What A Chief Analytics Officer Really Does
There has been plenty of talk about the need for a chief analytics officer or chief data officer. But do you ever wonder what they do for a living?
As analytics continues to spread out across an organization, someone needs to orchestrate it all. The “best” person for the job is likely a chief analytics officer (CAO) who understands the business, understands analytics, and can help align the two.
The CAO role is a relatively new C-suite position, as is the chief data officer or CDO. Most organizations don’t have both and when they don’t, the titles tend to be used interchangeably. The general distinction is that the CAO focuses more on analytics and its business impact while the CDO is in charge of data management and data governance.
“The new roles are really designed to expand the use of data and expand the questions that data is used to answer,” said Jennifer Belissent, principal analyst at Forrester. “It’s changing the nature of data and analytics use in the organization, leveraging the new tools and techniques available, and creating a culture around the use of data in an organization.”
Someone in your organization may already have some or all of a CAO’s responsibilities and may be succeeding in the position without the title, which is fine. However, in some organizations a C-suite title and capability can help underscore the importance of the role and the organization‘s shift toward more strategic data usage.
“The CAO needs to be able to evangelize the use of data, demonstrate the value of data, and deliver outcomes,” said Belissent. “It’s a role around cultural change, change management, and evangelism.”
If you’re planning to appoint a CAO, make sure that your organization is really ready for one because the role can fail if it is prevented from making the kinds of change the organization needs. A successful CAO needs the support of senior management, as well as the authority, responsibility, budget, and people skills necessary to affect change.
One mistake organizations make when hiring a CAO is placing too much emphasis on technology and not enough emphasis on business acumen and people skills.
When professional services company EY revisited its global strategy a few years ago, it was clear to its leadership that data and analytics were of growing importance to both its core business and the new services it would provide to clients.
Rather than hiring someone from the outside, EY chose its chief strategy officer, Chris Mazzei, for the role.
