Acronym for Chief Information Officer. Executive-level position in a corporation, directing the information technology division or area. Differs from CTO (chief technology officer) in that CIOs focus on the use of technology in the business, versus CTOs dealing with the technology itself -- business versus engineering redux.

The CIO (really an acronym for Chief Information Officer) is generally at the end of his career -- could never make it to CEO, didn't want to be CFO, and finally gets stuck into a position where the rest of the executives will consistently despise him and his services.