2025 median annual pay
$175,140
Median for the whole occupation, across all experience levels. It is not specific to a level or to Brazil.
Career in 2026 and 2027
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
The Chief Technology Officer decides what technology the company bets on and builds the organization that can deliver it. The job sits between architecture, people and the business case for both.
Content reviewed on October 21, 2026
- Levels
- 3
- Skills mapped at Senior
- 14
What each level must prove
Senior
Accountable for technology strategy at company level, including AI, innovation and how it is explained to executives and the board.
Your calendar fills with executive meetings, build-versus-buy calls and questions about where AI fits. You still shape architecture, but your main output is now decisions the other executives and the board can follow and trust.
Average score required: 71%
Technology Vision Setting
Why: You tie the technology vision to the company's growth plan, so that the CEO can see which bets support revenue and which are engineering preference.
Strategic Technology Roadmap
Why: You defend multi-year platform investment against short-term feature pressure and show what the company loses by deferring it.
Microservices Architecture
Why: You set architectural principles that dozens of engineers follow, so services stay resilient and independent as the organization grows.
Cloud Strategy & Architecture
Why: You decide on single cloud, multi-cloud or a mix and weigh resilience, cost and negotiating leverage, then own the consequences.
Engineering Hiring & Recruitment
Why: You design hiring across several teams and leaders, and decide when to hire senior people versus grow juniors given the roadmap.
Engineering Culture & Psychology
Why: You shape culture through managers, promotions and how you react to a major failure, since your behavior sets the norm for everyone.
Technology Roadmap Planning
Why: You coordinate roadmaps across teams, with shared milestones and KPIs, so dependencies between teams stop being surprises at release time.
Execution Excellence & Delivery
Why: You look at delivery across the whole organization and intervene where a team is repeatedly late, before the business loses trust in engineering.
AI/ML Strategy & Adoption
Why: You decide which business problems justify AI or ML, whether to build or buy models, and what data and governance must exist first.
Innovation Culture & Experimentation
Why: You set aside room for experiments and define when one is stopped, so the company takes calculated risks without derailing the roadmap.
Vendor Evaluation & Selection
Why: You judge strategic vendor choices, such as a data platform or core system, by total cost, exit options and risk to the business.
Technical Partnerships & Vendors
Why: You negotiate partnerships that give the company access to capability or distribution it cannot build alone, and protect it from dependency.
Executive Communication & Influence
Why: You explain a technical trade-off, such as paying down debt versus shipping a feature, in terms the CFO and CEO can decide on.
Board Reporting & Governance
Why: You present technology risk, such as security exposure or key-person dependency, and performance to the board in a form it can act on.
Study for Chief Technology Officer (CTO): trails and practice exams
Each level of this career maps to a study trail. Read the full topic map for free, then measure your level.
Market snapshot (United States)
Projected job growth, 2025–2035
+16%
Much faster than average
US occupation used: Computer and Information Systems Managers. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, updated August 27, 2026
Two ways to move up one level
12 weeks · intensive
For whoever has a deadline
About 8 hours a week, in 1 cycle focused on the gaps that weigh most.
40 weeks · regular
Alongside work
About 4 hours a week, in 3 cycles. Each cycle carries what was left from the previous one.
Frequently asked questions
What is Chief Technology Officer (CTO)?
The Chief Technology Officer decides what technology the company bets on and builds the organization that can deliver it. The job sits between architecture, people and the business case for both.
What must each level of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) prove?
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is mapped in 3 levels: Mid-level, Senior, and Expert. Open each level above to see the skills it must prove.
How long does the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) plan take?
The plan has 2 paces: 12 weeks per level at about 8 hours a week (intensive) and 40 weeks per level at about 4 hours a week (regular).
How the plan works
AI tutor
A study session on each new topic, at your level.
AI school
Hands-on lessons on using AI in your career's daily work.
Assessments
Each requirement is proven by measurement, not by a checkbox.
Stage review
At the end of each cycle you see what moved and what carries over.
Find out which level you are at
A short diagnostic measures the skills you already have. The journey starts from there.