AI will dominate the industry conversation in 2024 and thrust CDOs into the spotlight like never before. Data is the fuel which keeps AI growth engines running. And Chief Data Officers keep that data flowing, making their work more important than it’s ever been.
CDOs will have to ask themselves one important question in 2024: is my organization ready for AI? To answer that, they must consider whether they, their team and the entire business are prepared to deal with the avalanche of data that’s coming their way.
It’s no surprise that AI is the Collins Dictionary word of the year for 2023. We’ve seen rapid adoption from ‘narrow AI’ applications such as ChatGPT through to automated trading programs – both excellent demonstrations of the power and potential of Artificial Intelligence.
While AI can be a powerful ally to improve productivity and unlock new, better ways of serving its customers, it could also be your worst nightmare. The difference between which of these two outcomes you’ll experience depends largely on mindset. Focus only on preparedness and you’re essentially crossing your fingers and hoping for a best-case (and potentially quite unlikely) scenario in which AI won’t cause too much disruption to the business.
If you adopt a strategy of proactivity and start to prepare your data to get ahead of the new demands AI will soon heap on your shoulders, you’ll be in a much better place.
What skills will a CDO need in 2024?
Knowing how to overcome geographical obstacles to data, AI and business strategy is crucial for both local and global CDOs at large-scale enterprises. When data is stored in several locations, CDOs will have to keep the pipes clean and ensure the data circulating in their organization is reliable, accessible and understandable. Maintaining the data flow is important. Yet if the water is muddied and the data is hard to interpret or – worse – unreliable, then its business impact is dramatically reduced.
To do the job in 2024, CDOs have to combine three skill sets. First, they need soft skills, including the persuasive ability needed to get every colleague on board with the ambitions of AI transformation. They must be comfortable with managing large-scale change across an entire organization. Technical knowledge is the second prerequisite. CDOs must be able to create platforms that ensure data can be trusted and easily used by anyone who is authorized to access it. Lastly, they need the commercial judgement and business knowledge required to ensure technology investments become a strategic enabler and drive growth goals.
A chance to improve data literacy
In 2024 and beyond CDOs have a chance to upgrade data literacy across their organization. In the past, users were not data-savvy and required assistance with accessing and interpreting data. Today’s user is not only more familiar with crunching data but has access to automated tools which perform tasks which once would have been way outside their scope of expertise.
This shift pushes CDO into a new realm. In an AI-enabled world, all people, systems and processes depend on data. Many organizations will have to enact significant cultural change to improve data literacy and put the infrastructure in place which lets non-technical users generate insights independently and intuitively.
The CDO of today must be an able and engaging communicator with the charisma, influence and persuasive power to generate buy-in and commitment for new data-led initiatives. They need to understand the essentials of leading change, ranging from building an initial plan and setting out practical steps to achieve its objectives to delivering on that strategy and keeping the data infrastructure working at peak capacity.
A CDO’s success will hinge on whether they can connect data to business value and communicate this powerfully, simply and effectively to stakeholders across the organization. Data has never been as important, which gives CDOs a powerful ability to upskill the workforce by improving data literacy across all business functions.
ESG: A new responsibility for CDOs
AI represents a unique chance for the CDO to make their mark in an organization. Yet AI is not the only transformative trend which will demand their attention. New reporting requirements around sustainability and ESG metrics will generate mountains of data over the next two years. This will give CDOs the chance to make the case for building systems capable of handling the vast amounts of non-financial data types that must be collected and managed to achieve ESG reporting. Systems will have to be robust enough to deal with unstructured data formats like emails, documents, customer feedback, social media, blog posts, satellite imagery, GPS data and AV files.
ESG mandates provide a rare opportunity for CDOs to showcase their skills and vividly demonstrate the value they bring to their organization. A single platform for data management makes this task easier. However, tech cannot do the job alone. The combination of hard data capabilities and soft human skills exhibited by most successful CDOs will make them uniquely suited to the ESG challenge ahead, as well as the AI opportunity.
How can organizations empower CDOs?
The work of CDOs will be critical in 2024 and become more important in subsequent years as the AI revolution picks up pace. Leaders are strongly advised to recognize that the professionals working in this pivotal role are major strategic assets. They must be treated as such and properly provisioned.
This could involve giving CDOs a seat at the top table along with traditional heavyweights like the CFO. Or it could mean approaching their budget requirements with a new seriousness and getting on board with their roadmap for change.
In an era when a CDO’s work benefits the entire business, it’s fundamentally important to recognize their achievements and buy-in to their vision. When the CDO is empowered, the entire organization will be better equipped to seize the limitless opportunities AI will create in 2024 and beyond.
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