Oh to be a CXO!

As Jay Foad assumes the role as CTO of Dyalog, Morten Kromberg moves into the newly created role of CXO. You might think that the X in CXO is like the common mathematical notation for the unknown, indicating that Morten has not yet figured out what to do next – but (at least if you believe Wikipedia) CXO is a recognised member of the admittedly rapidly-inflating universe of C-level officers: a chief experience officer (CXO) is the officer responsible for the overall user experience (UX) of an organization. The chief experience officer ensures […that…] customers are able to have a positive experience.

In his January blog entry, Morten explains, "Dyalog has now reached a point where we have the manpower not only to keep existing clients happy by continuing to accelerate what has become one of the largest sustained investments in APL in the history of the language, but also to be more aggressive in going after completely new business – and attracting new generations of APL users.

"As a natural consequence of this growth, we have decided that it is time to split the CTO role into two parts, with the addition of the CXO role. As CXO I will focus on understanding the customer experience and what we need to do as a company to improve it, and the CTO will be responsible for implementing enhancements to the technology that we offer our users (and make sure that Dyalog itself masters the technologies that it needs to use to implement solutions today and in the decades to come)."

There is some truth in the interpretation of X as the unknown; very little marketing of APL has been done over the past quarter century, and many of the techniques of the past are probably not relevant today, so there is a fair amount of reinvention to be done. Expect – and prepare to participate in

much more interaction with other programming communities, and initiatives to make APL visible on line!