There was a very unusual post on LinkedIn by a member of this year’s DataIQ 100 recently. Having reported into the CIO since being appointed into the CDO role by their organisation, they had just benefited from a change which sees them reporting to the COO and becoming a peer of their previous boss.
This example runs contrary to the depressing trend that I have been witnessing across 2023 of CDOs losing their independent function status and being forced into a subordinate role within the tech function. Quite a few have rotated out and towards new roles as a result, typically in less mature organisations that are appointing their first CDO and giving the data office its appropriate position in the organisational structure.
So why have many companies downshifted the status of data in this way? Is it a temporary phase or part of a longer-term shift in emphasis?
Brace yourself: I believe much of the blame for this dilution of data’s status lies with CDOs themselves. Having spent a large part of the last month in detailed conversations with senior data leaders about the challenges they are facing, these key issues have become clear to me.
To listen to many senior data leaders, the problems they have with politics, reporting lines, budget or talent are things that happen to them, rather than things that they can make happen.
Only by learning to bark can the position of CDO avoid being swallowed.
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