Sidebar: The CIO-CEO Relationship at Direct Energy

Reported by Meridith Levinson

CIO (US) editor Abbie Lundberg recently sat down for a Q&A session with Deryk King, the chairman and CEO of Direct Energy, and his CIO, Kumud Kalia. The wide-ranging discussion reveals what makes King's and Kalia's relationship tick, while extracting some lessons for IT executives on how they can improve their relationships with their C-level colleagues

CIO: Deryk, when your business leaders get excited about a technology and want to use it, and if Kumud says that the technology is a great idea but the company needs to consider the complexity before moving forward, how do you as CEO weigh those different perspectives and interests?

King: I draw on experience. We put a $1 billion [Canadian] CRM system into the UK business. We took all that gun power and fired one enormous cannon ball and missed because the market had moved on. We learned from that experience with the CRM system. Kumud and I share a passionate desire to not do big IT projects. We would rather redesign business processes than do a big IT project.

CIO: Kumud, how do you avoid saying no to stakeholders, and how do you advance the conversation about implementing a new technology in a positive direction?

Kalia: Sometimes I do say no.

King: I always want to do everything. I have a long to-do list and I don't have a "stop to do" list. Kumud is in control of that sort of thinking.

CIO: Deryk, how did you establish that trust? How did you get to that point where you trust that Kumud knows what's best for the business?

King: Our trust was established when he came on board. He had a detailed and extensive recruitment process. We took great care to recruit someone with a good track record of operational excellence and strategic thinking, and who had worked in customer service and had a diverse career.

CIO: What does the CIO bring to the leadership table that's unique in the organization other than their functional expertise?

King: Everyone with functional expertise brings their functional expertise to the table. That's table stakes. You don't get a seat at the table unless you're good at your day job. But I expect a much broader contribution [from my CIO]. He has to be open and honest and rigorous. He has to be prepared to talk about issues outside of his immediate responsibility and outside his comfort zone. They're personal characteristics I'm looking for.