Martha Heller is one of the most widely followed voices on IT leadership and the role of the CIO. She has been a CIO magazine columnist since 1999, and is also the author of Be the Business: CIOs in the New Era of IT (Bibliomotion, 2016).

Martha is president of Heller Search Associates, an executive recruiting firm that specializes in IT leadership positions nationwide across all industries. She has spent 15 years working with the CIO community at the highest levels. Based on this experience and extensive interviews, outreach, and her work as an executive recruiter, Martha has distilled empirically backed insights into what it takes today to be an IT executive capable of driving transformation.

In 2004, Martha founded the CIO Executive Council, CIO magazine’s professional organization for CIOs. In addition to her blog on CIO.com, Martha engages extensively with the technology executive community through social media and her widely read e-newsletter, “The Heller Report.”

Martha is a highly sought after public speaker, regularly addressing and engaging with members of the IT profession at executive events held by The Research Board, the National Retail Federation, the Technology Business Management Council, Forrester, Harvard University, MIT, CIO magazine, ServiceNow, Box, and Cisco.

Maryfran Johnson Award-winning IT journalist and editorial executive, Editor-in-Chief of CIO magazine.

Most major companies, regardless of industry, are becoming technology companies. The successful management of information is increasingly critical to a company's goals; it is, arguably, the age of the CIO. Despite this, the IT executive is hounded by a host of contradictions: bad technology can bring a company to its knees, yet corporate boards rarely employ CIOs; speed of delivery is of utmost importance, but security is paramount. These contradictions form what Martha Heller calls 'The CIO Paradox', which is deeply embedded in governance, staffing models, executive expectations, budgeting, even the titles that IT leaders hold. Heller, who is on the leading edge of IT staffing and development, offers guidance to CIOs on how to attack, reverse, or neutralize the inherent contradictions of this leadership role. Through interviews with the worlds most successful IT leaders, 'The CIO Paradox' will help readers level the playing field for IT success, helping CIOs earn a spot in the C-suite.