that changes to AI agents actually improve outcomes?
- Which areas of automation, from advanced CI/CD to multi-cloud operations, should we prioritize over adding new features?
- What are the absolute non-negotiables in DevSecOps and the essential non-functional requirements to build robust AI agents?
“The most relevant engineers will be the ones who treat AI as a collaborator and leadership as a craft,” says Rukmini Reddy, SVP of engineering at PagerDuty. “Resolve to deepen your automation skills, but also strengthen how you communicate, mentor, and create safety across both technical systems and human processes. Resilient operations depend just as much on how teams work together as on the automation that ships our software.”
Our advice: For DevOps leaders, the crucial first step is to figure out the very best ways to use AI within the SDLC and operations. After that, step up and lead the charge in creating and sharing standards that your teams will enthusiastically embrace.
Build Platforms That Teams Actually Love Using
If you’re aiming for promotions and taking on bigger responsibilities, a great place to begin is within your own area of expertise, working with your team, peers, and tech leaders. But here’s the twist: shift your focus from simply doing tasks to embracing a practice leadership mindset. Create a practice or platform that your team and colleagues genuinely want to use, and then clearly show its advantages to the entire organization.
DevOps engineers can really set themselves up for leadership by concentrating on initiatives that bring tangible business value. Aim for small, steady wins and champion solutions that help teams consistently get better in crucial areas.
Another critical task involves looking into platform engineering strategies that make developers’ lives easier and building self-service options. Leaders hoping to get noticed can also support teams in adopting shift-left security and refining their continuous testing methods.
Our suggestion: Don’t just hope that your leadership will notice your achievements. Actively keep tabs on your work, how widely it’s adopted, and the impact you make in tech areas that provide scalable and reusable patterns.
Change Your Mindset: From Doer to Tech Facilitator and Planner
For engineers, one of the biggest hurdles when stepping into more significant technical roles is moving away from just getting today’s work done. Instead, it’s about deciding what tasks truly matter, prioritizing them, and shaping long-term implementation choices. The journey to CTO isn’t about crafting quick fixes; it demands architectural planning, setting up robust governance, and inspiring teams to embrace self-organizing standards.
Martin Davis, a managing partner at Dunelm Associates, points out that to become a CTO, engineers need to stop focusing solely on tactical problem-solving and start thinking strategically about the bigger, longer-term picture. He offers these three questions to help evaluate platforms and technologies and cultivate that strategic mindset:
- How will these technologies truly handle future growth, both in terms of business needs and technological advancements?
- How easily can they adjust when circumstances inevitably change?
- What flexibility do they offer for adding and integrating other tools down the line?
“There are rarely right and wrong answers, and technology changes fast, so be pragmatic and be prepared to abandon previous decisions as circumstances change,” recommends Davis.
Our recommendation: For aspiring CTOs, one of the toughest mindset shifts involves moving from being the ultimate tech guru and problem-solver to becoming a leader who simply guides discussions about potential technology implementations. If your goal is to be a CTO, you’ll need to learn how to step back, grasp the broader vision, and empower your team to propose innovative tech solutions.
Build Your Expertise in Data Governance and Science
Lots of CTOs rise through the ranks as delivery leaders, primarily focused on building APIs, applications, and more recently, AI agents. Some will certainly have strong data management skills and understand the architectural choices behind data warehouses, data lakes, and data fabrics.
However, fewer CTOs come from a background in data engineering, DataOps, data science, or data governance. And that’s precisely where a big opportunity lies for DevOps engineers aspiring to become CTOs: Get deeply involved with the challenges that data specialists face when they’re building governed data products – those fantastic reusable data assets that can meet a variety of business needs.
A great place to really dig in is by focusing on improving data quality and making sure data is primed and ready for AI. It’s often an overlooked task, yet it’s absolutely crucial for creating precise data products and effective AI agents.
Camden Swita, head of AI and ML at New Relic, says to prioritize understanding how your datasets can be used by an AI system and sussing out poor data quality. “It’s one thing for a human to recognize poor data and work around it, but AI agents are still not great at it, and using poor or outdated data will lead to undesirable outcomes. Cleaning and improving data will help address common issues like hallucinations, bad recommendations, and other issues,” says Swita.
Our suggestion: DevOps engineers have a wealth of chances to really expand their knowledge and expertise in data practices. Why not jump in and help answer some of these 10 critical data management questions, especially those about building trust, keeping an eye on AI models, and making data lineage better? And definitely take a look at the 6 data risks that CIOs and business leaders absolutely need to be concerned about, including issues like intellectual property and external data sources.
