At ten in the morning, Mr Chen received a last-minute meeting invitation.
There was no agenda. Besides his line manager, an HR representative was also on the invite. In the meeting, he learnt that the multinational retail group he worked for was undergoing a global restructuring: tech teams previously spread across retail direct sales, distribution and e-commerce were being gradually consolidated into a single global shared technology platform.
At the same time, the company's digital strategy was being upgraded. Some traditional BI functions were being reshaped, and a new “AI & Data Innovation” team was formed.
Chen had been a senior BI data manager for China, responsible for data infrastructure and reporting for the retail store business line, and leading a team of three. At 44, he had 18 years of experience in IT and had spent nine years with the group.
As the organisation moved from “technology teams embedded in each business line” to “a unified global platform”, his role entered a period of transition.
The change prompted Chen to think: how could the technical expertise and management experience he had built up be seen afresh in a changing market?
His story reflects a question many senior IT managers are now facing. As corporate strategy, organisational models and technology direction continue to evolve, professionals need to find new ways to articulate their value.
How are companies' expectations of IT leaders changing?
In the past, IT departments in retail and FMCG companies were usually organised around different business units. Stores, e-commerce, distribution and supply chain each had their own systems, and technology managers who understood the internal processes were needed to build systems, run day-to-day operations and coordinate across departments.
The benchmark for an IT manager was clear: keep systems stable, manage the technology team, and deliver projects on time.
Now, more companies are pursuing platform-based, global and digital integration. As data, systems and technology resources come under unified management, expectations of mid-to-senior IT talent are shifting from “responsible for one business line” to “able to take a cross-business, platform-level, global view”.
The rapid rise of AI has accelerated this shift.
Reports, data, basic analytics, and routine operations are becoming smarter and more efficient. For experienced IT professionals, this does not make past experience less relevant — it means that experience can create even more value in a new tech environment.
Based on Robert Half's conversations with business leaders over the past six months, companies hiring mid-to-senior IT talent are consistently looking for three capabilities:
First, hands-on delivery experience.
Even in a management role, the ability to get into the detail, diagnose problems and drive solutions through to implementation.
Second, sharp commercial insights.
The ability to start from business needs and operational pain points, propose the right technical solutions, and articulate clearly the value created by individuals and team.
Third, a habit of learning and applying new technologies.
Understanding technology trends, and judging which technologies genuinely fit the company's current stage of development.
In other words, companies are no longer simply looking for “people who know IT management”. They are looking for “people who can use technology to support business growth.”
How can 18 years of experience be made visible to the market?
When he first started looking for new opportunities, Chen was confident about his track record.
He had a well-known multinational background, had been involved in building several data systems, and knew the retail store business. But in the real interviews, he noticed that the points companies were focusing on had clearly changed.
Interviewers no longer asked only “how many systems did you manage?” or “how many stores did you cover?” They wanted to know:
“What specific changes did the systems you were responsible for bring to the business?”“How much did the project improve efficiency?”“How did you use data to support store operations, supply chain or membership programmes?”“With the rise of AI, what new value can IT leaders create?”
These questions made Chen realise something: he had rich internal experience, but he needed to express it in language closer to the market and the business.
He had spent nine years inside one group and knew its system architecture and business processes well. But his understanding of the latest applications of AI in areas such as intelligent supply chain, assortment and pricing, customer profiling and marketing technology was less systematic.
His past achievements centred on data infrastructure, reporting development and team collaboration. He had rarely articulated how this work affected operational efficiency, cost control and business decision-making.
His CV told the same story.
“Responsible for reporting platform operations”, “managed a data development team”, “consolidated reporting across business lines” — accurate descriptions of his responsibilities, but with little sense of the business context, scope or outcomes of the projects.
For example, “ensured stable database operations” could be expressed as “supported an e-commerce sales campaign worth billions of yuan, keeping core reporting systems stable throughout.”
Both describe the same experience, but the latter makes it easier for an employer to understand the scale of the project and the responsibility the candidate carried.
The same applies in interviews.
Talking about how many people you managed or how many systems you ran shows the scope of your past work. Explaining what problems that experience can solve for a new employer helps them judge far more directly how well you fit the role.
Experienced candidates rarely lack strengths. The task is to reorganise those strengths in the language the market can quickly understand.
From “running data systems” to “using data to drive the business”
Five months into his job search, on the advice of a recruitment consultant, Chen began to restructure his professional story.
His first adjustment was sharpening his value proposition.
He used to introduce himself as “a manager responsible for data systems and the BI team”. Now he positioned himself as “someone who uses data and technology to help retail companies improve efficiency, control costs and support business decisions.”
