By John W. Verity

Ambitious CIOs have the best chance of moving to the COO or CEO slot in industries where technology has become strategic and is reshaping the landscape. There, a CIO can best parlay his or her technical skills, business experience and personal reputation.

Christopher Lofgren should know. He is the kind of experienced engineer, programmer and CIO who would seem a shoo-in for a chief executive position at a telecommunications firm or media company. But Lofgren has taken what looks to be an even more extraordinary and difficult route, achieving success as a chief executive well outside the technology mainstream. After four years as a CIO and then two years as COO, Lofgren took the helm of what is now a $3.4 billion transportation and logistics provider, Schneider National Inc. It is a company best known for its orange-painted big rigs, which are common sights on the highways of the United States and Canada—though the company's reach has expanded into Mexico, Europe and China, as well.

Schneider named Lofgren as CEO in 2002 to lead the company through some of the stiffest challenges the company has faced in its 70-year history—some technology-driven, some not. The forces of globalization, for instance, have compelled Schneider to figure out new ways of serving the logistical needs of its customers. Those customers' supply chains are increasingly complex, wider in geographic scope, and moving greater numbers of products that have ever-shorter cycle times. Naturally, all this has made technology "absolutely a must," Lofgren says, and his strong technical background has been all the more valuable as a result.

Other changes have tested Lofgren's nontechnical skills, such as business leadership, financial savvy and industry advocacy. Changing U.S. government regulations—some aimed at reducing engine emissions, others at limiting the amount of time truck drivers may be on the road each day—have had a huge impact on Schneider's operational costs, Lofgren says. As the company's first CEO who is not a member of the founding Schneider family—and only the third CEO in the company's history—Lofgren has been helping to foster significant cultural change within the 20,000-person company, from the executive suite on down.

Even if Lofgren is not running a typical technology company, his rise from CIO to COO and then CEO still holds useful lessons for any CIO striving to climb the corporate ladder. It shows, for instance, that CIOs can leverage IT-related experience, even when earned in highly technical companies, into success and advancement as a business executive. His experience also illustrates how CIOs can prepare for and leverage the COO post, a role that's often temporary in nature. COOs are called on mainly either to help an enterprise get through a particularly challenging period—a market transition, for instance—or to try out for the CEO role.