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With primary responsibility for building their organization’s AI strategy, 75% of chief data & analytics officers (CDAOs) could lose their C-suite position by 2027 if they don’t demonstrate their value, according to Gartner.
This makes 2025 a critical year for CDAOs to prove their essential role and demonstrate they can successfully implement AI within their organization, said Sarah James, senior director analyst at Gartner, during the firm’s Data and Analytics Summit last week in London.
“CDAOs’ exposure across the organization, combined with their AI-ready data expertise, positions them uniquely to lead, guide, and challenge their respective organizations to successfully deliver value from AI. This is making the CDAO’s role pivotal to AI success,’’ James said.
5 key findings from Gartner’s CDAO agenda survey
1. The CDAO role is gaining direct access to CEOs
As their influence grows, more CDAOs are reporting directly to the CEO — an increase to 36% in 2025, up from 21% in 2024. This shift reflects the elevated strategic importance of data and AI leadership.
2. Organizations are reevaluating AI leadership structures
While the CDAO role remains secure, Gartner notes that “organizations are exploring different structures for AI leadership.’’ This indicates a period of transition, where companies are testing how best to align AI oversight with business strategy.
3. The role of the CDAO is evolving
Gartner identifies three types of future CDAO roles:
- An expert D&A leader who focuses on enterprise data governance and reports to IT.
- A connector CDAO integrates D&A software into products and services for CXOs and drives the organization’s AI agenda forward.
- A pioneer CDAx encompasses the responsibilities of the chief data officer (CDO), CDAO, and chief data and AI officer (CDAIO).
4. D&A leadership will continue to diverge
“D&A leadership will continue to diverge in the near future, and existing and aspiring CDAOs should develop their skills and expertise that align with their chosen path. This will help them to enhance their role and place in AI leadership,” James said.
5. 2025 is the year for CDAOs to prove their value
Gartner advises CDAOs to make the case for where and where not to deploy AI and digital technologies to give their organizations a competitive advantage.
More details about the survey
The Gartner CDAO Agenda Survey for 2025 was conducted from September through November 2024 among 504 global data and analytics executive leaders.
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