The Silent Struggle of a CTO
In the world of technology leadership, the role of a CTO should be clear: to guide the company’s technical direction, ensure scalability, and align technology with business goals. But as a CTO, the reality is often very different — and very frustrating. Many times, CEOs and senior management bring me in for my expertise, but what they truly want is someone who simply executes their personal ideas, even if those ideas go against proven practices. And when things break, they expect the CTO to absorb the blame.
Published
Feb 25, 2025
Topic
Tech Advice
⚡The Struggle: When Leadership Overrides Expertise
Instead of focusing on structured product development, my work often turns into negotiating opinions.Leadership teams frequently push features based on individual experiences, not real user research.They prioritize personal intuition over data. They dictate timelines without understanding the technical complexity involved. And when these decisions lead to delays, system issues, or poor product-market fit — no one wants to take responsibility. The burden falls back on the CTO, who was never allowed to lead properly in the first place.
This creates a toxic cycle: poor decisions, poor outcomes, misplaced blame.
❓Why It Happens: Ego Over Process
At the heart of the problem is a misunderstanding of what a CTO is supposed to do.
Many executives see technology solely as a tool to execute their vision, ignoring the fact that a CTO is not only a technical expert but also someone who needs to have a strong understanding of business.
It’s this combination of technology and business thinking that allows a CTO to transform ideas into real, working solutions that serve the company’s goals.
Instead of trusting structured methods — user research, MVP validation, lean product development — they push for shortcuts based on “what worked for me before” or “what I think users want.”
This lack of discipline creates fragile systems, bloated feature sets, and wasted resources.
Technology doesn’t fail because it’s complex — it fails when leadership treats it like a personal project instead of a professional process.
✅How It Should Be Done: Trust the Method, Own the Decisions
If companies want to succeed, they need to restructure how they work with their CTOs:
Problem First, Feature Second: Focus on solving real, validated user problems before building anything.
Accountability with Authority: If leadership wants to make final calls, they must also take responsibility for the outcomes — not just delegate blame.
Respect for Process: MVPs, market testing, and iterative releases are industry best practices for a reason. Cutting corners out of impatience only leads to technical debt.
Data, Not Opinions: Personal experiences are valuable, but they must be tested and confirmed with real user data.
Bridging Technology and Business: A strong CTO is not just a technologist — they are someone who understands how the business works and can translate ideas into technology that creates real value.
A true CTO isn’t just a coder — they are a strategic leader. If leadership doesn’t let them lead, they’re setting up the entire technology effort for failure.
✨Final Thought
Hiring a CTO is not about finding someone to execute faster — it’s about bringing someone who knows how to build smarter while connecting business vision with technical execution.
When leadership embraces that, real innovation happens.
When they don’t, no amount of features will save them.
⚡The Struggle: When Leadership Overrides Expertise
Instead of focusing on structured product development, my work often turns into negotiating opinions.Leadership teams frequently push features based on individual experiences, not real user research.They prioritize personal intuition over data. They dictate timelines without understanding the technical complexity involved. And when these decisions lead to delays, system issues, or poor product-market fit — no one wants to take responsibility. The burden falls back on the CTO, who was never allowed to lead properly in the first place.
This creates a toxic cycle: poor decisions, poor outcomes, misplaced blame.
❓Why It Happens: Ego Over Process
At the heart of the problem is a misunderstanding of what a CTO is supposed to do.
Many executives see technology solely as a tool to execute their vision, ignoring the fact that a CTO is not only a technical expert but also someone who needs to have a strong understanding of business.
It’s this combination of technology and business thinking that allows a CTO to transform ideas into real, working solutions that serve the company’s goals.
Instead of trusting structured methods — user research, MVP validation, lean product development — they push for shortcuts based on “what worked for me before” or “what I think users want.”
This lack of discipline creates fragile systems, bloated feature sets, and wasted resources.
Technology doesn’t fail because it’s complex — it fails when leadership treats it like a personal project instead of a professional process.
✅How It Should Be Done: Trust the Method, Own the Decisions
If companies want to succeed, they need to restructure how they work with their CTOs:
Problem First, Feature Second: Focus on solving real, validated user problems before building anything.
Accountability with Authority: If leadership wants to make final calls, they must also take responsibility for the outcomes — not just delegate blame.
Respect for Process: MVPs, market testing, and iterative releases are industry best practices for a reason. Cutting corners out of impatience only leads to technical debt.
Data, Not Opinions: Personal experiences are valuable, but they must be tested and confirmed with real user data.
Bridging Technology and Business: A strong CTO is not just a technologist — they are someone who understands how the business works and can translate ideas into technology that creates real value.
A true CTO isn’t just a coder — they are a strategic leader. If leadership doesn’t let them lead, they’re setting up the entire technology effort for failure.
✨Final Thought
Hiring a CTO is not about finding someone to execute faster — it’s about bringing someone who knows how to build smarter while connecting business vision with technical execution.
When leadership embraces that, real innovation happens.
When they don’t, no amount of features will save them.
Abdulaziz Aldhubaib
Abdulaziz Aldhubaib
