Looking back over the past 20 years, the pace of technological change has been staggering. IT has evolved from a supporting function to a critical pillar of nearly every organization. Today, no business can operate without IT, and while it brings immense benefits, its failures can lead to sudden and severe disruptions.

Other core functions such as HR, Finance, and internal decision-making remain essential, but IT has become uniquely critical – not necessarily because its errors are more severe, but because of the speed at which failures can cripple an organization. The recent global crisis in Microsoft environments caused by a missed update in CrowdStrike is a strong reminder of this reality.

Driving digital strategy: Why Executives need IT knowledge

Despite our deep reliance on IT, it is surprising how few top executives truly understand it well enough to manage it effectively. To illustrate this, consider driving a car: we may not need to be mechanics, but we must understand how to steer, shift gears, and brake safely. Without this basic knowledge, we would quickly crash.

Yet when it comes to IT, many top executives lack even this fundamental level of understanding. They struggle to make informed decisions, let alone define a strategic vision for digital transformation. They often fail to connect technical choices with business value, making it difficult to prioritize investments or determine which projects should be pursued or abandoned.

The kind of IT skills expected from executives is not about how to use modern tools such as Teams or their smartphones. Instead, they need a strategic understanding that enables them to identify and address key challenges in their IT landscape, such as:

• The most critical bottlenecks in their IT infrastructure, why they occur, and the possible solutions.
• The prerequisites for effectively integrating AI and emerging technologies.
• How their organization must adapt to fully leverage modern technologies.
• The tangible risks posed by legacy systems and the strategies to mitigate them.
• The best strategic IT choices for the organization, such as Cloud adoption and Software as a Service (SaaS) strategies.
• And many others.

Executives play a crucial role in aligning technology decisions with medium to long-term business objectives. While IT teams provide expert advice, they cannot replace the strategic perspective that leaders must bring to ensure technology supports the overall business strategy.

The risks of IT illiteracy in leadership

This gap in IT knowledge among executives poses a serious risk. A lack of understanding can lead to hesitation, poor decision-making, or even complete inaction – resulting in the accumulation of technical debt, missed opportunities, and reduced competitiveness.

In some cases, IT departments attempt to fill this strategic void. While this may work as a temporary fix, it is not a sustainable long-term solution. When digital transformation is driven solely from a technical perspective, it often overlooks broader business objectives, leading to suboptimal outcomes.

Bridging the knowledge gap: Training for executives

To overcome this roadblock, executives must receive targeted training to enhance their IT literacy. Digital transformation is not just an IT issue – it is a strategic business function. The question is: do we want to drive the car, or simply be passengers, hoping that everything works out?

With the right knowledge, executives can harness technology to drive real, lasting improvements in their organizations. A lack of executive-level understanding of the technology that powers modern organizations is one of the most overlooked obstacles to effective digital transformation. It’s time to bridge this gap.

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