The people you choose to follow on Twitter can entirely change your Twitter experience. For CIOs and other IT leaders, we believe a healthy dose of technology news, leadership advice, and observations from peers can help make your time on Twitter worthwhile.
We reviewed who we follow and hand-picked 20 accounts we think could enrich your Twitter stream. Our list includes CIOs, media outlets, bloggers, consultants, and some other people whose tweets you may find informative and interesting.
Martha Heller aka @marthaheller
Follow @marthaheller
Twitter bio: Martha and her team at Heller Search recruit CIOs & IT execs / Author: The CIO Paradox / Public Speaker: the CIO role and IT Leadership.
Why to follow: The average tenure for a CIO is about six-years. Depending on how much time you have left at your organization, you might want to see what's on the mind of a CIO and IT executive search firm leader. Follow Heller for CIO quotes, career resources, and to keep up on job changes of fellow CIOs.
Eric D. Brown aka @EricDBrown
Follow @EricDBrown
Twitter bio: Technology Consultant with an interest in technology, data and the markets (http://tradethesentiment.com). Also, when I can, I like to take photos.
Why to follow: One of the topics of Brown's blog is the "The New CIO" where he shares thoughtful observations about the evolving role of the CIO. Follow him on Twitter for links to news especially for CIOs, as well as articles on technology, strategy, and more. He's also an incredible nature photographer and occasionally shares some of his beautiful landscape and wildlife shots.
Dion Hinchcliffe aka @dhinchcliffe
Follow @dhinchcliffe
Twitter bio: Chief Strategy Officer, business strategist, enterprise architect, keynote speaker, book author, blogger, & consultant on #socbiz & next-gen enterprises.
Why to follow: Hinchcliffe feeds his followers a steady stream of CIO-related news, including the topics of digital transformation, collaboration, and the Future of Work. He was just tapped to judge the CIO 100 awards this year. Follow Hinchcliffe for the CIO-related news he shares and for great examples of how to masterfully use @replies and hashtags.
Gene Kim aka @RealGeneKim
Follow @RealGeneKim
Twitter bio: DevOps enthusiast, The Phoenix Project co-author, Tripwire founder, Visible Ops co-author, IT Ops/Security Researcher, Theory of Constraints Jonah, rabid UX fan
Why to follow: Kim is a huge fan of IT operations. His passion for DevOps is contagious. Follow him for updates on the DevOps movement, information security, and IT Ops.
Harvard Business Review aka @HarvardBiz
Follow @HarvardBiz
Twitter bio: The latest Harvard Business Review blog posts, Management Tips of the Day, Daily Stats, and more.
Why to follow: The go-to source for news, research and opinions on leadership, strategy and innovation, and big ideas, Harvard Business Review offers CIOs plenty of management advice and technology updates. Follow HBR to ensure you never miss a post.
CIO.com aka @CIOonline
Follow @CIOonline
Twitter bio: CIO.com (an IDG Enterprise brand) delivers the latest news, analysis, video, blogs, tips and research for techies and IT professionals.
Why to follow: A top online news destination for CIOs and other IT leaders, follow the CIO twitter stream for news on technology trends and ways IT can help achieve business goals.
David Bray aka @fcc_cio
Follow @fcc_cio
Twitter bio: Chief Information Officer, FCC. RT, links, & follows do not imply endorsement. Leadership is Passion to Improve Our World.
Why to follow: When Bray took over the CIO role at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, one of his first actions was to ask for a Twitter account. Among the reasons he wanted his own Twitter account was to "engage, listen, and learn from the public and IT peers as we worked to modernize FCC’s legacy IT systems." Follow Bray for inspiring tweets and retweets related to the importance of creating change, and check out how he regularly gives his teams public pats on the back through @replies.
Jay Ferro aka @jayferro
Follow @jayferro
Twitter bio: CIO for the American Cancer Society | Dad | Georgia Bulldog | Cancer Widower | ENTJ
Why to follow: If you want to learn how to mix in work-related news and general technology news like a pro, follow Ferro. He tweets a balance of CIO-related news ("CIOs need to snap out of complacency" and "10 top security stories of 2014" are recent examples) with updates on cancer research. He also regularly shares leadership quotes for CIOs.
Cynthia Stoddard aka @StoddardCA
Follow @StoddardCA
Twitter bio: CIO at @NetApp, passionate about technology, gardening, and cooking Tweets are my own.
Why to follow: Stoddard knows the art of the retweet. She frequently retweets interesting technology and leadership news from the people she follows, occasionally adding commentary. If you feel like you don't have time to tweet, Stoddard demonstrates how the power of the retweet button can help if you follow the right people.
Vala Afshar aka @ValaAfshar
Follow @ValaAfshar
Twitter bio: CMO, Extreme Networks | Blog: @HuffingtonPost, @Inc | Author: http://bit.ly/tposbe | Show: http://www.cxo-talk.com
Why to follow: You would expect the author of "The Pursuit of Social Business Excellence" to be a master of Twitter, and Afshar delivers. We'd love to peek behind the curtain to see how he manages to consistently prepare so many thought-provoking tweets, including motivating quotes, well-designed infographics on technology trends, plenty of CIO-related research, and general food for thought. Follow Afshar, and you'll never run out of interesting tidbits to share with your IT team.
