How CTO Academy develops individual technology leaders and builds technology, digital and AI capability at scale across organisations.
Last updated: August 2026
Today, CTO Academy works predominantly with organisations that need to develop technology leaders and strengthen technology, digital and AI capability across their workforce.
The Digital MBA for Technology Leaders remains the individual route: a structured programme for experienced technology professionals who need stronger commercial and strategic judgement and executive influence.
For organisational clients, CTO Academy applies the same specialist expertise through capability programmes designed around the workforce, business priorities, operating context and change management. These programmes can serve current and emerging technology leaders as well as non-technical managers who need to understand how technology affects their roles and communicate more effectively with technology teams.
TL;DR
- CTO Academy now works predominantly with organisations that need to develop technology leaders and build wider technology, digital and AI capability. The Digital MBA remains available as the individual route.
- Organisational programmes can include separate pathways for technology leaders and non-technical managers. Each population receives learning matched to its responsibilities and existing level of fluency.
- As of July 2026, close to 200 mid-level and senior managers at a large European financial institution are learning through two CTO Academy pathways within the same engagement.
- Programmes can serve one employer-sponsored participant or large populations across business units and regions.
- Organisational engagements begin with an assessment of the client’s context and capability gaps. Learning pathways are then designed around the intended outcomes, with progress measured throughout delivery.
- The Digital MBA includes nine executive-level modules, more than 200 bite-sized lectures and weekly live activity. Participants can start immediately and have 12 months to complete the programme.
Table of Contents
CTO Academy at a Glance
| Area | Current position |
|---|---|
| Primary focus | Large-scale technology, digital and AI capability development for organisational clients |
| Technology leadership pathway | Development for current and emerging CTOs, CIOs, Heads of Engineering, VPs and senior technology managers |
| Technology fluency pathway | Development for non-technical managers whose decisions and responsibilities increasingly involve technology |
| Individual route | The Digital MBA for Technology Leaders, available through rolling enrolment |
| Organisational scale | From individual employer sponsorship to multi-path programmes serving hundreds of participants |
| Delivery | Virtual, blended or in-person programmes adapted across roles, leadership levels and regions |
| Learning infrastructure | Experienced faculty, structured content, live learning, a dedicated platform and measurable development |
About The Digital MBA for Technology Leaders
The Digital MBA emerged after three years of market research and hundreds of one-to-one conversations and coaching sessions with technology leaders. Those discussions helped CTO Academy understand the capability shift required when experienced technical professionals move into roles with broader commercial, strategic and organisational responsibility.
That understanding now informs work with entire organisational populations. It helps CTO Academy identify where technology leaders need greater business confidence and where non-technical managers need enough technology fluency to make informed decisions, explain operational needs and work productively with technical teams.
The result is a learning model that can support an individual technology leader or be adapted into separate pathways for different populations within the same organisation.
Content and Delivery Method Overview
The Digital MBA for Technology Leaders is structured across nine interconnected modules and more than 200 bite-sized video lectures.
Participants can enrol at any time and receive immediate access to the MBA and Global Community of Technology Leaders. They progress at a pace that fits around their professional responsibilities. However, the programme must be completed within 12 months to qualify for certification.
Lecture summaries and additional learning resources support the recorded curriculum. Participants can also join weekly live discussions and expert sessions, as well as monthly peer-to-peer activity. A Personal Course Manager provides support throughout the included access period.
Pre-enrolment and post-programme assessments help participants identify capability gaps and evaluate their development.
How the Learning Model Scales for Organisations
Organisational programmes begin with the workforce rather than a fixed catalogue of courses. CTO Academy identifies existing capability gaps and intended outcomes before shaping the appropriate learning pathways.
Different groups can follow different paths within the same engagement. Technology leaders may focus on commercial judgement, strategy, finance, governance and executive influence. Non-technical managers can develop the fluency required to understand technology-led change, evaluate technology-related decisions, communicate their requirements more clearly and utilise technology more efficiently throughout their area of responsibility.
Delivery can be adapted across leadership levels and business functions. This allows an organisation to develop capability at scale without treating every participant as though they have the same role or starting point.
Expert Faculty
CTO Academy draws on a global faculty of experienced technology executives, business leaders and subject specialists. Participants learn from people with direct experience of technology strategy, product development, finance, security, data, investment and organisational change.
That breadth becomes especially important in organisational programmes because capability needs differ by role. A senior technology leader may need stronger financial judgement and executive influence. A non-technical manager may need the confidence to evaluate technology options and explain business requirements in terms a technology team can act on.
To give you an example, in Module 1, from the business world, we’ve got Julian Costley. Julian is an experienced entrepreneur, a CEO and NED investor. Most recently, he bought a publishing company called Bite-Sized Books in the UK. He’s worked all over the world, and since exiting a market-leading online stockbroking firm called E-Trades back in 2000, he’s invested in 26 companies around the world, sits on multiple boards and is a mentor to the MBA programme at London Business School.
