There is no register of chief technology officers, so the count starts from the companies that build technology. In 2022 the Census Bureau counted 13,674 software publishers and 127,147 computer systems design firms (Statistics of U.S. Businesses). Most are small: 11,022 and 115,692 of them had fewer than 20 employees.
Sizing a CTO list with Census and NSF data
| What is counted | Number | Unit | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software publishers (NAICS 5112) | 13,674 | firms | Census Bureau, Statistics of U.S. Businesses 2022, released 10 April 2025 |
| of which fewer than 20 employees | 11,022 | firms | same tables |
| of which 20 to 499 employees | 2,232 | firms | same tables |
| of which 500 employees or more | 420 | firms | same tables |
| Software publishers with receipts of 100 million dollars or more | 561 | firms | same program, table by receipts size |
| Computer systems design and related services (NAICS 5415) | 127,147 | firms | same tables |
| of which fewer than 20 employees | 115,692 | firms | same tables |
| R&D performed by US businesses in 2023 | 722 billion | dollars | NSF, NSF 25-353, 29 September 2025 |
| of which performed in manufacturing | 394 billion | dollars | same report |
| Chief technology officers | not published | people | no official source counts them |
These are counts of firms and of money, not of people. A firm may have no CTO, one, or several in a large group, and the smallest firms may have a founder who does the job without the title. The two industries are also counted separately. The Census defines a firm by industry and by area (SUSB glossary), so a company with establishments in both industries is counted once in each row.
What the rows miss matters as much. Banks, retailers and media groups name CTOs too, and they sit in none of these industries. Manufacturers have chief technical officers who run research and engineering; the NSF figures show where that research money is spent, not who directs it. The count that matters is the one made on your exact target, which we do with you in the call.
The CTO, defined for this list
- In: chief technology officer; a co-founder with the CTO title; VP engineering or head of engineering where there is no CTO; chief technical officer in industrial firms, when you ask for them.
- Not the CIO: the CTO answers for the product and the platform customers use; the CIO answers for the systems staff use. In a software firm of 40, one person may hold both. In a large bank, the two seats are often held by different people.
- Edge, the founder: in a startup of three, the CTO is often a founder who still writes code. BLS occupation estimates leave out owners and partners in unincorporated firms (OEWS technical notes), so some of these founders do not appear in official employment figures at all.
- Edge, the field CTO: large vendors give the CTO title to technical staff who meet customers and speak at events. They do not buy for the company.
- Edge, the group: a holding company can have a group CTO and one CTO per business unit.
- Out: product managers, IT directors and security chiefs, unless you ask for them.
Every other executive target sits in the role index, with the titles we usually accept.
Where CTO names show up
| Source | What it gives | What it does not give |
|---|---|---|
| Census, Statistics of U.S. Businesses | software and IT service firms by employees, revenue and state | names; companies outside these industries that also have a CTO |
| NSF, Business Enterprise Research and Development Survey | R&D spending by industry, and R&D intensity | companies: it publishes industry totals |
| Company team pages | founders and CTOs at startups | whether the page is still true |
| Appointment announcements | named CTOs at larger companies | the many firms that announce nothing |
| Professional profiles | title, employer, start date | a phone number |
The NSF survey is the one source here that says where technology spending is heavy. It measures R&D intensity, the cost of R&D divided by domestic net sales: 14.6% for software publishers and 11.8% for computer systems design firms in 2023, two of the highest ratios outside manufacturing (NSF 25-353). It covers only companies with 10 or more domestic employees, so the smallest software firms are outside it.
Building it: the short version
- Fix the universe: which industries, which sizes, and whether industrial technical chiefs are in.
- Remove the firms that appear twice across industries.
- Find the person holding the top technology seat, by the titles you accept.
- Check that person has not moved on, then look for a number that rings through to them, and a work email if there is one.
- Hold back any line that fails.
Each step in detail: the full method.
The work, in countable actions
Take software publishers and computer systems design firms with 20 or more employees: 2,652 plus 11,455, so 14,107 firms (Statistics of U.S. Businesses 2022).
- 14,107 company checks: still trading, still that size, still in that business.
- One matching pass across those 14,107 records, since a firm active in both industries appears in each.
- 14,107 searches for the CTO, or for the engineering head you accept in its place.
- Per name found, a check that the person has not left; per confirmed person, a phone search and an email search.
- Adding the firms under 20 employees adds 126,714 company checks (11,022 plus 115,692), in firms where the technical head may also be the founder.
What breaks on a CTO list
The title outlives the job
Startup team pages keep the founding CTO's name long after that person has left. A list built from company websites alone carries people who are gone. Each name needs a second source with a date on it.
Software CTO or industrial CTO
In 2023, 394 billion of the 722 billion dollars of business R&D performed in the US was performed in manufacturing (NSF 25-353). There, a chief technical officer runs laboratories and engineering, and the buying questions are not the ones a software CTO answers. Say which of the two you sell to.
Your buyer or your competitor
Of the 127,147 computer systems design firms, 115,692 had fewer than 20 employees in 2022. Firms in this industry sell programming and systems design work, so their CTO is often part of the sale. If you sell development services, those firms compete with you; if you sell tools to developers, they may buy.
Many CTOs under one name
A large group can return a group CTO, regional CTOs and field CTOs. Decide whether you want one line per company or every holder of the title.
What Premium Data hands over
- Each line is either a person (name, title, company, a phone number that reaches them, and their work email when it exists) or a company (name, address, main phone, website).
- We build the file the day you order, on the target as you described it.
- We check three things: the company, the person, and that the person still works there.
- Only lines that arrive with a phone number are billed, up to the ceiling you set and no further.
- Show us a wrong line (a hard bounce, a call recording or a public profile) no later than thirty days after delivery, and we refund it at its price.
- Your target is counted at no charge during a 30 minute call, and one of its lines is dialed with us before you pay.
For the legal side of calling and emailing these people, see the United States page.
In short: CTO facts to cite
- In 2022 the Census Bureau counted 13,674 US software publishers, 11,022 of them with fewer than 20 employees (Statistics of U.S. Businesses, released 10 April 2025, read 3 October 2026).
- US businesses performed 722 billion dollars of R&D in 2023, 394 billion of it in manufacturing (NSF, NSF 25-353, 29 September 2025).
- In 2023 the R&D intensity of US software publishers, meaning R&D divided by domestic net sales, was 14.6%, against 11.8% for computer systems design firms (NSF 25-353).