He used to introduce himself as “a manager responsible for data systems and the BI team”. Now he positioned himself as “a leader who uses data and technology to help retail companies improve efficiency, control costs and support business decisions.”
This was not simply a new tagline. It was a shift from listing duties to summarising the value he could create for an employer.
His second adjustment involves presenting technical achievements in business language.
He reviewed every project he had been involved in, mapping each one to its business context, his own responsibilities, the solution and the actual results — and, wherever possible, quantifying outcomes in terms of scale, efficiency, cost and stability.
His third adjustment was looking for the transferability of his experience.
Applying for a role that involved migrating data between old and new systems, Chen had no identical project on his record — but he had helped build a system from scratch.
With his consultant's help, he broke that experience down into requirement definition, data standards, cross-department collaboration, go-live testing, and risk management. These methods and capabilities could equally be applied to a migration project.
Employers don't necessarily look only for candidates who have done “exactly the same project”. They also assess whether someone has a proven approach to similar problems.
Over the following three months, Chen systematically studied applications of AI in retail, focusing on intelligent supply chains, AI-driven assortment and pricing, customer profiling, marketing technology and intelligent decision-making.
He also widened his target from leading retail companies to digital transformation roles across retail, FMCG and consumer brands.
In the eighth month of his job search, Chen received an offer as head of data products at a well-known FMCG brand.
The total compensation package was slightly different from his previous role, but the remit was broader, giving him the chance to work directly on data product development, business decision-making, and digital innovation. In the longer term, the move puts him on a career path closer to where businesses are heading.
Throughout this process, Robert Half not only helped Chen understand real hiring trends, but also supported him with role analysis, CV advice and interview preparation — helping him present his experience and value more accurately.
How can experienced IT professionals prepare ahead?
Chen's experience offers a useful reference for senior IT managers about their careers.
Everyone's industry background, technical strengths and career goals are different, so there is no need to follow the exact same path. But a few directions can help candidates face market changes with more confidence.
Stay close to industry and technology trends
Mid-to-senior managers don't need to write code themselves, but they do need to understand what business problems new technologies can solve, which scenarios they suit, and what value they could bring to the company.
Attending industry conferences, following the digital practices of peer companies, and staying in touch with industry contacts and technology providers all help build a fuller picture of the market.
Continuous learning doesn't mean chasing every trend. It means being able to join business discussions with a richer perspective when new opportunities arise.
Reframe your strengths in terms of business value
“What I can do” demonstrates professional capability. “How I can help a business” demonstrates value.
For example, “familiar with data platforms” can become “used data platforms to support inventory management and business decision-making”. “Experienced in system integration” can become “improved cross-department collaboration by unifying data and processes”.
When technical capability, industry experience, and commercial outcomes connect, senior experience turns into stronger market competitiveness.
Let your CV show outcomes and impact
How many people you managed or how many systems you ran shows the scale of your work. Adding the project context, your specific actions and the actual results give employers a fuller picture of your contribution.
When reviewing your CV, ask yourself:
What problem did the project need to solve?What were your key responsibilities?What approach did you take?What changed as a result — for the business, efficiency or cost?
Tailoring your CV to the target role also creates a clearer link between your experience and what the company needs.
Show the transferability of your experience in interviews
When a role doesn't match your background exactly, look within your past experience for similar business scenarios, workflows, and problem-solving approaches.
Rather than a simple “yes, I have” or “no, I haven't”, it is far more useful to explain which part of your experience applies to the new role, and how you would approach the problem, mobilise resources and drive delivery.
This kind of answer stays honest about the facts while showing an employer your ability and potential to solve problems.
From manager to business enabler
Chen's new opportunity didn't come from his past job titles alone. It came from restructuring and presenting the value he already had.
He was no longer “the person responsible for IT systems”, but “someone who can use data and technology to help retail businesses improve efficiency and support decisions.”
This is a direction worth watching for mid-to-senior IT talent in the AI era: from system management to business enablement, from delivering technical projects to creating measurable commercial value.
As retail and FMCG companies continue platform-based integration, talent with cross-business understanding, a platform-level management perspective and the ability to solve complex problems remains highly valued in the market.
For senior professionals who have spent many years in one company, staying connected to the wider market matters too.
Attending industry events, talking to peers, and keeping up with how other organisations are changing and what talent they need — these aren't only about finding a new job. They help you see where your industry is heading and keep your career positioning up to date.
44 is not a barrier to starting again.
Deep industry experience, mature judgement, and experience managing complex projects are real advantages. When these strengths combine with new technologies, new business contexts, and a new way of telling your story, the next stage of your career can be broader than you think.
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