Until recently, a career at a large technology company seemed to follow a fairly straightforward path. First came the product, then engineering, sales, scale and global distribution. The world of technology had its own language, its own pace and its own hierarchy of skills. Today, this division is becoming less and less clear-cut.
Big Tech still needs outstanding engineers, cloud architects, data specialists and product developers. But in top-level roles, other areas of expertise are also becoming increasingly important: operations, e-commerce, logistics, sales, customer experience, regulation, partnerships and change management. Not because technology has become less important. On the contrary. It is because it has become more deeply embedded in every area of business.
This is one of the most significant shifts in the way we think about technology leadership. A technology company can no longer address only the IT departments. It must engage with senior management, finance, HR, sales, logistics, legal teams and public administration. It must not only demonstrate that its tools work, but also prove that they improve productivity, reduce costs, boost sales or minimise risk.
This is particularly evident in the case of artificial intelligence. AI has become a strategic priority, but in many companies its implementation is no longer simply a matter of purchasing yet another system. Rather, it is a question of how to restructure processes, how to change the way people work, how to measure results, and who within the organisation takes responsibility for decisions made with the help of algorithms. In this puzzle, technology is a necessary but not sufficient condition.
Reports from consultancy firms over the past few quarters have highlighted a similar problem: companies are investing in AI, but are struggling to translate this into mature operational models. McKinsey points out that the vast majority of organisations are investing in artificial intelligence, but only a small percentage believe they have achieved real maturity in its implementation. BCG points out that the greatest value arises not where companies simply roll out AI tools, but where they overhaul entire workflows.
This explains why leaders who do not fit the classic description of an ‘IT person’ are becoming increasingly important. What is needed are people who understand the process, the customer, sales, costs, risk and organisational resistance. People who can ask a simple question: what will this technology actually change in a company that needs to deliver results this quarter?
In this sense, e-commerce, logistics, retail and banking are becoming natural training grounds for technology management. These are sectors where technology has long since ceased to be an add-on and has become the very foundation of operations. A marketplace cannot exist without data, payments, automation, recommendations and infrastructure. Logistics cannot scale without forecasting, operational systems and network management. Retail no longer competes solely on shelf space and price, but also on personalisation, availability, analytics and customer experience.
That is why saying that leaders from such industries are ‘moving into technology’ is becoming increasingly inaccurate. They often come from companies that have themselves become technology-driven, although they do not always define themselves as such. The difference is that their technology was embedded in operations, sales and customer engagement from the outset. Today, this experience can be just as valuable as knowledge of the product itself.
The role of local heads of global technology firms is also changing. A country manager at a Big Tech firm is no longer merely a sales manager or a representative of a global brand on the local market. Increasingly, they are becoming a bridge between global strategy and the local economy. They must understand the expectations of major clients, government bodies, partners, universities, start-ups and the general public. They must discuss AI and the cloud in terms of competitiveness, productivity and security, rather than solely in terms of product features.
This shift is also evident in the language technology companies use to describe their new appointments. When Microsoft announced that Iwona Szylar was taking the helm of its Polish branch, it emphasised the rapid growth in the adoption of AI and the cloud, as well as the impact of these technologies on the economy’s competitiveness. This is no longer a narrative solely about team management or sales. It is a story about the role of technology in the development of the country and business.
A similar context emerged with the announcement regarding Dagmara Brzezińska, who is set to take up the role of Country Director at Google Poland from September. Press releases and reports highlight her experience in digital transformation, e-commerce and commercial strategies, gained at companies including InPost, Allegro, Unilever and L’Oréal. The appointment itself is significant, but what is more interesting is what it symbolises: the growing value of skills at the intersection of technology, scale, sales and operations.
However, this is not a story about a single person or a single company. It is part of a broader trend in which technology is becoming too important to be left solely to technologists, and business too digital to be managed without an understanding of technology. As a result, there is a growing demand for hybrid leaders – those who do not need to write code, but must know where technology creates value, where it generates risk, and why simply implementing a tool is not enough.
This trend is also confirmed by data on skills. The World Economic Forum points out that, alongside AI and big data, the importance of leadership, social influence, flexibility and customer focus is growing. PwC, having analysed over a billion job advertisements, notes that AI is increasing the importance of skills such as judgement, creativity and leadership. This is seemingly paradoxical, yet logical: the more automation there is, the greater the value of decisions that cannot be automated.
For Poland, this shift is of particular significance. On the one hand, the country has a strong technological base, well-developed centres of expertise and great potential in the field of AI. On the other hand, EU reports highlight challenges relating to digital skills and the adoption of advanced technologies by businesses. This means that access to tools alone will not determine a competitive advantage. What will matter is companies’ ability to make effective use of them.
In practice, the most important conclusion is simple. The line between a technology company and a ‘non-technology’ company is blurring at an ever-faster rate. Big Tech needs people who understand business, and business needs leaders who understand technology. The most interesting careers and the most important decisions will emerge precisely at this intersection.
So it is not that tech companies have suddenly started looking for people from outside their own industry. The point is that the tech industry itself has become too narrow a category. Technology is no longer a separate sector. It has become the language of management, scaling and competition. And the leaders of the future will have to speak it just as fluently as they do the language of finance, customer relations and strategy.
