CTOs once were limited to engineering and research responsibilities, highly focused on technical issues, without much influence on broader business strategies. That, however, has been changing progressively over the past 10 years, the speakers said.

At Cisco, Padmasree Warrior's job includes traveling to many foreign countries to meet with clients and with government policy makers to understand their technology needs and concerns.

She also is tasked with identifying and analyzing new technology trends, industry changes and market transitions, and communicating her findings and conclusions to other Cisco executives and managers.

"My role is more now about thinking broadly across solutions," she said Friday at Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

She works closely as an adviser to Cisco's historically active M&A (mergers and acquisitions) group regarding what companies are truly innovating in areas that are important to Cisco.