Expand Your Tech Knowledge Beyond Your Niche
To truly climb into a leadership position, just knowing a few practices and technologies won’t cut it. CTOs are expected to drive innovation, define architectural blueprints, oversee the entire SDLC, and even collaborate on—and sometimes directly manage—different parts 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 who aim to build a truly deep and broad understanding of technology and expertise know that it demands a commitment to continuous, lifelong learning. It’s tough to dedicate endless hours to mastering every piece of tech, enrolling in countless courses, or just passively waiting for the perfect chance to join programs and teams where you can pick up new skills. The most successful individuals actively seek out smart, efficient ways to learn—whether through reading, collaborating with peers, or connecting with mentors.
Our advice: Make learning a regular part of your sprint goals, and document your best practices in a journal or on a blog. Writing things down not only helps you remember but also cultivates a crucial CTO skill: the ability to share knowledge and teach others.
Step Outside Your Comfort Zone and Embrace New Experiences
In Digital Trailblazer, I emphasize that true leadership means regularly stepping outside your comfort zone and actively pursuing experiences that go beyond your current areas of expertise.
My DevOps career checklist offers a few pointers for embracing transformative experiences and seeking out challenges that will hone your listening skills, encourage you to question current processes, and inspire others to think differently. For instance, why not volunteer to lead a major incident response from start to finish? This would give you invaluable insight into performing under pressure and pinpointing root causes. It will definitely boost your understanding of why observability is so vital and how much value monitoring systems truly bring.
But if you’re aiming for a CTO role, the even bigger challenge is to spearhead initiatives that demand active involvement from stakeholders, customers, and business teams. Actively look for chances to practice change leadership:
- Lead a journey mapping session to thoroughly document how end-users interact with a critical process and pinpoint their pain points.
- Jump into a change management program to learn the proven methods for speeding up user adoption of new technology.
- Go on a customer visit or spend time with operational teams to experience firsthand how well—or perhaps not so well—the technology you provide is actually working for them.
“One of the best ways I personally achieved an uplift in the value I brought to a business came from experiencing change,” says Reggie Best, director of product management at IBM. “Within my current organization, that usually happened by changing projects or teams—gaining new experiences, developing an understanding of new technologies, and working with different people.”
John Pettit, CTO at Promevo, says to rise from devops professional to CTO, embrace leadership opportunities, manage teams, and align with your organization’s strategic goals. “Build business acumen by understanding how technology impacts company performance. Invest in soft skills like communication, negotiation, and strategic thinking.”
Petit also advises aspiring CTOs to cultivate relationships across different departments, devour books on digital transformation, guide junior engineers, grow their professional network by attending industry events, and even seek out a mentor in a non-tech C-level position.
Our advice: The journey to becoming a CTO means dedicating more of your time to people and less to purely technical work. Don’t passively wait for leadership opportunities—actively hunt for them and get comfortable with feeling a little uncomfortable; that’s truly how you learn to lead.
Develop a Vision and Achieve Tangible Results
CTOs understand that their role goes far beyond just delivering technology, architecture, data, and AI capabilities. They immerse themselves in the business, connect with customers, and understand employees, all while building executive relationships that shape their technology strategies and future roadmaps.
Martin Davis of Dunelm Associates recommends, “Think strategically, think holistically. Always look at the bigger picture and the longer term and how the decisions you make now play out as the organization builds, grows, and develops.”
My recent work exploring the key leadership skills of digital leaders highlights strategic thinking, creating value, influencing others, and a genuine drive to make an impact. These are all qualities that aspiring CTOs cultivate gradually, by tackling more complex assignments and prioritizing collaboration with people over purely technical problem-solving.
But it’s more than just strategies and roadmaps; the most effective CTOs are true visionaries. They can clearly articulate a compelling future and set objectives that both leaders and employees wholeheartedly support. With those leadership skills, they can then develop cutting-edge, differentiating technical, data, and AI capabilities, all while expertly reducing risks and boosting security.
While you can’t predict precisely when a CTO opportunity will pop up, if tech leadership is what you’re aiming for, you absolutely can get ready. Begin by shifting your focus from simply doing tasks to truly leading, and then actively seek out chances to mentor teams and foster stronger collaboration with business stakeholders.
