The Evolution of the Chief Data Officer
If data is the new oil as some say, someone needs to lead the management of that oil. This, at many organizations, falls on the shoulders of the chief data officer (CDO), or what some organizations label as the chief data and chief analytics officer (CDO/CDAO).
It’s not quite a brand new role. Capital One had a chief data officer in 2002. But it’s one that’s seen great pivots and heightened importance in organizations in recent years, according to Jitesh Ghai, senior vice president and general manager of data management for Redwood City, Calif.-based Informatica, a cloud data management provider.
One of the biggest pivots? Going from defense (compliance, security) to offense (innovation). A report by NewVantage Partners earlier this year confirms the CDO role originated between 2009 to 2012, notably in banks due to regulatory reporting demands. But now, more than half of firms (55%) report that the CDO/CDAO has shifted to a more offensive and innovative function. Over the last several years, the strategic importance and relevance of data within an enterprise is more important than ever before, said Ghai.
“You have periodicals like The Economist with a front page cover of data is the new oil, referencing data as an innovation platform to help organizations not just ensure regulatory compliance, not just ensure operational efficiencies, but also build out new products and services and also engage with customers more effectively,” he said. “And as a result, the remit of the chief data officer has expanded. The role of the chief data officer is very much a business function. What we see as a best practice is that data is associated with the top priorities within a business.”
Organizations likely have different imperatives for their data leaders. Are chief data officers responsible for employee, business-infrastructure or customer data? Ghai said it depends on the business priorities, adding the chief data officer is pulled in “many different directions,” something that an Informatica-IDC study last month confirmed.
“The chief data officer isn’t here to boil the ocean,” Ghai said.
Aaron Kalb, chief data officer at data catalog and governance provider Alation of Redwood City, Calif., said the charter of his CDO office is to refine raw data into value-added information assets — views, dashboards and machine learning models — in addition to providing measurement and insights to colleagues so they can optimize daily decisions and strategic choices. He also has a mandate to empower teams both with education and self-service resources so they can interpret and analyze data effectively and autonomously.
As chief data officer, Kalb said his job is to instill and enable a data culture. There are also opportunities to network and build relationships with CDOs across his company’s customer base.
“We are a data company,” he said, “and we’ve created a data culture by practicing what we preach. We use data as optimally as possible and encourage our teams to implement data-driven, evidence-based, decision-making processes across everything they do.”
According to the Informatica-IDC study, 80% of CDOs’ top KPIs are tied to business goals such as operational efficiency, customer satisfaction and success, data privacy and protection, innovation and revenue and productivity and capacity.
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That seems like a practical outcome: tying a data leader’s role into a business objective. But is it a smooth road for many CDOs? Other reports say no.
The chief data officer role remains in early maturity for most firms, according to the January report by NewVantage Partners, a Boston-based data and business consultancy. About 72% of firms report the CDO function remains an “unsettled role.” And, only 28% describe the role as being successful and established while nearly half (49%) describe the role as being nascent and evolving.
