An overwhelming majority of UK business leaders believe its time to add a Chief Trust Officer to the C-suite, according to new research from Commvault.

The study reveals insights into boardroom thinking as more companies in the UK and globally are challenged with protecting corporate reputations and maintaining stakeholder confidence.

In this research, 7% of respondents acknowledged that no single leader holds full responsibility; accountability is fragmented across COOs, CISOs, and CIOs. The research suggests there is urgency to bring these efforts together and unite customer trust, security, and regulation management under a single leader.

It’s no surprise that trust is a pressing theme among businesses. According to another recent research report from Commvault and GigaOm, the majority of UK organisations believe there is an immediate need for modern defence and resilience capabilities and also for trust.

“Resilience is a strategic priority for global enterprises. Ten years ago, a data breach was a significant technical issue,” said Danielle Sheer, Chief Trust Officer, Commvault.

“Today it’s also a headline, a lawsuit, and a board level crisis, all in one. Leaders must now go beyond defending infrastructure to defending investor confidence, brand reputation and careers.

“Trust is an evolving category in the enterprise, and directly relevant to customer expectations and requirements.”

When asked what a Chief Trust Officer should prioritise, business leaders named customer trust and reputation management (31%) and rapid crisis response to events like disinformation or data breaches (30%). These priorities reflect the broad and diverse nature of digital trust.

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To address these priorities, respondents identified the most in-demand skills needed for the role, ranging from a deep understanding of data privacy and regulatory frameworks (28%), knowledge of AI governance and diverse audiences (27%), and the ability to build and sustain stakeholder trust (27%).

The study, which surveyed 1,000 UK C-Suite business leaders from companies with more than £100m annual revenue, found that 97% of respondents believe the Chief Trust Officer role is urgently needed to improve trust in data, technology, and governance.

The leading external factors increasing pressure to focus on trust in these areas are the rise of AI (37%), cross-border data regulations (34%), and persistent cybersecurity threats, including ransomware (34%).