Welcome to CTO Levels! The framework designed to help your company understand the level your tech organization needs to operate at. This framework was designed by @Etienne de Bruin with the help of @Kathy Keating and @Scott Graves
Learn more about the story behind CTO Levels.
You are free to apply CTO Levels within your organization! But check out the licenses.
Head over here if all you have is questions!
This page is constantly being updated by the CTO Levels Working Group. If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at owners@ctolevels.com.
<aside> 💡 Subscribe to the CTO Levels Newsletter over at Substack.
(we write about updates to the CTO Levels framework and when we add new modules and content)
</aside>
The premise behind CTO Levels is very simple. Go grab two numbers:
Now take a look at this grid and see if you can find your target level!
| Level | Budget | People | Speed | Stretch | Shield | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $50,000,000 | 400 | ‣ | |||
| Network | ||||||
| Relationships | ‣ | |||||
| Role | ||||||
| Organization | ‣ | |||||
| Lead Positioning | ‣ | |||||
| Engagements | ||||||
| Consulting | ||||||
| 9 | $30,000,000 | 200 | ‣ | |||
| Health | ||||||
| Stewardship | ‣ | |||||
| Hiring Pipeline | ||||||
| Budget | ‣ | |||||
| Forward Thinking | ‣ | |||||
| Employees Outside | ||||||
| 8 | $15,000,000 | 120 | ‣ | |||
| Strategy Expand | ‣ | |||||
| Competitors | ||||||
| Opportunities | ‣ | |||||
| Opportunities | ||||||
| Trade Secrets | ‣ | |||||
| Strategic Thinking | ||||||
| 7 Strata | ||||||
| 7 | $12,000,000 | 100 | ‣ | |||
| Rewards | ||||||
| ESOP | ‣ | |||||
| Leader of Leaders | ||||||
| Capability Mapping | ‣ | |||||
| Internal / External | ‣ | |||||
| Hiring Pipeline | ||||||
| Network | ||||||
| 6 | $8,000,000 | 60 | ‣ | |||
| Product | ||||||
| Staff Augmentation | ‣ | |||||
| Execution | ||||||
| Organization | ‣ | |||||
| Application Data | ‣ | |||||
| Conferences Writing | ||||||
| 5 | $6,000,000 | 40 | ‣ | |||
| Psychological | ||||||
| Resilience | ‣ | |||||
| VPE | ||||||
| CISO | ‣ | |||||
| Vendors | ||||||
| Risk Management | ‣ | |||||
| Value Stream Mapping | ||||||
| & Cross Functions | ||||||
| 4 | $3,000,000 | 20 | ‣ | |||
| ****Job Ladder | ||||||
| Salaries | ‣ | |||||
| Topology | ||||||
| Generative | ‣ | |||||
| Loosely Coupled | ||||||
| Empowering | ‣ | |||||
| Collaboration | ||||||
| Facilitation | ||||||
| 3 | $1,250,000 | 10 | ‣ | |||
| CD | ||||||
| Test Automation | ‣ | |||||
| Lightweight | ||||||
| Approval | ‣ | |||||
| Monitor | ||||||
| Decisions | ‣ | |||||
| Customer | ||||||
| Design | ||||||
| 2 | $500,000 | 3 | ‣ | |||
| Dev Process | ||||||
| Teams | ‣ | |||||
| Innovation | ||||||
| DEI | ‣ | |||||
| Learning Playbooks | ‣ | |||||
| Customers | ||||||
| Marketing | ||||||
| 1 | $250,000 | 2 | ‣ | |||
| Automated | ||||||
| CI | ‣ | |||||
| Small Batches | ||||||
| Experiment | ‣ | |||||
| ****Immutable | ||||||
| DevOps | ‣ | |||||
| Adoption | ||||||
| MVP | ||||||
| 0 | $100,000 | 1 | ‣ | |||
| Version Control | ||||||
| (Trunk Based) | ‣ | |||||
| Unblock | ||||||
| Strategy | ‣ | |||||
| ****Future Proof | ‣ | |||||
| Options | ||||||
| Decisions |
We created a set of KPIs to correspond with the CTO Levels Framework. These KPIs are designed to serve as your strategic dashboard. They provide measurable, stage-appropriate signals for whether your technology organization is maturing in the right direction—across delivery, culture, systems, security, and strategic influence.