CTO
What the role covers, how it changes with the company stage and the training that helps, then how interviews run and how to prepare for each step.
What a CTO actually does
The leader who sets the technical direction of the company, builds the engineering organisation and represents technology to the CEO, the board and investors.
A chief technology officer, or CTO, owns the technical direction of the company: the vision, the main architecture choices and the build or buy decisions. They report to the CEO and sit on the executive team.
The CTO builds and scales the engineering organisation. They design its structure, hire senior leaders, set the culture and the standards, and make sure delivery, reliability and security, with the CISO, meet the needs of the business.
They also represent technology to the board, to investors and to key customers, and they lead technical due diligence and the AI strategy of the company.
- An executive team meeting with the CEO
- A review of the technical roadmap and the budget
- Interviews with candidates for senior roles
- A meeting with a key customer or an investor
- A discussion on AI and build or buy choices
The same title, very different scopes
Most CTO searches are defined first by the stage of the company and the scope of the role, then by the focus areas every CTO shares.
How the role changes with the company stage
The title stays the same, and the job changes a lot with the size and the stage of the company. Here is what changes from one stage to the next.
- Builds the first product and team, often hands‑on
- Hires the first engineers
- Takes most technical decisions directly
- Scales the team and hires senior leaders
- Sets processes, standards and architecture
- Reports to the board and investors
- Leads a large organisation through other leaders
- Owns budgets, vendors and platforms
- Works on strategy with the executive team
- Answers to the board and to the market
- Works with audit, risk and compliance
- Shapes the technology strategy of the group
The paths into the role, and what really counts
For this role, companies look first at the organisations you built and the decisions you took. Education matters less than your track record, and some programs help at board level.
- Engineering school or master's in computer scienceThe most common path in France, and often expected by large companies.
- University degree in computer scienceThe most common path in the US, sometimes followed by an MBA.
- Engineering leadership firstMost CTOs were VP Engineering, Director of Engineering or Principal Engineer before.
- Founder firstMany CTOs co-founded a startup and grew with it.
Our view: for this role, an organisation you built and a technical decision you can explain to a board often say more than any certificate.
A conversation with a senior tech recruiter
Your first interview is with one of our senior tech recruiters, who knows the role, its scope and the company stages in this guide. The conversation covers your own leadership through real examples, and we handle these searches with particular discretion. Before the call, we send you the six themes we will cover so you can prepare your examples.
- What you owned yourselfThe engineering organisations, platforms or technical strategies you led, and your own part in the decisions.
- Your environment and its constraintsCompany stage, funding, team size, legacy systems or market pressure: what shaped your choices.
- The decisions you madeWhich architecture, which build or buy choices and which organisation, the options you compared and the reasons for your choice.
- The impact of your workWhat changed thanks to your leadership, with numbers when you have them: teams scaled, delivery speed, reliability, costs or revenue enabled.
- How you work with other teamsYour work with the CEO, the board, product, sales and your own leaders, and how you settle a disagreement.
- What you want nextThe kind of company, stage and scope you are looking for in your next role.
- Organizations built and scaled
- Technical decisions at company level
- Senior leaders hired
- Board and investor communication
The same ground for every candidate. For a given role, every candidate answers the same final questions, built with the hiring manager around what the role really needs.
Ready for the next steps. After our call, we tell you how the company runs its interviews, who you will meet at each step and what each step is meant to assess.
What the company will assess, step by step
Each company runs its own process, and we walk you through its steps before you start. CTO processes often combine the steps below, and the depth expected at each step grows with the size of the role.
- Interviews with the CEO and the foundersSeveral conversations on your vision, your leadership and how you would work together.
- A strategic case or a 90-day planA real problem of the company, or your plan for your first 90 days, to present and discuss.
- Meetings with the executive teamConversations with your future peers, and sometimes a board member or an investor.
- ReferencesCalls with people you worked with, often including informal references the company finds on its own.
- Scale-upYou show how you scaled teams and processes, and how you balance speed and quality.
- EnterpriseYou show how you lead through other leaders and manage budgets, vendors and platforms.
- Listed companyYou show how you work with the board, audit and risk, and shape the strategy of a group.
How to prepare as a CTO
Practical advice for each step of a CTO process, from the way you introduce yourself to the questions you ask at the end of each interview.
Start with the engineering organisations you led, their size and the results. Mention your context in one sentence, then close with what you want next.
For each one, prepare the context, the stakes, your decision, the options you set aside, the result and what you would change today.
Prepare the size of your teams, your budget, your delivery speed and your reliability, with how they changed during your time in the role.
Companies often ask for one, sometimes in writing. Keep it simple: what you would learn, what you would decide and what you would deliver first.
Leaders are often asked how AI changes their area. Prepare your view on AI for the product and for engineering, with one decision you took.
Choose references who saw you lead, such as a former manager, a peer and someone from your team, and brief them before the calls.
- Walk us through an engineering organisation you built.
- How do you decide between building and buying?
- How do you explain technical debt to a board?
- What would you do in your first 90 days here?
- What does the CEO expect from the CTO in the first year?
- How does the board see technology today?
- Which technical decisions are open right now?
- How are engineering and product organised?
- What is the budget, and how is it decided?
- How does the company want to use AI?
Where CTOs come from, and where they go
The roles people most often hold before this one, and the ones they most often move to.
Many CTOs are also founders, and some go on to become CEOs, board members or advisors.