Even the most capable technology leaders can find the move into board-level conversations more challenging than expected.
The shift is not technical. It is commercial, behavioural and often uncomfortable.
In this article, we explore how to make the shift from being the manager who leads the product build, to the leader who multiplies its business value.
If you’ve spent your whole career describing value from a purely technical perspective (think velocity, quality metrics, DORA metrics and so on), it can be a challenge to make the shift to communicating the commercial value in terms of business gains, financial impact and ROI. It’s a mistake that many leaders make when stepping up into a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) role.
When reporting on project progress to the board, it can be tempting to dive into the technical details and talk about the successful delivery of your software engineering teams from a purely tech perspective. Whilst measuring and monitoring software engineering metrics are critical to delivering on time and within budget, they are not usually the metrics a board needs to be informed on.
Instead, the C-suite wants to know the value software engineering teams are delivering to the business, rather than the in-depth technical details. Business outcomes and impact are the most important things to report on. It’s not about how you did it, it’s what you delivered, how much it cost and what the return on investment is.
When CTOs move into senior roles, they become part of the team that is responsible for making the business succeed, and not just from a tech perspective, but from a revenue generating standpoint.
Their primary focus shifts from technology, delivery and solutions and towards commercial outcomes. The nearer the leader gets to the commercial side, the more the emphasis is put on value.
To align with board-level thinking, CTOs must ask themselves:
The cost has to pay back the investment. Have this in mind in everything you do, and everything you spend. This is the way that the board thinks, and you should shift your mindset to think in this way too.
People skills are one of the most important and under-developed skills at the board level. The C-Suite is a team of experts, each with distinct communication styles. To build influence among them, and to help them understand your vision and strategy, CTOs must prioritise trust over technical authority.
Building boardroom trust requires three elements:
The board is only interested in how you are achieving your goals against the plan - there is no need to cover things up if things are off track; explaining the current status and how you are putting things back on track is the best approach to build long term trust and to obtain advice from your fellow board members.
Being able to present feedback in a non-technical way that is easily understood by the board is key. Condense complex information and present it in a way that is clear, concise and focuses on the value delivered and the impact on the business.
This is echoed in CTO Academy’s article 7 Critical Skills To Be An Effective Chief Technology Officer.
Every CTO must know their numbers, whether that’s related to people, time, costs or other metrics they’re measured on - and they must have the confidence in presenting them to the C-Suite. Specifically, understand how your engineering decisions will impact EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) and any other business metrics as required.
In a private equity-backed business, initiatives must align tightly with the core investment thesis and deliver towards the agreed growth goals. The investors are not just planning for the next few sprints, they are looking 3-5 years ahead, with a strong exit plan, so your technology roadmap must mirror this.
When margins are thin (especially in certain sectors such as retail), the board will scrutinise every investment, and AI investments are no exception. For example, we recently supported private equity firm YFM to identify the risks and opportunities within their portfolio of tech-enabled businesses aligned to investments in AI. You can read the full YFM case study here.
Whilst AI can dramatically accelerate software development, speed does not inherently equal value. Leaders must ask themselves: “Are we building well, with the right guradrails in place - or just fast?”
As Codurance Co-founder and CEO Sandro Mancuso notes in his analysis of Software Craftsmanship in the AI Era:
“When speed is mistaken for progress, teams end up shipping more low-quality code, creating more rework, and compounding long-term risks.
When paired with strong engineering principles, AI can amplify not just speed but also effectiveness, helping teams deliver better software, faster.”
To successfully defend an AI roadmap to the board, leaders must:
Read more of Sandro Mancuso’s insights on Software Craftsmanship in the AI Era.
A successful CTO belongs to two distinct teams: the technical department they lead and the executive board they sit on.
Whilst you must advocate for your tech teams, you are equally responsible for contributing your thoughts and opinions to broader, non-technical business strategies.
Conversely, bringing the boardroom back to your engineers, by openly discussing profit and loss, commercial outcomes and the direct impact of their work, will help CTOs to build transparency and trust. When engineers understand the commercial reasons behind their technical output, it empowers them to deliver high-value outcomes.
Stepping into the boardroom requires CTOs to leave their comfort zone, learn the language of business and finance and build trust through transparency. There are undoubtedly challenges that come with this progression, however, by shifting your mindset from a builder of technology to a multiplier of business value, you can help shape the future of the business with your strategy.
At Codurance, we support CTOs and their boards and investors through:
Strategic advice
Assessing current status and where risks and opportunities are in line with the business or investment thesis
Technology roadmap creation
Technical due diligence, value creation and exit planning for private equity
Modernising software with an AI-first approach
Upskilling software teams
If you'd like to find out more, get in touch with us today.
Moving from technical delivery to a commercial CTO role requires shifting your focus from how a product is built to what business value it multiplies. You need to transition from managing tech debt and sprint velocity to managing revenue impact, understanding EBITDA, and aligning your engineering roadmap directly with the company’s 3-5 year growth strategy.
The biggest mistake is getting trapped in technicalities. Board members and investors care about outcomes, costs, and Return on Investment (ROI), not the underlying architecture. Other common pitfalls include failing to build peer-level trust with non-technical executives and struggling to make decisions or answer questions under pressure without having all the technical data upfront.
To speak the language of the board, translate engineering metrics into financial and operational impact. Instead of discussing code quality or refactoring, focus on how those decisions protect or increase EBITDA, mitigate business risks, or accelerate time-to-market for revenue-generating features. Always back up your assertions with clear, evidence-based business data.
A successful AI business case treats AI as a commercial enabler rather than a standalone strategy. Instead of focusing purely on development speed, you must prove how AI investments will drive operational efficiencies, reduce rework, or move the needle on core business goals such as competitive advantage, business valuation, customer acquisition, customer retention and so on.
A strategic CTO must balance being the leader of the engineering department and a collaborative peer on the executive board. This means actively contributing to non-technical business strategies, while simultaneously bringing boardroom context (like profit and loss (P&L) and commercial goals) back to the engineering team so they understand the commercial 'why' behind their technical output.
Natalie Gray is Director of Marketing & Growth at Codurance, a global AI-first software engineering consultancy that supports businesses and their investors to drive value through building and modernising sustainable software and platforms at all stages of the investment lifecycle. With more than 20 years in the tech industry, Natalie believes the power to innovate is accelerated when people are able to try new ideas, fail fast and collaborate. This is why, to her, community is at the heart of her approach to aligning business and technology outcomes. Outside of her commercial role, Natalie runs a number of tech meetups, is an advocate for women in tech and enjoys spending time with her family or protecting her 800 day streak on Duolingo.
The themes explored in this article were discussed at a tech leaders event in Leeds, Yorkshire in May 2026. The event was hosted by Codurance in partnership with Exalto Consulting. The discussion was hosted by Natalie Gray (Director of Marketing & Growth, Codurance) and James Milner (Managing Director at Exalto Consulting), and featured guest speakers, Clem Pickering (Clement Pickering Coaching), Andy Chapman (Product and Engineering Director at ParentPay) and Jock Carruthers (Group Director of Engineering at Evoke).