At the same time, CDAOs and CDOs have huge opportunities to influence and assist with their organizations’ AI projects, but they must avoid getting tangled up in turf battles with CIOs, chief AI officers, and other IT leaders, says Alan Duncan, an analyst covering data and analytics strategy for Gartner.
“Generative AI has heightened a need for CDAOs to reinvent themselves — and their function — or risk becoming obsolete,” the Gartner report says. “To stay relevant, CDAOs must understand the value levers and pain points of the organization to gain power, grow influence, and build trusted relationships with executive peers.”
Out of the back office
The first wave of CDOs and CDAOs focused on back-office tasks such as data governance, data quality, and data management, but people in the positions now need to become more visible by showing how they bring value to the business, Duncan says.
