LifeinTECH

Over the past two days, I attended CTO Craft Con: London, which is a popular gathering for Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) and aspiring tech leaders, with a focus on practical insights and meaningful connections.

The conference started with Erica Stanley (Director of Engineering at Google), exploring how technology leaders can navigate the intersection of rapid technological advancements and global connectedness.

Erica covered key topics, such as how to lead with a focus on ethics, alongside how the role of the CTO can drive business transformation.

Over the two days, there were a series of keynote presentations (outlined below), alongside networking sessions, conversations (round tables) and showcases.

Day One

• Mitigating the Hidden Risks of Emerging Tools - Glyn Roberts, CTO, Vention

• Bootstrapping the CTO Role: The Best First 100 Days in a New Leadership Position - Roxana Diaconescu, CTO, SilverRail

• The Role of the CTO in Shaping Company Culture - Panel (Carwow, Rest Less, Domestic & General, FundamentalVR)

• The Future of R&D Productivity: Leveraging a Strategic Framework and GenAI for Lasting Impact - Will Lytle, COO, Plandek

• The Connective Tissue of Tech: Why Glue Work Deserves Your Attention - Katja Obring, Director, Kato Coaching Ltd

Day Two

• The CTO Spectrum: Which Archetype Are You? - Pat Kua, CTO Coach and Founder, Tech Lead Academy

• People, Process, Technology, Business - Anna Shipman, CTO, Kooth

• Keeping up with AI - Jon Topper, Strategic Advisor, Ten10 and Founder of The Scale Factory

• AI Ethics and Practical Applications: Moving Beyond the Hype - Panel (Dojo, Bumble, Philipps & Byrne, YLD)

• Building a Data-Driven Engineering Culture - Oge Opara-Nadi, VP Engineering, Hey Savi

To review the full agenda, please refer to the CTO Craft Con website.

Although there was a lot of great content and discussion, I want to highlight three topics that were most interesting to me.

Will Lytle highlighted the evolving expectations regarding engineers, moving away from output to outcomes. He outlined four pillars that enable organisations to track and optimise value delivery.

He also shared practical examples of useful measures, including measures to avoid, such as traditional volume-based metrics (e.g., lines of code written, etc.)

Katja Obring focused on “glue work”, which is the hidden and commonly under-recognised work that occurs across teams. This work, although not at the top of any priority list, can be business-critical and therefore, must be managed appropriately.

Katja positioned that “glue work” must be made visible and prioritised alongside other key initiatives and the individuals delivering these essential tasks have the relevant sponsorship to succeed and are openly recognised. For example, ensuring “glue work” is fairly distributed, avoiding extreme delegation to a small group of individuals.

In the video below, Katja presents on this topic.

Pat Kua covered the many “archetypes” of a CTO, including engineering-centric, strategic-centric and operational-centric, etc. He challenged the audience to self-appraise, looking to understand personal ambition and perception, alongside what the business may require.

This is a topic I have personally explored over the years, which I covered in my article “CTO”.

Understanding the archetype of the CTO is important, especially for any aspiring CTO. There is no “good” or “bad” archetype. However, to ensure success, it must align and support the specific business outcomes. For example, if a business is heavily focused on a strategic outcome, selecting an operational-centric CTO could become a point of friction and frustration, reducing the probability of success.

Overall, CTO Craft Con was a great event, with a diverse and inclusive community. If you are a current/future CTO or technology leader, I highly recommend checking it out!