Whether you are a CEO looking for trusted, impartial advice (from critical friends) or the Chairman of the Board, trying to navigate some of the big challenges advanced tech is throwing up, with our help, neither will be mission impossible.

Our three service offerings:

  1. Tech NEDs
  2. Providing Strategic Advisors (critical friends) to CEOs
  3. Building Advisory Boards for Technology firms

  1. NED (Tech): Helping you realise the value of having Technology/Digital capability on your Board by hiring a Senior Tech leader.


Rebalancing the conversation: First and foremost, a Digitally enlightened Board will help improve communication, trust and strategic business alignment between your business strategy and digital opportunity. Interactions between executive management and boards have historically been episodic, typically occurring only at quarterly board meetings. Overlay this with rapidly changing technology, and the evolving business landscape, and it might suggest that boards and technology leaders should stay connected and engaged outside of board meetings. The evidence suggests though, that when it comes to technology, many boards resort to a more defensive position at the expense of topics related to technology-enabled business growth and expansion, such as developing new capabilities, business models, and revenue streams. Further advantages laid out below:
There are clear fiscal benefits being enjoyed by those companies that have technology representation on their Boards, a recent Deloitte study found that companies with a tech-savvy Board member performed better than those that didn’t, with an average of 5% greater revenue growth over 3 years.
Appointing a tech-savvy NED better equips the Board by providing effective guidance around digital and technology initiatives, and helping the Board to probe and advise the executive committee and technology department on these issues.
MIT identify strategy as the most important role of the Board, consequently a robust digital strategy strengthened by a tech-savvy Board will bring the most long-term growth and revenue to the company. Board members may also lack awareness of the latest trends in data management (CDPs/DMPs) a tech-savvy Board member can remedy this.
The traditional model of quarterly Board meetings and reports isn’t fit for the challenges of today, and a more digital mindset is required to rise up to the tests. Appointing a Board member with digital expertise will help to instil this kind of mindset from the top.
There is a disproportionately high number of diverse Board members with a technology background, appointing tech-savvy leaders to the Board can help combat the challenge of bringing greater diversity into the Boardroom. 
The startling numbers of security incidents in recent years have caused the SEC in the US to take action. Discussed regulations will see Boards required to disclose information about who is responsible for oversight of cybersecurity, whether this be a single director or the entire Board.

Get in touch

Client: looking to hire your next NED?

Individual: interested in becoming an NED?

2. Providing critical friends to the CEO: How does this work in practice?

A "critical friend" to the CEO, CIO and Executive is an individual highly experienced Snr Technology leaders who has most likely transitioned from full-time CIO/Snr Tech Executive to a Strategic Advisor.  They have impressive leadership and technology credentials; typically, been Fortune 500/FTSE 100/equivalent CIOs/CTOs now pursuing a Portfolio career.  They listen, enquire, and understand, bringing considerable experience and provide clear, unbiased, objective thinking and insight to some of the complex (technology/digital/data/cyber) challenges facing CEOs today.  

They can comfortably operate supporting and providing guidance to CEOs, CIO, and the executive on some of these big topics, if appropriate, they can be parachuted into specific situations and help to provide experience, insight, guide problem solving and support remedying burning issues.  
Often the incumbent CIO's strategy is the right one and the CEO might just need independent advice/guidance on how to probe and challenge it to make sure it's designed to drive the business and commercial outcomes needed.

In challenging situations incumbent CIO’s may also welcome having access to a “critical friend” an independent sounding board an outlet. Someone who has relevant experience, who can provide invaluable support and guidance but as appropriate provide independent constructive challenge, a different point of view that creates a valuable creative tension, improving situations and outcomes, invaluable support to the CIO. This could apply to evolving strategy, complex transformations, commercial situations, vendor relationships etc.   

They can help optimise translation of technology communication, building confidence, trust, and strategic business alignment by improving interaction between the CEO, Executive and the realities of Digital and IT.  Their experience can help bring insight and clarity to the rapidly changing technology and evolving business landscape and help executive leaders stay connected and engaged on this topic. They can also help the CIO communicating to the broader organisation to understand, implement and adopt technology-enabled business growth and expansion plans through new capabilities, business models, and revenue streams.

Specific areas can include:

•	Digital transformation – what does it mean to the organisation how to strike the right balance between revolution and evolution
•	Support for major transformations
•	Strategy - independent contributor bringing outside in experience or reviewer
•	Innovation – applying wider experience, identifying opportunities, value assessment, prioritising, and sequencing
•	Modern Technology – evaluating options, strategy & plans for adoption.
•	Governance – provide independent guidance and assurance.
•	Portfolio prioritisation – feedback on value and delivery approach 
•	Cloud migration – bring broader experience and insight to inform complex migrations and insight into value realisation

Get in touch

Client: looking to hire a Strategic Advisor?

Individual: interested in becoming an Advisor?

The Digital Board’s Critical Friends

Thinking of becoming a “Critical friend?” - here’s some of the qualities you will need:

  • A combination of coaching and experience-based guidance
  • Listening and understanding the client’s situation, applying your experience to both respond to requests for help through guidance.
  • Using your experience based on what you’re hearing to enquire provoking a richer conversation, offering thoughts and ideas
  • Being constructively critical in the spirit of improving situations and outcomes. This could be for example, encouraging more strategic thinking, less short-term actions. It may also relate to the client’s team performance and people challenges (as you establish the role, you will find that constructive challenge and feedback is welcomed). Often people know they have issues but need prompting or provoking to act. Some topics result in no progress, often people related. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t provoke as it probably is the right thing for the client and that entity. You will be asked for thoughts and guidance on topics, which is obviously where your experience comes in. It must be applied in a coaching supportive style.

3. You’re a Tech firm thinking about building an Advisory Board

Forming a strategic Advisory Board of CIOs/CTOs as an extension to your leadership team can make significant commercial sense.  They literally become an extension of your organisation, taking the time to understand your company (culture, leadership context, strategy and constraints) and help you with some of your key strategic challenges. They can offer you the benefit of their experience, acting as a sounding board for new ideas, as well as utilising their expertise to deep-dive into complex subject areas.

Specific areas can include:

  • Go to market strategy

  • Product roadmap

  • Navigating the internal roadblocks of enterprise clients

An Advisory Board can succinctly articulate value (and risk) in your strategy and can help your organisation navigate the path ahead with the benefit of their experience. They are used to working at board level and are as comfortable engaging on strategic topics as they are on business operations. All of these individuals have extensive experience of managing large scale technology transformation programmes.

Get in touch

Client: looking to build out an Advisory Board?

Individual: interested in an Advisory Board?

Click to read our Digital Boards Brochure

For more information on our Digital Boards service, please feel free to click and download our brochure.