Chief Information Officer (CIO) holds the highest power after the CEO in influencing IT decisions in organizations (Li & Tan, 2013). According to Toor (2017), some categories of the CIOs responsibilities are administrative, financial, mentoring senior IT staff, learning the business to infuse new capabilities, building relationships, effectively communicating strategic opportunities to the rest of the organization or customers, and executing IT initiatives in line with business objectives and outcomes. If we start with IT breaches, organizations with CIOs incur 20 percent fewer losses in IT breaches (Zafar et al., 2016). So, the CIO role plays a crucial role in organizations as more information and data are being generated and processed. The CIOs roles and responsibilities depend on the organizations type and size. With the evolution of these roles, innovation is one of the crucial qualities CIOs must possess. Based on Peppards (2010) article and personal experiences, the qualities and characteristics of a CIO can be generalized to include strategic thinking, technical expertise, business acumen, strong leadership abilities, motivational skills, business agility, excellent communication, and excellent change management skills. Comment on the post?.