Chief Data Officers have a critical role to play in helping Indian businesses: IBM Institute for Business Value

The emergence of the Chief Data Officer (CDO) role is a response to the growing importance of data in modern business operations. The CDO is quickly becoming a pivotal member of the C-suite, with a broad scope of influence and involvement across the organization. A new IBM Institute for Business Value study on CDOs reveals that these leaders are under significant pressure to deliver results — expectations for their role and remit vary widely and their tenure is the lowest amongst all boardroom roles, only 4.5 years on average.

While businesses look towards accelerating technology adoption for higher business value and growth, there is a growing concern for implementing the right security measures for enhanced protection. The majority (76%) of the Indian CDOs surveyed ranked security as the most important characteristic of their data architecture, closely followed by being cloud-ready. The study also found that over half (57%) of CDO respondents from India said that ensuring data security is the most critical responsibility of their role. Yet only 56% agree their organizational data is secure and protected. With pressures like these mounting, CDOs are looking for ways not just to create value, but to protect it.

Some of the key India findings in the 2023 study include:

• A majority of CDO respondents (76%) ranked security as the most important characteristic of their data architecture, closely followed by being cloud-ready (71%) and having real-time, fast access (70%).
• 57% of respondents say ensuring data security is the most critical responsibility of their role, closely followed by 56% indicating increasing data ROI as the most critical.
• 56% of CDO respondents agree their organizational data is secure and protected while 68% agree their customers’ data is secure and protected.
• 67% of CDOs surveyed are applying AI and machine learning to unlock value from data, 64% are applying automation and 66% are inclined towards hybrid cloud technology.
• Just under half (48%) of CDOs surveyed say they are making better and faster decisions by applying AI and data, and only 38% report they are using AI to automate decision-making.
• Over 61% of CDOs indicating they had clearly defined thresholds for automated decision-making.
• 74% of CDO respondents have ecosystem partners that are extremely engaged in their data strategy.
• Approximately 53% of CDOs cite that their data management strategy is in alignment with their digital transformation efforts.

Siddhesh Naik, Country Leader, Data, AI & Automation, Technology Sales, IBM India & South Asia: “As the amount of data generated by businesses continues to grow at an exponential rate, the Chief Data Officer has become increasingly critical in helping organizations unlock business value. As Indian businesses continue to progress on their transformation journeys, their CDOs need to create a clear line of sight from data to value and engage with ecosystem partners – while making sure that their data investments accelerate business growth and are a central element of business model innovation.”