He expects most future CIOs to come from these roles where IT is heavily interacting with the business. That does not discount IT managers who primarily focus on infrastructure though. "Those from the infrastructure side have a different mindset and it is harder to appreciate the cross-organization view that strategic CIOs must possess," said Lai. "If they can get the business exposure and push themselves to be a part of the business discussion then they stand a better chance of succeeding."

He added that unfortunately in Hong Kong, many managers who have served in a technical position struggle to adapt to viewing technology from different angles and therefore struggle to communicate effectively when in front of business leaders but he is constantly reminding his team that this is a necessary part of being an IT leader today.