The Top 10 Achievements of a Year-One CDO
In 2010, the chief digital officer population was scarce, consisting of only a handful of people. By the end of 2016, the number of CDOs had grown to more than 2,000 executives in a variety of industries.
From our research, we know that successful CDOs continue to make a positive impact on customers, employees and shareholders. Quick service restaurants provide a wealth of examples.
Dennis Maloney, CDO at Domino’s Pizza, launched Domino’s AnyWare program, which allows customers to order pizza via text, tweet, smart TV, car, smart watch or voice (i.e., Amazon Echo). Following the program launch, Domino’s online sales grew from 15 percent in 2010 (when Maloney became CDO) to 50 percent of total sales in 2015.
Adam Brotman, CDO at Starbucks, launched a similarly successful program in 2014, when he debuted mobile order & pay in Portland and gradually expanded the program across all U.S. stores. By the end of 2015, the new mobile platform handled more than 20 percent of U.S. store transactions and approximately nine million mobile payments.
Of course, not every CDO has been that effective. We found that success depends on several common attributes, as well as the initial expectations set for a CDO’s first year in the role.
Literature on the CDO role is typically filled with origin- and orientation-based considerations, such as insider vs. outsider and functional vs. technologist. But A.T. Kearney research on successful CDOs finds that such considerations are not a predictor of future success.
Starbucks has had great success with insider CDO Adam Brotman, who has been with the company since 1998. CVS relied on an outsider from Staples to set up the successful CVS Health Digital Innovation Lab. Linda Boff, a functional marketing veteran, was instrumental in GE’s digital growth. Meanwhile, Renault relied on Yahoo! technologist Patrick Hoffstetter to launch its Digital Factory.
