By Role
Technology Officers — Executive Search
CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, Chief Digital Officers, and Chief Data & AI Officers for industrial businesses across the US–Mexico corridor.
Technology leadership in an industrial business is not the same job as technology leadership in a software or services business. It lives at the OT ↔ IT seam — ERP, MES, quality systems, connected-plant sensors, industrial cybersecurity — and it has to be led by someone who is fluent in both worlds. Silvia Flores runs CIO, CTO, CISO, and Chief Digital Officer searches for industrial businesses across the US and Mexico — as part of Alder Koten's retained practice.
Where Technology Officer searches fit
Four common patterns. An industrial platform with US and Mexico operations naming a CIO who can run ERP and MES at plant and enterprise level. An OEM or Tier bringing in a Chief Digital Officer to lead an Industry 4.0 and connected-plant agenda. A private-equity-backed platform hiring a CTO or CISO to institutionalize technology governance during a value-creation window. And a manufacturing business standing up its first Chief Data & AI Officer to bridge shop-floor data and enterprise analytics.
Roles the practice covers
- Chief Information Officer — enterprise IT leadership across ERP, MES, PLM, and industrial systems
- Chief Technology Officer — product and platform technology leadership for industrial businesses
- Chief Digital Officer / Industry 4.0 Director — connected plant, smart manufacturing, and digital transformation
- Chief Information Security Officer — OT and IT security for industrial environments
- Chief Data & AI Officer — shop-floor data, enterprise analytics, and applied AI in industrial settings
- VP IT / IT Director — infrastructure and application leadership below the C-suite
How a Technology Officer search runs
Every engagement runs on The Dynamic Fit Method™ — Ability, Capability, and Capacity assessed against the rate of change the role will carry. For technology mandates the calibration weighs three dimensions: technical depth in the specific stack (ERP platform, MES, quality systems, cybersecurity frameworks), industrial fluency (OT ↔ IT integration, plant-floor credibility), and board / executive partnership judgment (translating technology roadmap into business outcomes).
Related
For the industry-specific technology hub, see Technology Executive Search. For the operator the CIO partners with, see Chief Operating Officers.
Technology Officers — questions
- What technology leaders does an industrial business actually need?
- A CIO who can run ERP, MES, and industrial IT at plant and enterprise level; a CTO or Chief Digital Officer who can lead the Industry 4.0 and connected-plant agenda; a CISO who understands OT security as well as IT security; and — increasingly — a Chief Data & AI Officer who can bridge shop-floor data and enterprise analytics.
- How is an industrial CIO different from a corporate CIO?
- The industrial CIO owns the OT ↔ IT seam. ERP alone is not the job; the job is ERP integrated with MES, quality systems, PLM, WMS, and — in USMCA businesses — the customs and trade compliance stack. Corporate CIOs from non-industrial backgrounds tend to underweight everything below the enterprise layer.
- Do you place Chief Digital Officers and Industry 4.0 leaders?
- Yes. Chief Digital Officers, Industry 4.0 Directors, and connected-plant / smart-manufacturing leaders are a defined slice of the pool the practice cultivates for industrial businesses running digital-transformation programs.