Lee Congdon aka @lcongdon
Follow @lcongdon
Twitter bio: Red Hat CIO, hiker, cooking and wine enthusiast, photographer, golfer, skier. Tweeting about IT, the role of the CIO, and trends in technology.
Why to follow: If you like to keep up with what's intriguing in technology, follow Congdon for a stream of fresh reads (recent tweets include articles with the headlines: "Neiman Marcus unveils its fitting room mirror for the 21st century" and "Welcome to 2015, where snowplow drivers are trained on simulators"). Like his bio says, Congdon regularly tweets about IT, the role of the CIO, and technology trends.
Gerri M. Flickinger aka @GMFlickinger
Follow @GMFlickinger
Twitter bio: I’m SVP/CIO at Adobe, leading the global Information Technology team, providing strategic direction and management for the company’s IT infrastructure worldwide
Why to follow: With more than 20 years of experience leading large-scale global IT organizations, Flickinger knows what's interesting to CIOs. Flickinger regularly picks out interesting stats or facts from the IT-related articles she reads and tweets those details, often providing more context for why you should read an article than the basic headline. Follow her not only for the tech articles she shares, but for the tidbits she highlights for her followers.
Michael Krigsman aka @mkrigsman
Follow @mkrigsman
Twitter bio: Analyst and advisor on CIO / CMO innovation, keynote speaker, ZDNet columnist, Wall Street Journal contributor. Founder of http://cxo-talk.com
Why to follow: As the founder of cxo-talk.com, Krigsman regularly interviews C-level executives at the world's leading technology companies. He regularly tweets quotes and insights from his interviews, which include leaders like Adobe CIO Gerri M. Flickinger (also on our list, see above). Follow him to stay in touch with what's on the minds of today's top technology leaders.
Rachael King aka @sfwriter
Follow @sfwriter
Twitter bio: Rachael King, reporter for The Wall Street Journal, writing for the CIO Journal blog. Based in San Francisco. My tweets are my own.
Why to follow: If you can't get enough of the Wall Street Journal's CIO Journal blog, then follow King for more news on technology trends and business strategy.
Lisa Davis aka @LisaM_Davis
Follow @LisaM_Davis
Twitter bio: VP & GM, Supply Chain IT, Intel Corp. Passionate about technology, fitness enthusiast, loves to travel, mother of 3
Why to follow: One of the things Davis is passionate about is encouraging young girls and women to stay in STEM fields. Follow her if you're a proponent of seeing more women in tech, as Davis often shares articles related to women in business, the Girls Who Code organization, and just generally interesting technology news.
Robert Schmidt aka @ambassadorcio
Follow @ambassadorcio
Twitter bio: CIO California Department of Food and Agriculture. Study innovation @StanfordBIZ. Delivering unprecedented results. Views are mine. RTs not endorsement
Why to follow: Schmidt frequently shares interesting articles on technology, design, working smarter, and just topics of general interest. If you don't have time to scour the Internet for the most interesting articles of the day, save yourself time and follow Schmidt because chances are he has tweeted them.
Susan Kellogg aka @susankellogg Follow @susankellogg
Twitter bio: Associate Vice Chancellor of IT & Deputy CIO at UNC Chapel Hill “Technology does not run an enterprise, relationships do!"
Why to follow: The quote in Kellogg's Twitter bio should be enough to make any forward-thinking CIO say, "heck yeah." If you need more reasons to follow her, check out her Twitter stream to see an example of how a CIO can show off some personality by sharing photos and opinions on the articles being shared.
Mike D. Kail aka @mdkail
Follow @mdkail
Twitter bio: @mdkail
Why to follow: If you want to keep up with more technical news, Kail delivers. As the former CIO and SVP of Infrastructure at Yahoo, Kail's recent technical tweets include an introduction to containers, how to modify ITIL to accomodate DevOps, and plenty of security news.
Kim Stevenson aka @Kimsstevenson Follow @Kimsstevenson
Twitter bio: VP and Chief Information Officer (CIO), Intel Corp. Enjoys tennis. Passionate about IT being a strategic part of the business.
Why to follow: What is the CIO of one of the world's largest and highest valued semiconductor chip makers reading? Follow Stevenson to see. She shares a regular stream of news on smart technology, including wearables and Internet of Things. Naturally, she also shares some of the latest news coming out of Intel.
The Enterprisers Project aka @4enterprisers Follow @4enterprisers
Twitter bio: Community of business-minded IT leaders exploring the evolving role of CIOs as they drive business strategy and inspire enterprise-wide innovation.
Why to follow: We keep our Twitter stream filled with links to articles and tips from fellow CIOs. Follow us so you don't miss articles and Q&As from our community of CIOs.
Who would you add to this list? Tell us which Twitter accounts you think IT leaders should be following.
