India, Dec. 22 -- The shift has been unmistakable since the early 2000s. CIOs are no longer confined to the sidelines; they now stand at the centre of business transformation. Yet, the question persists - for how long? If technology leaders fail to evolve, to infuse new capabilities and align IT with business value, the very purpose of transformation collapses.

As Richard Hunter and George Westerman observed way back in their 2009 book: The Real Business of IT, "The cost of IT is not the value of IT." They argued that technology leaders must communicate in business language, demonstrating in measurable terms how IT drives performance and profitability. Even as IT accounts for a significant share of global capital spending, many boards st...