The CDO Role is a Work in Progress and Will Continue Evolving — Data and AI Leadership Exchange Founder and CEO

(US and Canada) Randy Bean, Founder and CEO of Data and AI Leadership Exchange, speaks with Derek Strauss, Chairman of Gavroshe, in a video interview about the evolving role of CDO and the scope of the role today.

Bean begins the discussion by mentioning his keynote speech at the CDOIQ Symposium 2024, where he spoke on the topic of what comes next for the role of AI in the future.

When asked about the evolving role of Chief Data Officers, he says that people sometimes forget that the CDO role is relatively new, and despite the change and turmoil around it, it is headed in the right direction.

Driving the statement with survey data, he shares that in 2012, five years after the financial crisis, merely 12% of organizations had appointed a CDO. Further, it was not until 2017 that half of Fortune 1000 organizations affirmed appointing a CDO.

This year, Bean says, the data confirmed that 83.2% of organizations have a CDO, which proves that the role has become well-established.

Next, he mentions asking questions about the successful establishment of the role within organizations. Based on the responses, in 2020, it was as low as 27.9%; in 2023, it went up to 35%; and in 2024, it reached the 51% mark for the first time.

Then, Bean states that when the respondents were asked if organizations continue to struggle with establishing the role within their organization, 48.6% affirmed.

Delving further, he states that the CDO role was initially a defensive role at large, which has now evolved into a more offensive role. Earlier, it involved massive risk and regulatory activities, whereas now, it has turned into an enabler that drives business outcomes.

In conjunction with that, the analytics component was brought in, says Bean, which added the role of Chief Data and Analytics Officer. Now, with the arrival of AI and GenAI, organizations face questions about whether or not they should fit AI under the CDO role or establish a separate Chief AI Officer role, he adds.

In one of his surveys, Bean recalls asking if analytics is a part of the CDO function, to which 70% said yes. When asked if GenAI was a part of the CDO function, 61% said yes, and 79% concurred that IT should be a part of the CDO function.

However, Bean stresses that most of the respondents were CDOs and other data leaders, which could lead to a biased opinion. He states that many organizations have created a Chief AI Officer role that works in tandem with the CDO role.

Summing up, Bean says that the CDO role is a work in progress and will continue to evolve over the next decade.

Shedding light on the scope of the CDO role, he maintains that it is a new role, and when looked at from a long-term perspective, there has been no common blueprint for years. CDOs reported to various heads, and each organization had its own concept of what the role meant.

Now, as AI gains prominence, the role of data will become increasingly important, as AI is dependent on the quality of data.

In conclusion, Bean remarks that AI was invented in the 1950s, and what is new is the computing power, volume of data, and ability to bring it to the masses and integrate it into business processes.  

CDO Magazine appreciates Randy Bean for sharing his insights with our global community.