Hubadviser had the privilege of interviewing Olivier Cohn, Managing Director of Best Western France, a fast-growing mid-sized company. His career path is unconventional: he first served as CIO, then moved on to COO, and eventually became CEO. When asked what enabled such a rare rise, he answered simply: “As CIO, I had a direct impact on revenue generation, and that caught the board’s attention.” This example perfectly illustrates a key evolution in the CIO’s role: to truly position themselves as a Business Partner, it’s no longer enough to ensure IT reliability or drive productivity through digitalization. Today, they must actively contribute to business growth in concrete, measurable ways.
General Manager of Best Western France
For over 15 years, I’ve worked alongside CIOs and have often observed that they naturally collaborate with manufacturing, supply chain, or HR departments. However, the connection with Marketing and Sales teams tends to be more fragile. These functions operate with very different mindsets compared to IT, which can sometimes hinder effective collaboration.
And yet, these are precisely the areas where CIOs can now strengthen their strategic position. No-code, AI, and data have become essential for commercial development. And while the tools may appear simple on the surface, they rely on a technical foundation that only IT teams can provide.
The real question becomes: what is the IT department’s value proposition for Marketing and Sales? And how can CIOs avoid being bypassed as tools become increasingly user-friendly and accessible?
To answer this, we’ll first look at the major shifts currently reshaping Marketing and Sales departments, and then explore how IT can play a decisive role in their transformation.
Marketing and Sales teams absolutely must change their approach.
Today, traditional methods like cold calling no longer work the way they used to. A study published by Forbes reveals that cold call conversion rates typically fall below 2%. Meanwhile, cold emailing, though still widely used also shows disappointing results, with average open rates hovering around 20% and response rates even lower. Prospects are increasingly turned off by unsolicited, intrusive outreach; they now expect interactions to offer real value and relevance. In response, marketing and sales teams must adopt new strategies.
Customers want value before hearing about a product, and a personalized experience rather than a generic message. To capture their attention, companies must shift from a promotional mindset to an editorial one. They’re no longer just selling a product, they’re showcasing expertise. in short, companies need to become media platforms, and IT has a key role to play in making that transformation possible.
How can the CIO help transform the company into a media company ?
In a world where attention has become a strategic asset, companies must think like media outlets. This means producing engaging, high-value content on a regular basis, content that attracts, retains, and influences their target audience beyond simply promoting products.
To illustrate this idea, let’s look at three hypergrowth companies: Back Market, Daitaku, and Alan. All three have built a media section into their websites, whether it’s a blog, a “Resources” tab, or a dedicated editorial space like Backstories on Back Market.
In these sections, product messaging is minimal. Instead, they feature articles that address client challenges, societal issues, or industry-specific topics, with no direct link to their offers.
Example : Back Market published a report on an electronic waste dump in Ghana. The goal? To engage an environmentally conscious audience that may not be customers yet, and gradually convert them.
These companies have become media outlets in their own right. And this fuels their growth.
But media means information, and therefore information systems. This is where the CIO has a key role to play in this transformation.
What concrete levers can the CIO use to have an impact on lead generation ?
The IT department can play a strategic role alongside Marketing and Sales departments, particularly on four key issues.
1. Structure and enhance internal knowledge
Creating relevant, high-quality content relies on the information available internally: feedback from the field, customer insights, product data, and more.
The CIO must play a key role in setting up effective knowledge management solutions to centralize and structure this information. This includes mapping internal skills and expertise through tools such as:
- Notion, Confluence : to centralize information
- Elium, Guru : to distribute knowledge across the organization
The goal is to identify and leverage internal resources to enrich the content being produced.
2. Provide a creative AI environment to accelerate content production
Artificial intelligence plays a key role in automating content creation, whether it’s text, images, or videos.
The CIO can implement AI platforms to foster creativity and innovation within business teams. Solutions such as :
- ChatGPT Enterprise, Jasper : for generating text and articles
- Gamma.app, Runway : for visual content creation
- Synthesia, HeyGen : for creating videos with avatars
These tools help teams save time while producing content tailored to their audience’s needs.
