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WHITEPAPER

We analysed 100 CTOs. Here's what they actually look for in a tech partner

The data will surprise you. Most vendor selection criteria are wrong.

This report shows what actually predicts delivery success and what CTOs discover too late.

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100 CTOs. One Clear Expectation

The data on outsourced software delivery is brutal

Before asking what CTOs look for, it is worth confronting what they are trying to avoid. The research on outsourced technology delivery, spanning 50000 plus projects over 30 years, paints a stark picture. The typical failure is not dramatic. It is incremental. Slow communication, shifting timelines, and a final product that does not match what was scoped.

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Software delivery failure is systemic, not accidental

31%
of large IT projects go so badly they threaten the company's existence.
$85B
wasted annually on failed IT projects in the US alone.
17%
of software projects are cancelled before completion. Another 53% overrun budget or timeline.

Failure starts early, most teams just miss it

66% of software projects fail, either cancelled, significantly over budget, or failing to deliver core requirements.

45% of software features built are never used by end users.

80% of project cost overruns happen in the first third of the project.

What the research says CTOs actually look for

Finding 1: Senior ownership has become a hard requirement

73% of CTOs have experienced the junior army problem. Projects with a single accountable senior technical owner are significantly more likely to be delivered on time and within budget.

Finding 2: Transparency is the single biggest predictor of project success

89% of CTOs say black box delivery is their number one reason to terminate a vendor relationship early. Elite teams deploy more frequently and restore service faster due to process transparency.

Finding 3: Scope discipline is treated as a quality proxy

A partner who gives an instant estimate without deep discovery is flagged as high risk by most experienced CTOs.

Build with Certainty, Not Guesswork

Logiciel is the partner CTOs choose when the requirement is certainty, not just more engineers. Start with a 2 week free trial sprint. Scale with confidence.

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Frequently Asked Questions

CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and AI leaders responsible for building, deploying, or governing software and AI systems. It is especially relevant for teams evaluating external partners or trying to move from experimentation to reliable production delivery.
The research showed that delivery success is not driven by technical skills alone. It is driven by senior ownership, transparency, scope discipline, and clear accountability. Most failures happen due to lack of visibility and weak execution systems rather than poor coding.
Evaluation reduces rework by identifying issues early. Teams that measure outcomes continuously ship faster because they avoid late stage failures, unclear requirements, and unstable releases.
More predictable delivery timelines, fewer production failures, better system reliability, and improved confidence in scaling new features or AI systems.
Eval refers to structured evaluation of systems during development. It includes measuring accuracy, reliability, performance, cost, and failure cases continuously rather than only testing at the end. It ensures systems prove their effectiveness before scaling.
Working demos often succeed in controlled conditions but fail in real world environments. They do not account for scale, edge cases, security, or cost. Without evaluation systems, they create false confidence and lead to long term engineering debt.
Evaluation frameworks are added into existing CI CD pipelines. They run alongside development and testing processes, measuring outputs at each stage without disrupting current workflows.
Start by introducing evaluation checkpoints in your current workflow. Define clear success metrics for each release and validate systems continuously. A short trial sprint with defined outputs is the fastest way to implement this approach.