🕗 It’s 8:14 a.m. in Bordeaux.
Sophie stares at her screen, a black coffee in hand, her gaze a bit harder than usual. Three one-on-one meetings in 48 hours with her regional lieutenants. Three conversations. Three worlds. And the same question pounding in her head: how can we still talk about “Information System” in the singular?
Group CIO of a French aerospace company operating in ten countries, Sophie is celebrating her first year in the role. Her path hasn’t been typical. She first climbed the ranks of the supply chain, learning to juggle flows, stock, and emergencies. She was a project manager, then led local operations in Asia—especially in China, where she spent several years. Only after joining the operations department at HQ was she propelled to the head of IT.
Her mandate? Simple on paper: align IT strategy with the group’s overall strategy. A great mission. And strong sponsorship within the executive committee. But now that the appointment festivities are over, the real challenge begins—one of power plays, turf wars, and egos.
The North American CIO said it again yesterday, in a tone that bordered on condescending:
“My region is growing by 15%. The CEO is thrilled. Why should I waste time coordinating with the group?”
The Asia CIO seems to live on another planet, absorbed in his own local innovation challenges.
As for the French CIO, he plays along—but reluctantly, as if every global standard is another threat to his freedom of action.
Sophie knows it: there are three IT systems in the same company.
Three cultures. Three decision-making chains. Three different ways of understanding IT value.
But Sophie is resilient. She doesn’t intend to give up and is determined to leave her mark—for the good of the group, despite the obstacles.
Let’s dive into her reality and her strategy.
1) Underestimated Difficulties
The most frustrating part for Sophie isn’t the chaos—it’s that no one else seems to see it.
Take the IT budget, for instance. A basic mechanism in any structured group. Yet here, each region builds it in its own way.
In the U.S., everything is lumped into a single envelope that mixes infrastructure, licenses, cybersecurity, and even the IT team’s cafeteria.
In France, OPEX and CAPEX are carefully distinguished—but outsourced HR costs are forgotten.
In Asia, each subsidiary sends its figures in an Excel file… on December 28 at midnight.
Yes, of course, there are local differences. Labor costs in India and Belgium are incomparable.
But without a common budget framework—how do you compare? Measure performance? Steer the business?
Last week, the French CIO excitedly presented a new Industry 4.0 program. Ambitious. Technically interesting. But also… isolated.
No formal link to the group’s roadmap. No cross-regional review.
When Sophie asked, “Did you check what’s already being done elsewhere in the group?”, there was an awkward silence. He hadn’t taken the time.
And when she started setting conditions—governance, mutualization, methodological framework—the mood soured.
The French CIO had a powerful sponsor: the Head of Manufacturing Europe and France. Highly influential. And incidentally, the CEO’s golf buddy.
As for the service catalog? A wasteland.
Last time she dared ask the Asia CIO how many applications ran under his scope, he shrugged:
“200 to 300? Maybe 400?”
No clear mapping. No application lifecycle.
And when she brought up technical debt, he politely smiled, then pivoted to urgent business requests.
“We can’t say no, you understand.”
No, she doesn’t. Or rather, she understands all too well: for years, there was no directive, no framework, no governance.
Now Sophie is the one who has to lay the foundations… in a multi-billion euro company.
2) Leading Without Controlling
The dilemma is subtle but omnipresent: how do you set boundaries without stifling initiative?
How do you talk about global alignment without sounding like you’re ruling from an ivory tower in Bordeaux?
Sophie doesn’t want a cold, technocratic, centralized IT department.
But she also knows that total autonomy equals chaos: projects without visibility, redundant purchases, critical security breaches, and quiet waste in the name of “local agility.”
The key, she now knows, isn’t control—it’s clarity.
A clear, shared, and understood framework.
She calls it her “Constitution.”
A concise, readable document—halfway between a code of conduct and a pact of trust.
Officially: the Rules of Engagement.
This document sets the ground rules:
From what budget level must a project be reported to the group for validation?
What are the minimum conditions to launch an RFP?
What security standards are mandatory, regardless of region or business unit?
