Key Findings
Data and AI Leadership is defined by context, not job title.
The same title—Chief Data Officer, Head of AI, Director of Data and Analytics—can describe very different roles in practice. The report reveals that, in reality, what best defines the work is not hierarchy or even maturity but a blend of three variables: mandate, momentum, and means.
- Mandate: the degree of sponsorship and authority.
- Momentum: the pace of organisational demand and appetite for change.
- Means: the capability and resources available.
Orientation leaders face accountability but often lack authority
Orientation mode emerges when AI is high on the agenda but goals and outcomes poorly defined. Here, leaders are asked to show impact but are restrained by lack of mandate or conditions to deliver it.
“We’re seeing more and more pressure for AI, but the pressure doesn’t always come with the necessary investments and support. A lot of organisations are asking us to run before we can walk.” Guild 2025 Discussion
Leaders also return to Orientation mode when new goals need to be agreed, for instance due to new regulation, corporate strategy, or AI capabilities.
Scaling is where complexity intensifies
In Scaling mode, demand is strong and foundations partly in place, but progress is complicated by misaligned priorities, overlapping initiatives, and vendor strain. Leaders face the task of turning isolated successes into repeatable, enterprise-wide impact while ensuring the organisation has the skills, governance, and infrastructure to sustain growth.
North Star leadership is about sustaining adaptability
Where mandate, momentum, and means are more closely aligned, leaders move into North Star mode. Here, the work extends beyond delivery to embedding data and AI into strategy, workforce planning, and operating model design, and to becoming a truly AI-first organisation.
AI work is really organisational work
The report underscores that AI projects cannot be considered as primarily technical initiatives. They are exercises in redesigning operating models, decision rights, and roles.
“Nearly all AI projects are really operating model projects with value unlocked through rethinking process, data, technology and people.” – Ian Hockney, Group Commercial Director and Office of the CIO, Specsavers.
This shifts the emphasis of leadership by recognising that the most critical work is relational, and lies in culture, governance, and value outcomes, rather than technical deployment.
Data and AI Leadership modes reveal commonalities
While the pressures differ across contexts, the report shows they are systemic rather than individual. Leaders often assume their difficulties are unique, when in fact they reflect broader patterns of mandate, momentum, and means. The leadership modes provide a framework to make sense of these patterns and to offer direction in a constantly shifting landscape.
