CAIO - Chief AI Officer
Do you need one?
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Friends,
One way to define your life is through the quality of your life is related to the quality of our relationships and the quality of our relationships is related to how we communicate more eloquently, more intentionally and with better ease with other people to really understand where people are coming from, what they are experiencing and what they are living through. And so if you understand how to communicate - you are likely to have a better life with your friends and family. At different points in my life and in different situations, I’ll find it difficult to communicate - but it’s something that I’m always working on, in different situations. I’m not quite sure why I was drawn to the book Supercommunicators, by Charles Duhigg - but it’s excellent. For those who know, he’s the guy who wrote The Power of Habit - and this new book seems to be as good, if not better. Haven’t finished it yet, but I recommend it!
I’d like to touch on Chief AI Officers. We’ve been hearing of rumblings of the concept of this role more and more over the last years. The first time I really considered it was in 2016. Andrew Ng from Coursera talked about how you should organise your leadership team for this upcoming disruption. Prescient indeed.
The real question is do you need one? To answer that question, you really need to define the role. Imagine a C-level executive who speaks fluent code, understands the intricacies of neural networks, and can translate complex algorithms into bottom-line benefits. That's the Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (CAIO), a new breed of leader navigating the ever-evolving world of AI. That’s the top line of what it is - but the responsibilities are wider. A CAIO needs to be a strategy architect - taking a data catalayst and crafting a roadmap to meet the specific goals. Companies like Equifax or thos is digital marketing require this skew of leader. A CAIO also needs to be the ethical AI champion - and also needs to bridge the gap between the technical and the strategic decision making.
At Avallain, where we build learning solutions for educators, we leverage generative AI for our clients to automate tasks, and do things that weren’t quite possible before. Do we have a CAIO? No, but there are a bunch of super-smart people who tick off the boxes above. Collectively they are the CAIO. Separately they’re fractional CAIOs. So, do you need a CAIO. Not necessarily. But as AI becomes more pervasive, companies across industries will require this expertise. The use of Chief AI Officers is likely to become more apparent in industries undergoing digital transformation, such as healthcare, finance, retail, and manufacturing. As AI technologies become more advanced, the demand for executive-level oversight in AI will only increase, making the CAIO role more prevalent across sectors. - And it will pay a lot of money - for those that can marry the technical with the leadership. 15 years ago, that was the Chief Data Officer or equivalent. That’s evolving to the CAIO.
One of the reasons that I think CAIOs will become important is that they will make sure AI efforts aren’t siloed. One of the biggest problems with a decentralised approach to emerging technologies and implementing AI is the potential for inefficiencies. A CAIO will ensure collaboration between IT, operations, legal, marketing, and other key functions to integrate AI solutions in a holistic manner throughout the whole company. There are reasons why you should and shouldn’t - but you’re going to see if and how. Sub 500 people doesn’t quite make sense unless you’re an AI-first or tech company. So, they might be an expensive impediment, especially if the other technical leaders are capable.
What I think is interesting is actually adding board level responsibility to AI. I noticed this week that “Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Co. is adding an AI-powered observer to its board, a move that the $238 billion firm said will help human board members make better strategic decisions.”:
The virtual entity — Aiden Insight — will take an observer seat on the board of IHC, which is the largest listed firm in the United Arab Emirates. Aiden will be able to “continuously process and instantly analyze decades of business data, financial information, market trends, and global economic indicators,” IHC said in a statement.
I think this feels like more of a marketing stunt - but might put them in a good place for the future. It still feels like science fiction, for now. AI lacks the adaptability, creativity, and social intelligence needed to run a complex organization. However, AI can play an increasingly important role in assisting human leaders as advisors and strategic partners. So AI’s will be in the boardroom, but they will be tools used by humans - but - in the future there’s no reason why your CFO or your CMO or CTO couldn’t be an AI. It’s just not the time just yet.
So - to stay ahead of the game, make sure you have people working with you who are AI-curious, as well as AI mavens - then ones that will take you and your company forward.
And for you - make sure you stay ahead of the game. You don’t need to be the CAIO - you need to be aware that people are collectively playing that role - and you could be that fractional strategic head.
Stay Curious - and don’t forget to be amazing,
PS. Some sad news: One of my favourite ice cream flavours is becoming extinct - luckily Rum and Raison doesn’t even get a mention.
Here are my recommendations for this week:
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Insightful read! This role of CAIO will be important in the coming years.