Jo Migom leads digital transformation at Thomas Cook, following Fosun’s acquisition in 2019. With 20+ years in travel, marketing, and digital product management, she has driven growth across markets, boosting revenue by 60% and conversion rates by 40%. Previously, she held key roles at British Midland and Virgin Express. Fluent in Flemish, French, and English, Jo excels in managing cross-border teams. She champions customer-centric strategies, integrating customer effect scores into company culture. Outside work, she enjoys family time, running, reading, and, of course, traveling.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with Digital First Magazine, Jo shared insights on the evolution of the CDO role in the future, the secret mantra behind her success, future plans, words of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Jo. What drives your passion for leadership and team building, and how do you stay motivated?
Whether it is my children, my friends, family or team I work with my motivation is always to help lift people. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than coaching someone through that big presentation, find where they get energy from (and therefore also where their core competence lies) and help them thrive.
Staying motivated is actually the wrong question – not being able to lead and build teams would hugely demotivate me!
What do you love the most about your current role?
What I love most is the ability to have an impact to customers through great technology. I equally love making the technology roadmap choices that actually impact customers experience or solve a problem and then consequently being able to translate that into financial numbers. I thoroughly believe that a lot of especially B2C organizations would be more customer led in their approach to technology if people in charge of it have the right tools to measure the impact and then be able to translate that to the respective board deciding on further investment. That builds trust and grows your impact.
How do you see the role of Chief Digital Officer (CDO) evolving in the future, and what skills do you think will be most important for success in this role?
I think the role has evolved a lot in the last 10 years as it is already. I see it being split over multiple roles which is an evolution that has pros and cons and I guess it is linked to the size and type of organisation what works best. A smaller size will benefit more from a CDO in the board that can encompass marketing, tech & customer combined (not in the least from a cost perspective). A larger size organisation may benefit more from splitting the role between a CMO/CTO/CPO to ensure no bottle neck in the one CDO position, allow progression for other team members that are specialists in their areas (which a CDO usually is not more a generalist in the formerly mentioned categories).
What role do you believe language skills play in leadership, and how has your proficiency in multiple languages impacted your career?
I have worked in England for most of my career, so English has absolutely been imperative 😊
Living in Belgium you cannot have a leadership position if you only master your mother tongue well. I am grateful to be fluent in English, French and Dutch.
What I would like to emphasize though is that language is much more than mastering the grammar and vocabulary. The cultural differences in style of communication, in how and when to prewire, in the understanding of the ‘long no’ (basically not saying yes but not no either), the understanding what someone actually means when they say ‘I probably didn’t understand it well, let me rephrase’ (aka you did not explain it well at all) and also what not to say, as in ‘See you next Tuesday’ 😊
Over the course of your career, you have been a recipient of various prestigious awards including one of the Top 100 Women Leaders; Innovators in Travel, Global top 100 CDO 2024 winner, Global top 100 CDO 2022 winner among others. Our readers would love to the secret manta behind your success.
To be honest I have no idea! I am surprised and humbled every single time. I guess the manta I have always stayed true to is to treat the people you work with kind, be clear on where you want to head to together, work hard to get there and then party even harder to celebrate!
Is there a particular person you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are?
Oh I love this question. I am absolutely forever grateful to Gilles Despas. He saw potential in me before I saw it myself; he pushed me to take that international role (despite having a two year old and an 8 year old at home) and I have since then been able to do incredible things. Him and Joshua Avalo, my greatest inspiration to push harder and never forget to have a laugh along the way.
What are your thoughts on diversity and inclusion in tech? How important is it to have authentic conversations with leaders, professionals, and changemakers to create more acceptance across the globe?
Only speaking from personal experience I see more diversity and an inclusive culture in tech than in other areas. I have been blessed to work with so many different cultures (Diwali in the office anyone?) but linked to my earlier point when managing a diverse team it is crucial as a leader that you understand this well. Spend time to really understand where the differences lie, a misunderstanding can cause damage very quickly.
What are some of your passions outside of work? What do you like to do in your time off?
After having worked in travel for so long clearly I do love travel. I go skiing at every chance I get (the high resorts in Switzerland are actually pretty affordable if you go early in the year, read the end of October, it’s so quiet and absolutely gorgeous), I love spending time with my family, love to read whilst listening to classical music and release pressure by training for a half-marathon with my daughter.
What is your biggest goal? Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
I absolutely would like to experience the CEO role. I have done general management for a while so have got some experience but I would love to extend it and grow an entire company with a great team delivering value to customers.
What advice would you give to someone looking to break into a leadership role?
Just start. Leadership is not about the position it’s a mindset more than anything else. If you see a problem, try to deal with it and share how you’ve approached it. If you see a growth opportunity just write that elevator pitch and plan that meeting with whoever is in charge of making the decision. If you need to do a big presentation. Practice! Nerves are calmed by practice. Don’t forget the power pose in the mirror before talking and whatever you do right before you go up don’t talk to anyone and stay in your laser focus. In a nutshell, spot for problems and opportunities, learn and have the gut to put forward your ideas.