In a marketplace that sees constant technological evolution, the relationship between a companyâs chief product officer and chief technology officer is critical to success. These roles are deeply intertwined, and a strong, dynamic synergy is essential to effectively executing a businessâs technology strategy and roadmap.
When the CPO and CTO are committed to working together to execute the companyâs vision, great things can happen. Below, 20 members of Forbes Technology Council discuss the key ingredients of a strong partnership between an organizationâs CPO and CTO, as well as steps they can take in tandem to foster these essential traits.
1. Understanding Of The Needs Of The Moment
A strong partnership makes each of them better. Great CPOs often have an engineer or developer background. Given how business needs, compliance and customers can conflict, itâs great to have an advocate for each at the topâa single leader whoâs accountable for each factor gives clarity in terms of ownership and importance. The trick is for the CPO and CTO to collaborate around the needs of the moment and understand that the health of the business comes above anything else. – Agur JĂ”gi, Pipedrive
2. Resilience In The Face Of Setbacks
Resilience in facing setbacks is a critical aspect of the relationship between a CPO and CTO. Building this trait involves jointly analyzing failures, learning from them and adapting strategies without placing blame. This shared approach to problem solving strengthens their partnership, ensuring both leaders are aligned in the pursuit of innovation and excellence, even in the face of challenges or disagreements. – Milan Dordevic, Proctorio Incorporated
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3. Commitment To Collaboration
A critical trait is seamless collaboration. Regular communication, clear goals, understanding of each otherâs expertise and mutual respect form a strong foundation. Regular check-ins, collaborative planning and a shared vision enhance synergy and drive innovation. – Nelly Voukaki, Looper Insights
4. Trust
The most critical trait of any healthy relationship is trust. Research suggests that vulnerability is a prerequisite for this to flourish. It encourages embracing empathy, mutual respect and dialogue. I always give away Dale Carnegieâs How to Win Friends and Influence People as a suggested read on this critical theme. – Brendan Hooft, ESPER
5. Effective Communication
A critical trait for a strong partnership between a CPO and CTO is effective communication. To develop this trait, holding regular collaborative sessions, ensuring clear goal alignment and fostering an open, transparent culture are essential. A shared understanding of product vision and technical considerations enhances synergy, driving innovation and successful product development. – Muneeb Tabani, SIHA Health and Wellness (Pvt) Ltd.
6. Spending Time Together
The CPO and CTO need to spend time together to understand each otherâs perspectives, priorities and challenges. They both have critical roles to play in creating a successful product; without either of them, the product will not come to fruition. And if they understand each other, the product cycle time will decrease, and the product will have features that are more in tune with the needs of clients and potential clients. – Jyotishko Biswas, HP
7. Shared Understanding Of Their Customers
The CPO and CTO need to have a shared understanding of the customers they both serve. Itâs essential for them to have robust conversations about whether a solution is valuable to customers, usable by customers, viable for the business and feasible to build. – Amy Bunszel, autodesk.com
8. A Common Vision
The chief product officer and chief tech officer should share a common vision and understanding of what they each bring to the equation. The CPO role is all about âthe art of the possibleââin other words, the âwhatââwhile the CTO role is all about âthe art of the realââin other words, the âhow.â Their shared vision must align with the overall business goals. – Naresh Mehta, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.
9. Appreciation Of Each Otherâs Strengths
The CTO must trust that the CPO has good intuition thatâs backed by customer research. The CPO must trust that the CTO is prioritizing customersâ needs alongside the technical architecture. – Mang-Git Ng, Anvil
10. Active Listening
Effective communication is key for a CPO-CTO partnership. Regular, structured meetings and active listening foster mutual understanding and alignment on goals. Developing this through collaboration and strategic planning ensures synced product and tech strategies. – KJ Dhaliwal, Social Discovery Group
11. Cross-Functional Collaboration
The CTO and the CPO need to ensure effective communication via regular check-ins and inclusive planning sessions. These are essential for establishing a shared vision and goals and aligning the product vision with the technical execution. Cross-functional collaboration, transparent decision making and feedback loops between the product and technical teams further enhance communication. – Deepak Gupta, LoginRadius
12. Alignment On Top-Level Strategy And Priorities
The best CPOs and CTOs make time to align on a top-level strategy and supporting priorities to ensure their combined teams will execute on whatâs most important. This degree of collaboration ensures the product and engineering teams can make the hard decisions and shift resources between product and technical prioritiesâall in the name of the broader business strategy. – Andy Boyd, Appfire
13. A Unified Voice
A critical trait of a strong partnership between the CPO and the CTO is a unified voice and alignment. Together, they should be well-equipped to speak to the functional and nonfunctional requirements of products, as a delightful user experience is a combination of both. This unified voice is developed by having the shared goal of creating a great product, along with a sense of accountability and a strong personal relationship. – Bobbi Alexandrova, Loopio
14. Balancing A Long-Term Vision With Short-Term Execution
The ability to balance a strategic long-term vision with agile short-term execution is a critical part of the relationship between a CPO and a CTO. This starts with aligning on long-term goals and key metrics, being open to feedback, making pivots when needed and establishing ownership and accountability. There will, of course, be times of disagreementâthe aim then is to discuss and realign based on what is in the best interests of the team and customers. – Chet Kapoor, DataStax
15. Strategic Empathy
A crucial trait for a robust CPO-CTO partnership is strategic empathyâunderstanding each otherâs domain pressures and objectives. Cultivating this requires a commitment to shared learning sessions, transparent dialogues about challenges and joint participation in each domainâs planning and review sessions. This commitment harmonizes the product vision and the technological execution. – Mike Capone, Qlik
16. Mutual Support
Many traits will benefit the relationship between the CPO and the CTO, but perhaps the most critical is mutual support. This means that the CPO values and assists with more dev-focused activities, such as bug resolution, technical architecture and accommodation of the ways devs prefer to work. In the same way, the CTO supports the CPO by honoring research, innovation and timelines that will accomplish revenue goals. – Davis Bell, Canopy
17. Unified Leadership
Both roles align the technology portfolio with the emotional behaviors that drive its purpose and usage. Both work with the product marketing team to understand motivations, market research and buying cycles. Consider moving both product management and the CTO under the chief revenue officer so that sales, marketing and innovation are unified under a single growth-minded leader who has a holistic view of the customer. – Terry Mirza, Compugen Systems, Inc.
18. An Ownership Mindset
Both leaders must have an end-to-end ownership mindset about the product and outcome. For example, the CPO needs to understand technology well enough to educate product managers to take ownership of an API-first strategy. Likewise, the CTO should have opinions about the product user experience to call out issues. With both people owning the outcome, they can develop the trust critical for a strong partnership. – Liz Li, Velocity Global
19. Transparent Sharing
A critical trait of a strong CPO-CTO partnership is mutual trust, underpinned by open communication. This foundation enables effective collaboration on product strategy and technology implementation. To develop this trait, regularly scheduled strategy sessions and transparent sharing of feedback, challenges and successes are key, fostering a shared vision and respect for each otherâs expertise. – Akaash Ramakrishnan, AdSkate Inc.
20. Cohesion And Shared Business Values
These two roles are completely intertwined in a business that is customer-focused. The CPO and CTO should be focused on sharing similar business values and supporting each other, whether it be in terms of internal systems, external product feature sets or tools for personnel. Having cohesion across business and product offerings differentiates a customer-focused company from one that isnât. – Tom Roberto, SG Network Services