Specifically, Julian will be looking at how to be effective at executive level, what the CEO and investors are looking for from their CTOs and senior tech teams, how to design remuneration packages and much more.
We’re also joined by leadership experts like Andrew Bryant, an award-winning global executive coach, a TEDx speaker and Amazon best-selling author who wrote the book on Self-Leadership amongst others. He’s on the Women in Leadership Faculty at Singapore Management University and the Leadership Faculty for IE University in Madrid.
Andrew Weaver, CTO Academy CEO and co-founder, delivers a great lecture on self-leadership, but he’s also involved in wider leadership debates and discussion panels about what really matters to be truly effective in senior roles.
In addition, we’re joined by operational tech leaders from around the world to deliver lectures, talks and panel discussions around aspects of tech leadership that they specialise in and have a passion for. Participants learn from real-life problems that these CTOs face in day-to-day operations.
Whether that’s Santiago in Montevideo on his recent experiences of closing a $60 million Series B round, or Sanjay Mistry, a Group CTO and one of our senior leadership coaches, who dives into tech strategy and how to make sure it’s aligned with business goals.
This faculty base supports both technology leadership development and technology fluency among managers outside the technology function.
From Programme Content to Organisational Capability
CTO Academy combines faculty expertise with learning design, facilitation, assessment and a dedicated learning platform. For organisational clients, the work begins by identifying capability gaps and defining what participants should be able to understand, decide or do differently.
Learning pathways can then be shaped around role, seniority and organisational context. Capability can be benchmarked before delivery, participation and progress can be monitored, and the resulting evidence can inform continued development.
The Digital MBA undergoes quarterly review so that its treatment of technology leadership, AI, risk and business decision-making remains current.
How It Begins
Individuals can enrol in the Digital MBA at any time and receive immediate access. There is no fixed intake or cohort start date. Participants begin with Leadership & Team Building, progress through the programme within their 12-month access period and join the global learning community from the start.
Organisational engagements begin with a different process. CTO Academy works with the client to identify organisation-specific business cases, the people being developed, the capability gaps affecting performance and the outcomes the programme should support. The learning pathways, delivery model and measures of development are then shaped around those requirements.
Community Membership
Digital MBA participants receive 12 months of access to the CTO Academy Community. This includes weekly live discussions, expert sessions, peer networking and dedicated community channels. Recordings are available when work commitments or time zones prevent someone from attending live.
Peer learning can also be built into organisational delivery. It gives participants across functions or regions a structured opportunity to compare perspectives and develop a more consistent language around technology and business priorities.
This is particularly valuable when technical and non-technical managers are following different learning pathways but still need to make decisions and work together inside the same organisation.
Key Touch Points
Individual Digital MBA participants are supported by a Personal Course Manager who helps them navigate the programme, maintain progress and access the wider learning community. CTO Academy’s Customer Success Team also monitors the participant experience and responds to support needs throughout the programme.
For organisational delivery, CTO Academy works with programme sponsors and relevant client stakeholders to monitor engagement, respond to delivery requirements and keep learning aligned with the agreed capability goals. This relationship layer becomes increasingly important when a programme includes several participant groups or operates across multiple regions.
Large-Scale Capability Development for Technical and Non-Technical Managers
As of August 2026, close to 200 mid-level managers at a large European financial institution are learning through two CTO Academy pathways.
One pathway develops technology leaders who need stronger strategic judgement and commercial confidence and influence across the organisation. The other serves non-technical managers who need to understand how technology shapes their responsibilities, make better technology-related decisions and communicate their needs more effectively to technical teams.
The two pathways use different curricula because the participants do not have the same responsibilities or capability gaps. They still address a shared organisational requirement: better decisions and clearer communication where technology and business priorities meet.
This engagement demonstrates CTO Academy’s ability to deliver different learning pathways at scale within the same organisation. It sits alongside CTO Academy’s work with organisations including Hitachi Academy, whose Chief L&D Planner has described CTO Academy as a reliable partner in developing its next generation of leaders.
Frequently Asked Questions
From Organisations
Can CTO Academy train technical and non-technical managers within the same organisation?
Yes. CTO Academy can create separate learning pathways within one organisational engagement.
As of July 2026, close to 200 mid-level managers at a large European financial institution are learning through two paths. One develops technology leaders. The other helps non-technical managers understand how technology affects their roles and work more effectively with technology teams.
The content differs between the pathways, while both support better technology-related decisions across the organisation.
What does technology fluency mean for a non-technical manager?
Technology fluency is the ability to understand how technology affects the organisation, the manager’s own responsibilities and the decisions they are expected to make. It does not require coding skills or technical specialisation.
