
This means storytelling is also key.Īccording to Alan Jacobson, chief data and analytics officer at Alteryx: “While there are many similar sounding titles, data science leaders are typically agents of change who leverage data science to help provide guidance to operations, as well as implementing new optimisation and automation into the business.” Who needs a data boss? More important is the ability to identify and prioritise high-value data, whether it’s retail customer conversions, the efficiency of an engine or pressure points in a supply chain, and build a case for action that can be presented to the board.
DIGITAL RAILS SOFTWARE
While a CTO is responsible for the smooth operation of software and hardware systems and a CIO looks after digital assets, an IT background isn’t a deal-breaker for a CDO.Įnsuring that data is stewarded correctly and dispersed across the organisation as smoothly as possible can make the difference to a business’s success or failure The CDO’s work overlaps with that of the chief information, digital and/or technology officer, but the skillset is entirely different. In some businesses they also set the guard rails for the use of data across the organisation.” “CDOs help to quantify and prove the ROI of data initiatives in the context of real business value, like customer satisfaction, revenue, or operations excellence.

“These traits provide the ability to define a progressive roadmap that influences not only short-term improvement in data quality, but also the evolution and disruption of business models,” he says. In his view, the job is about change management, communication, and commercial acumen, not just number-crunching. “Paramount to the role is being able to deliver measurable outcomes for the business,” says Jonathan Westley, CDO at Experian. A modern CDO is responsible for improving business outcomes by underpinning strategies, encouraging innovation and cutting waste, as well as complying with the law. While CDOs remain an organisation’s digital security guard, the job now also encompasses elements of business development. Legislators saw a need to steward data-based exchanges between people and service providers CDOs ensured their employers toed the line.

The demand for data-focused senior leaders began around the millennium with new laws governing digital interactions. So what is a CDO? What does a good CDO look like? What are their responsibilities, who should apply for the job and how could it evolve in future? It’s time to answer these questions once and for all. The same survey found that 72% of organisations felt the job description remains “unsettled”, with only 28% calling it an “established” role. In some businesses they also set the guard rails for the use of data across the organisation.īut unlike the more familiar initialisms of CEO, CFO and CMO, the newness of the CDO role means it is yet to be squarely defined.

Nevertheless, more than half of the Fortune 500 now has a CDO, according to research by NewVantage Partners.ĬDOs help to quantify and prove the ROI of data initiatives in the context of real business value, like customer satisfaction, revenue, or operations excellence. In many cases, executives are the first to hold the position within their organisation. The job itself is embryonic, with Capital One reportedly appointing the first ever CDO in 2002. Step forward the chief data officer (CDO), whose job it is to collate and decode the many packets of information harvested by organisations minute by minute, then communicate, advise, and construct an evidential basis for strategy. Today, this “clay” is everywhere, produced by organisations at an eye-watering rate, with the onus on modern day Holmeses to put it to their advantage. “Data! Data! Data! I can’t make bricks without clay.” So said fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes, frustrated at a lack of evidence.
