How to define an empowered chief data officer
By now, most of us will be familiar with the tech industry adage that ‘data is more valuable than oil’. It is certainly proving the more reliable long-term resource for businesses of all stripes.
Whether being leveraged as a means of raising revenue by selling or sharing information with third parties, or as the main component of changing relationships with customers, delivering better service, and ultimately increasing returns on investment, its value is only growing.
Chief data officers (CDOs) are therefore at the forefront of implementing not just effective data strategy, but helping to define and deliver wider business success and value. The role is evolving at speed, with the democratisation of access to data knowledge across one’s organisation also rising in significance and urgency.
Increasingly, an organisation can only optimise efficiency, boost productivity levels, deliver better service to customers and other stakeholders, and improve revenue streams if staff have the requisite training and access to knowledge that modern data strategy requires. “Return on data: Tying data strategy to business value”, a report published by Tech Monitor in partnership with Alteryx, found that one of the most distinctive features of companies defined as data value leaders is that they have an ‘organisation-wide data strategy’ in place, with that strategy most typically led by a CDO or equivalent.
A significant proportion of data and analytics leaders interviewed for the report complained of only being invited to participate in projects after they have launched and provide retrospective reporting. While the majority of data value leaders said that data and analytics experts were consulted from the early stages of projects and initiatives, among respondents not defined as data leaders, the majority reported that data and analytics experts were typically asked to help analyse projects only after they are already underway or complete.
Such involvement across business and early integration into projects also requires a broader skillset from the CDO. According to Alteryx CDO Alan Jacobson, the role and skillset of the modern chief data officer has changed significantly over the last five years as a result, with an expectation that anyone hired to fill the role should be something of an all-rounder.
“The CDO is ultimately responsible for introducing new technologies into a business,” Jacobson says. “And as such, they are expected to be au fait with the latest developments in AI, machine learning, cloud technologies, IoT, and APIs.
“They will also now be expected to build and organise teams of data professionals across all aspects of the business, who not only understand their organisation’s culture, but have the know-how to analyse data in a way which adequately addresses concerns and identifies opportunities.”
On top of this, the modern CDO is also responsible for establishing and maintaining a coherent data governance policy on behalf of the business.
