Do You Need a Chief AI Officer?

Although the AI wave had been building for decades, the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT on November 30th, 2022, was a generational moment in technology. Generative AI quickly swamped the AI conversation and ramped up at a speed never seen before. It took ChatGPT just a few months to secure 100 million users where TikTok had taken nine months, Instagram 30 months, and LinkedIn nearly eight years. ChatGPT was so powerful because it was widely available, relatively easy to use, and put in the hands of end users a technology that was “indistinguishable from magic”. 

Other generational moments in technology have changed the end user experience for the consumer but have been slower to impact the business world. The iPhone for example, significantly changed where, when, how and why users interacted with the digital world when it was launched in 2007. However, it was five years before we saw senior leaders get really serious about creating meaningful digital experiences for their customers. In the meantime, a series of digital native companies claimed significant competitive advantage. 

We don’t believe businesses will allow this to happen with AI. According to a 2024 study by McKinsey, 56% of C-level executives regularly use generative AI inside and outside of work. 57% of those 60 or older in the workforce do the same. Interestingly, the numbers are roughly the same for less senior or younger leaders – everybody is on board. 50% of all surveyed companies are using AI in at least two functions within their companies (most often in marketing and sales and product and service development). It is no wonder that as leadership experts, the most common and interesting discussion we had with our clients in 2024 was around the structure, culture and talent required for successful AI adoption. 

Foremost in these conversations is the question, “do I need to hire a Chief AI Officer (CAIO)?” Although this is a valid question (with the answer usually being “it depends”) it’s often asked at the beginning of a conversation rather than, as we believe it should be, toward the end. It reminds us very much of a time 10 years ago, when every client wanted to know, “should I hire a Chief Digital Officer (CDO)?”