Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
🧭Owns all of a company's technology: picks the stack and architecture, builds engineering teams, manages budgets and decides what to build in-house and what to buy.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $157.8k a year on average · +15.8% jobs by 2035 · 53,500 openings a year
Computer & information systems managers — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £95k median a year · 58,000 jobs
Information technology directors — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
AI speeds up development and analysis, but strategy, hiring and accountability for the business's technical risks stay with a human.
Who it suits
Interests: 💻 Coding and digital, 🧭 Organising and leading, 💰 Finance and economics, 🗂️ Order, paperwork, systems.
Key strengths: logic, organisation, understanding people.
Where to study
- Bachelor's BSc / BEng Computer Science or Software Engineering
- Master's MSc Computer Science or an MBA (optional, later in career)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Maths, Computer Science, Further Maths, Physics.
🧗 A CS or software engineering degree, then 8–12 years from developer to tech lead to head of engineering. Startup CTOs get there sooner; some add an MBA later.
Universities
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- University of Cambridge Cambridge · €33.4k–81.1k/yr
IELTS 7.5 (7.0 each); subject test (ESAT, TMUA, LNAT, UCAT), interview; apply by 15 Oct; plus college fee £12–14.5k/yr - Imperial College London London · €49.1k–52.3k/yr
A-levels/IB or a recognised foundation; IELTS 6.5–7.0; ESAT/TMUA tests; medicine: UCAT + interview, £58.6k/yr - University of Oxford Oxford · €43k–72.2k/yr
IELTS 7.5 (7.0 each); subject test (MAT, PAT, TSA, LNAT, UCAT), interview; apply by 15 Oct; medicine takes ≤14 international students/yr
🇺🇸 United States
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA · €58k/yr
SAT/ACT required; TOEFL 90+ (100 rec.) / IELTS 7; own application (not Common App); need-blind for internationals, full need met - Stanford University Stanford, CA · €58.9k–61.2k/yr
SAT/ACT required; no English test required; need-aware for internationals (aid request affects admission), full need met - Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh · €60.6k/yr
TOEFL 102+ (new scale 5) / IELTS 7.5 / DET 135; SAT/ACT; no financial aid for internationals, full cost ≈ $94k/yr
🇩🇪 Germany
- Technical University of Munich Munich · €4k–6k/yr
Non-EU: €2,000-3,000/semester (€2,300-3,400 from 2027/28); German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); aptitude assessment (EfV): grades, test, interview - RWTH Aachen University Aachen · free
No tuition; German: DSH-2, TestDaF 4 in all parts or DSD II; Russian certificate: via Studienkolleg (FSP) - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Karlsruhe · €3k/yr
Non-EU: €1,500 a semester; apply with B1, DSH-2/telc C1 Hochschule by start; only Mechanical Engineering International is in English
🇳🇱 Netherlands
- Delft University of Technology Delft · €19.9k/yr
VWO level: Russian certificate assessed individually (usually + 1 university year); IELTS 6.5 (Dutch-taught 5.5); NF: Architecture, Clinical Technology - University of Amsterdam Amsterdam · €17.5k/yr
Certificate + usually 1 university year (Diploma finder); IELTS 6.5 (PPLE 7.0); medicine is Dutch-taught, numerus fixus, €34,700 - Eindhoven University of Technology Eindhoven · €18.6k/yr
VWO level with maths and physics; Russian certificate assessed individually (usually + 1 university year); IELTS ≈ 6.5; all bachelors in English
🇫🇷 France
- Université Paris-Saclay Gif-sur-Yvette · €200–2.9k/yr
Licence in French: DAP, B2 (TCF DAP/DELF B2); in 2026/27 non-EU partly exempted, pay €178 - École Polytechnique Palaiseau · €19.6k/yr
English-taught Bachelor of Science: IELTS 6.5/TOEFL 90, advanced maths + a science, file, 3 rounds; engineering cycle: concours after CPGE - Sorbonne University Paris · €200–2.9k/yr
DAP, French B2; medicine via PASS/LAS with selection into year 2; waiver of €2,902 under university criteria
🇮🇹 Italy
- Politecnico di Milano Milan · €160–3.9k/yr
TOL (≥30/100) or SAT ≥620 per section; English/Italian B2; 12 school years, else a university year or foundation - Sapienza University of Rome Rome · €700/yr
12 school years; B2 in the language of study; pre-selection for English programmes, test for medicine. Russia is band B: €700 a year - University of Pisa Pisa · €1.2k–2.9k/yr
12 school years; Italian B2 (English B2 for English programmes); TOLC/programme test; fee by country group €1,160–2,900
🇪🇸 Spain
- Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) Madrid · €6.8k–8.2k/yr
Spanish B2 (ACLES/DELE certificate, checked by UNEDasiss); homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE for score; non-EU pay 4th-attempt rate - Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) Barcelona · €1.8k/yr
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE for score; non-EU €30/ECTS; some classes in Catalan - Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) Valencia · €1.5k–2.2k/yr
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE for score; non-EU pay double credit price; classes in Spanish/Valencian *
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- Czech Technical University in Prague Prague · €0–5.1k/yr
Free in Czech (Czech B2, maths); English-taught CZK 55,000–64,000 per semester - Charles University Prague · free
Free in Czech (Czech ≈B2 + exams, ÚJOP course); English programmes €40–30,620/yr - Brno University of Technology Brno · free
Free in Czech: Czech ≈B2 + entrance exams, certificate nostrification *
Things to know
🪑 Sitting at a computer all day🌙 Night shifts and on-call
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