Welcome to Heidrick & Struggles’ first annual US Digital & Technology Officers Compensation and Organization Survey, which examines both organizational structure and compensation for these increasingly critical roles.

For this report, Heidrick & Struggles compiled organizational and compensation data from a survey fielded in June 2023 of 406 digital and technology leaders based in the United States at publicly and privately held companies. Most carried the title of chief information officer. Chief technology officers and chief digital & information officers were also among those represented.

We hope you enjoy reading the report. As always, suggestions are welcome, so please feel free to contact us with questions and comments.

Executive summary 

Digital and technology leaders’ remit is increasingly broadening—functions that report into these leaders, our survey finds, include software engineering, data, corporate or enterprise applications, infrastructure, and customer-facing applications. And organizations across all industries are facing the challenge of adapting ever faster to a variety of tech-based innovations such as generative AI. Wrote one respondent, “As we digitize and standardize our business, technology is becoming more critical to the organization’s strategy and execution.” Wrote another, “Data is catalyzing new ways of working, and AI will be the accelerant for us to innovate and transform at scale while making the actionable insights accessible across all levels and roles.”

So the digital leadership role is becoming more complex and more important to organizations. However, only about a quarter of respondents report that their organization currently has a succession plan in place that has identified multiple candidates. The leadership pipeline should be thought of as a strategic asset—and an empty pipeline for an increasingly important role an organizational risk.

Likely due to their expanding responsibilities throughout the organization, more than half of respondents expect their cash base compensation to increase in their current fiscal year. According to our survey, the average 2022 base compensation for digital and technology officers in the United States was $540,000, while the average total compensation (including cash bonus and any equity or long-term incentives) was $1,895,000. 

Succession planning

Given the increasing importance of digital and technology leaders, organizations must consider succession planning for these roles. Among all leaders, according to another recent survey we conducted, 76% said they were very or entirely open to changing companies in the next three years.  The leadership pipeline should be thought of as a strategic asset—and an empty pipeline an organizational risk.

Nearly one in five respondents to this survey said that there currently is no succession plan in place for their role, nor is there one in development, while nearly one in three respondents do not have a succession plan but are in the process of developing one. Only about a quarter of respondents (24%) report that their organization currently has a succession plan in place that has identified multiple candidates.

For full organization and compensation data, download the complete report. 

About the author

Katie Graham Shannon (kshannon@heidrick.com) is the global managing partner of the Digital and Technology Officer practices; she is based in Heidrick & Struggles’ San Francisco office.