IT companies go startups way, appoint chief growth officers

IT companies are emulating startups and web commerce firms to create a relatively new C-suite executive category – chief growth officer (CGO) – to boost growth visibility in a tough global macroeconomy where clients are becoming increasingly cagey on spending money on projects that don’t yield immediate returns.

The “fancy” designation entails a role that is a mix of sales, marketing and operations. With growth sustainability being a key parameter of the CEOs office, CGOs directly report to CEOs of their companies.

Anshuman Das, co-founder and CEO, Careernet and LONGHOUSE Consulting, said that chief growth officers used to be widely prevalent in digital commerce startups. “Their role is fixed because their target is fixed like number of app downloads or number of users to be acquired. Of late, the role has come to IT industry. Here, the role is slightly vague, but overall related to revenue growth through offerings, partnerships and getting foothold in new regions, etc.”

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