A new survey from Deloitte has found that half of Chief Data Officers (CDOs) will look to prioritise AI as a key focus area for their organisation over the next year, complementing the work most have already started in strengthening data strategies. 

Deloitte’s annual Chief Data Officer Survey, shows that CDO priorities are changing as their responsibilities widen to encompass emerging technology, with 49% considering these technologies as core priorities for their role.

Moreover, three-quarters of CDOs who are the most senior person responsible for AI in their organisation are prioritising its use, and 64% of CDOs said that they have furthered the use of AI in their organisation.

The survey found that CDOs are becoming more concerned with developing the foundational work for successful AI implementation, with 79% driving data management improvements, 76% scoping data solutions, and 66% actively driving data quality remediation.

Almost all (97%) of CDOs said they want to use AI for automating tasks and optimising processes, while 96% reported plans to use genAI tools for chatbot development, creating digital assistants, and developing marketing content.

Deloitte’s study shows that the biggest obstacle to this kind of AI adoption remains entrenched company cultures, with 66% of CDOs recognising this as the main hurdle to overcome. They also reported that data quality (59%), lack of skills (52%), and uncertainty over the benefits of AI (41%) are among the biggest challenges to meeting their AI goals.

Despite those obstacles, 73% indicated that their teams have increased over the last year as they take on more responsibilities, and on average now count seven direct reports, while 59% said that they expect to continue expanding their team size over the coming twelve months.

Whilst CDOs have established strong data teams, there’s a continued desire to build in new specialist expertise. CDOs of more mature organisations prioritise advanced skills like machine learning (25%), communication (25%), and data architecture (24%), while CDOs of less mature organisations focus on foundational skills like data management (23%), change management (23%), and data engineering (23%).

Those teams seem to be helping CDOs to make a positive impact, with 66% saying they have enabled their organisations to better leverage data to enhance efficiency while ensuring regulatory and legal compliance, while 63% said they had helped improve strategic decision making. 

When it comes to reporting structures, 72% of CDOs said they now report directly into the C-Suite, however, more than 50% want to go further and would like to report directly to their CEO, with just 3% saying they already do.

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For some, the problem is even worse, with 12% of CDOs claiming that their CEO has no awareness of their role, a four point rise from last year, although the trend is more positive when it comes to those relationships with Data Protection Officers, with 60% of CDOs saying that DPOs better understand their role now than they did last year.

“CDOs are strategically shifting their focus towards value-driving activities,” concludes the report.

“Over the past year, CDOs have successfully dedicated more time to their roles as catalysts and strategists, driving innovation and shaping data strategy.”