A technology-fluent manager can explain business needs more clearly and challenge proposals constructively. They also have a better basis for discussing operational constraints with technology teams.
How does CTO Academy tailor a programme to an organisation?
The process begins with the organisation’s context and the people being developed. CTO Academy identifies the relevant capability gaps and agrees what should change as a result of the programme.
The resulting pathway may combine structured online learning with facilitated sessions, coaching or projects connected to current organisational priorities. Different participant populations can receive different curricula within the same engagement.
Can CTO Academy support large or internationally distributed teams?
Yes. CTO Academy can support anything from one high-potential leader to organisation-wide programmes involving several learning pathways.
Virtual delivery allows participants in different countries and time zones to follow a common curriculum. Live elements can be scheduled around the client’s locations.
How is the impact of an organisational capability programme measured?
Measurement begins before delivery. CTO Academy works with the client to define the relevant capabilities and establish a baseline.
Participant assessments can show development between the beginning and end of the programme. Course analytics provide visibility into engagement and progress during delivery. Where the client wants to connect learning to wider organisational outcomes, the relevant measures should be agreed during programme design.
Can CTO Academy work with an existing LMS or internal academy?
Yes. CTO Academy can integrate its learning content and delivery model with an organisation’s existing frameworks, LMS or internal academy.
The intention is to strengthen the client’s current learning infrastructure rather than require it to be replaced. The precise technical and administrative arrangement is agreed during programme design.
How does pricing work for organisational programmes?
Organisational pricing is tailored rather than calculated from the public individual enrolment fee.
The cost depends on the number of participants, the learning pathways required and the level of facilitation or programme support involved. Delivery format and any required customisation also affect the final scope.
What information can CTO Academy provide for enterprise due diligence?
CTO Academy can provide standard contractual terms, a data processing agreement and information about its security posture. Data handling follows GDPR-aligned practices.
Additional documentation can be supplied during procurement when the client’s governance or information-security process requires it.
From Individuals
Who is the Digital MBA for?
The Digital MBA is built for experienced technology professionals whose responsibilities are expanding into business and executive decision-making.
Typical participants include CTOs, CIOs, Heads of Engineering, VPs of Engineering, senior technology managers and technical founders. It is also suitable for aspiring CTOs who already have enough professional experience to apply the learning in a leadership role.
Is the Digital MBA a traditional academic MBA degree?
No. The Digital MBA for Technology Leaders is a CPD-certified executive development programme, not a university degree.
It is designed for technology leaders who want practical business fluency within the context of their existing roles. Participants who meet the completion requirements receive a verifiable certificate from CTO Academy.
The programme does not provide coding instruction or vendor-specific technical certification.
Is the Digital MBA self-paced or cohort-based?
The Digital MBA now operates through rolling enrolment. Participants can enrol at any time and receive immediate access; there is no fixed cohort start date.
Progress through the recorded curriculum is flexible, although the programme must be completed within 12 months to qualify for certification. Weekly live discussions and expert sessions continue independently of each participant’s position in the curriculum.
How much time does the Digital MBA require each week?
Most participants should expect to spend at least 2.5 hours per week on the programme.
The actual commitment depends on how deeply someone uses the additional resources and live activity. Participants can progress faster when time allows or reduce their pace during demanding periods, provided they complete the requirements within 12 months. Several case studies indicate that it is possible to finish the programme in less than 30 days.
Can an employer pay for the Digital MBA?
Yes. Employers can sponsor an individual participant without commissioning a wider organisational programme.
The CTO Academy MBA Sponsorship Kit helps applicants explain how the curriculum relates to their role and make the internal case for funding. Organisations interested in enrolling several employees should discuss the organisational route with CTO Academy.
How long do participants retain access after enrolling?
Digital MBA enrolment includes 12 months of access to the programme’s core learning materials and the CTO Academy Community. The access period begins when the participant’s account is activated.
The programme must be completed during that period to receive the certificate. After the included access expires, graduates can renew through Alumni Membership to retain access to core materials and Community benefits.
How is artificial intelligence covered in the Digital MBA?
AI is integrated across the curriculum rather than isolated in a single module.
Participants examine AI in the context of business strategy, data, innovation and implementation. The emphasis is on evaluating genuine opportunities, making better leadership decisions and adopting AI with appropriate security and governance. In other words, it is not necessarily about what the technology can do, but what it should or should not do.
In Summary
The Digital MBA remains an important route for individual technology leaders. CTO Academy’s primary focus today, however, is helping organisations build technology, digital and AI capability at scale.
That work can involve current technology executives, emerging leaders and non-technical managers whose decisions increasingly depend on technology. It can serve one employer-sponsored participant or hundreds of people following different pathways across the same organisation.
Learn more about CTO Academy’s organisational capability programmes or review the Digital MBA for Technology Leaders.