3. Measure and manage the impact of content
Producing content is not enough, it must also be measured to optimize its effectiveness. The CIO should implement marketing data tools to track the impact of each piece of content. This includes monitoring performance indicators such as click-through rates, conversions, and engagement.
Here are some key solutions to integrate :
- HubSpot, Google Analytics : to monitor campaign performance
- Looker Studio, Matomo : to analyze results in real time and adjust strategies accordingly
The goal is to have clear, actionable metrics that allow for continuous adaptation of the content strategy.
4. Process automation: synchronization between tools and channels
Automating repetitive tasks and marketing processes is essential for improving efficiency. The CIO can play a key role by connecting various IT tools such as the CRM, website, social media platforms, and email campaign systems.
Platforms like Zapier, Make, or Integromat make it possible to build automated workflows that link different systems:
- Automatic follow-up emails after a defined period
- Synchronization between social media and CRM data for integrated tracking
This enhances operational efficiency and ensures that no warm leads are left unattended.
To implement these levers effectively, a certain level of technical expertise is required yet marketing and sales teams don’t always have these skills in-house. That’s why the CIO’s role as a facilitator for Marketing and Sales is becoming crucial. But it also requires the willingness to take calculated risks.
Taking more risks is the only solution.
In the interview he gave us, the Director of Best Western, former CIO, also raised an essential point: to have a real business impact, CIOs must agree to take more risks.
In this logic, we will address two types of risks that the CIO must learn to manage if he wants to contribute to the generation of turnover:
- Cyber risk
- Political risk
1. Cyber risk
A well-informed CIO can no longer ignore the challenges linked to the adoption of artificial intelligence: data protection, quality, and sovereignty, especially in a context of economic tension between Europe and the United States. These concerns are legitimate, and it would even be alarming not to raise them.
In response, many CIOs adopt a cautious, sometimes defensive stance. This often results in strict limitations on generative AI tools, or even a total ban, with access allowed only through tools like Copilot.
However, this cautious approach can create friction, especially with marketing and sales teams, which rely on speed, agility, and experimentation. This is where a real opportunity lies for CIOs. In these areas, the data being handled campaign content, customer messaging, videos, and so on is not strategic or confidential. There is little risk of exposing industrial secrets, patents, or highly sensitive information.
It is therefore an ideal playground to implement tools like ChatGPT or intelligent agents with minimal risk. This allows the CIO to support these functions proactively by offering secure frameworks tailored to their specific needs.
2. Political risk
Contributing to revenue also means greater exposure. Projects become highly visible, results are expected quickly, and failures can be costly. The CIO steps outside their traditional scope and enters a more political arena.
This brings two main risks:
A risk to credibility if investments don’t produce visible results.
A risk of becoming entangled in internal power dynamics, as other departments may also want to take ownership of business-driven initiatives.
Accepting this role means accepting to play the political game. It requires tact, diplomacy, and above all, a clear willingness to take a stand.
In conclusion
There are many opportunities for CIOs to position themselves at the heart of marketing and sales challenges. To be recognized as true business partners, they must prove their ability to generate revenue and support the transformation of these functions toward greater customer value.
Marketing and sales should no longer be limited to promoting products. They must focus on creating useful, differentiated experiences. And to do that, a solid technological foundation is essential. The CIO is best positioned to build it.
Yes, this means taking risks, but calculated ones, aligned with the use cases and the sensitivity of the data involved. That’s the price to pay for the CIO to fully establish themselves as a key player in the company’s growth strategy.
Also listen to our previous podcast with Olivier Cohn!
About the author
Ismail has 15 years of experience in IT and digital consulting. He spent nearly 7 years at Gartner. He has supported innovative startups in their growth strategy and worked with CIOs of large groups on their digital transformation. In 2021, Ismail founded Hubadviser to help CIOs challenge their vision with top-level experts.