Not for policing—but for empowerment. So that everyone knows where freedom begins… and where collective responsibility kicks in.
But Sophie knows a document isn’t enough. It requires governance.
Not uniform governance, but layered, like a well-structured mille-feuille:
Global, for core issues: infrastructure, digital workplace, ERP.
Regional, for support, proximity services, operational coordination.
Local, for purely applicative or business innovation projects.
You don’t impose the same rules on a country hosting a data center and on a local team testing a low-code tool.
Above all, standards must be solid for sovereign topics.
No leadership without common foundations.
Sophie has launched three major standardization projects:
Demand management: how projects emerge, get prioritized, and approved.
Service catalog: what IT offers officially, worldwide.
Incident management: same reaction, same tool, same standard—everywhere.
Her dream? That an IT employee moving from Atlanta to Paris, then to Singapore, doesn’t feel like they’ve changed companies each time.
3) Political Courage
In her office, Sophie has written a phrase in all caps on a post-it stuck to her screen:
“Pick your battles.”
She repeats it often.
Because as a Group CIO, trying to change everything, everywhere, all at once—guarantees failure.
She’s learned to make smart deals. Let go of a local app if it helps secure adoption of a global security standard. Overlook a country-specific HR tool—as long as the ERP core model is respected.
And most importantly: stay focused on what truly matters.
What truly matters is that IT isn’t just a support service for other support services.
It must have a seat at the table. And that starts with influencing IT talent development—even when they’re not under her direct authority.
Sophie doesn’t just want to enforce rules. She wants to build a culture. And that comes from people. From relationships. From recognition.
So she launched a rather unconventional initiative:
Make the relationship with the Group a KPI for regional CIOs.
Get involved in their careers, regularly collaborate with HR to promote those who actively collaborate.
Act as an informal mentor, a sparring partner—not a controller.
Beyond processes, KPIs, and architectures, she wants to rekindle the spark.
She dreams of gathering all regional CIOs once a year in Bordeaux, at headquarters, in this proud industrial company soon turning 60. Not for yet another PowerPoint review. But for a meaningful, inspiring, human moment.
To remind them why they do this job.
To give them the big picture. To connect them. To make them feel they’re not isolated CIOs scattered across the globe—but key leaders of a shared mission.
Why She Fights
Sophie isn’t doing this for her ego. Nor to assert an authority whose limits she knows too well. She’s doing it because she believes. Believes that this is the only way to reach the goal that ultimately justifies all her efforts: the performance of the group.
In an ultra-competitive industrial world—where every month of delay, every duplicated cost, every flaw in execution can jeopardize a contract or weaken a factory—productivity isn’t a luxury. It’s a vital necessity.
And those 15%, 10%, 5% of additional performance… they no longer come from grand revolutions. They come from coherence, operational excellence, the ability to mutualize, to capitalize, to speak a common language.
Sophie is convinced: you can’t keep playing solo in a world that demands collective action. Without harmonization, mutualization, and governance, the group fragments, slows down, and weakens.
And that is the true value of a Group CIO: Sometimes criticized, often misunderstood, but absolutely essential when it comes to ensuring the strength, cohesion, and competitiveness of a global organization.
Conclusion
That morning, at 8:14 a.m. in Bordeaux, Sophie wasn’t dreaming of a revolution. She was simply dreaming of a company that was more aligned, more efficient, and proud of itself.
She knew it wouldn’t be quick or easy. But she also knew she wasn’t alone. And that behind the scenes—beneath KPIs, roadmaps, and steering committees—every decision made, every conversation started, every connection built contributes to something greater than herself: the sustainable success of a French industrial group firmly rooted in the world.
Sophie also knows she won’t be able to escape certain imperatives:
(Re)defining clear Rules of Engagement,
Enforcing standards through her CIO Office,
Picking her battles wisely,
Organizing a high-impact IT Day to showcase her teams, foster connection… and above all, retain talent.
And fortunately, she knows she can count on a demanding yet supportive sparring partner to help lead these many efforts:
Hubadviser! (shameless plug 😉)
À propos de l'auteur
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.
