I approach this question from a position of strength: all of the most senior IT directors at Tesco.com have a strong technical background, and our current CIO has an R&D past – bullseye! This only adds to the sympathy I feel for those in my peer group outside of Tesco where their CIO has proudly boasted of a pro-business but non-technical background.

This is because, for many years, the CIO or IT director never had a place among the board members of many companies. IT just wasn’t taken that seriously. Sure, IT professionals made a difference to the efficiency of company processes but we didn’t actually have our own interaction with customers compared to commercial, marketing, finance and other board-level disciplines.

Today IT’s importance demands a board position. However, the authors of that role often think that a technical CIO will speak in an incomprehensible language, so successful candidates boast of anything but technical skills. “Don’t worry,” they assure fellow directors, “I’ll have a team that does the technical stuff.”

On the surface it seems like reassurance indeed, until an IT project hits snags that delay implementation. The CIO doesn’t fully comprehend why – or what to do next, how to help solve the problem and how to lead.

So let’s start getting real about CIO roles by designing one that combines deep technical experience with some commercial or operational practice:

• I want a CIO who thinks of themselves as a chief innovation officer as much as a CIO. They should engage with board members to improve, simplify and lower all process costs. They should lead innovation to make touchpoints better for customers. They are not project order-takers for board members but leaders in championing improvements.

• I want a CIO who can help their colleagues on the board by talking about the technical stuff using relevant metaphors and analogies. They should be able to illuminate IT technologies in their colleagues’ minds and excite them.

• I want a CIO who can walk around the office and hold a technical conversation with most of the team, and be interested in learning about new technologies and ways of working.

• Finally, I want a CIO who, among their project successes, has experienced at least one failure; a faint mental scar carried from an IT project delivered late, or that didn’t perform well at launch. Such a CIO worked with their team to understand the problem and lead them to a solution while defending them when fellow board members grumbled.

Think of the unacceptability of the CFO who doesn’t know about accounting practices or the marketing director who is naive about focusing budget on targeted demographics. An IT head who has no grasp of technology ends up being impotent when the going gets tough. In a world where IT makes the difference, that difference could be fatal.

Nick Lansley is head of R&D at Tesco.com, the UK’s largest online grocery shopping service since its launch on the web 14 years ago, and a frequent blogger.

Do you agree with Nick Lansley's point of view? Have your say by commenting below. See also this contrasting view from Arun Gupta, group CIO at K Raheja Corp, the Indian real estate, hotels and retail giant.