Artificial intelligence has moved quickly from experimentation into business operations, customer experience, decision support and product development. As adoption grows, so do the questions around governance, ethics, investment, data, security and accountability. That is driving interest in a relatively new executive role: the Chief AI Officer, or CAIO.
Executive leadership roles carry significant responsibility. CEOs, Managing Directors, General Managers and Executive Directors are expected to set direction, navigate uncertainty, lead people through change and maintain the confidence of boards, customers, employees and communities. For organisations, finding the right leader is therefore about much more than matching a CV to a position description.
Even a sound strategy does not guarantee successful execution. Implementation reaches across organisational structure, systems, processes, leadership behaviour, people practices, culture and values. That creates plenty of room for a gap to emerge between knowing what needs to happen and being able to make it happen consistently.
