The Age of the Chief AI Officer

Why businesses need one, and what they should look for

- Damien Martin

The way businesses have used AI for the last decade isn't the way they're starting to use it now. AI has been immeasurably helpful for data analysis and predictive analytics. With the rise of generative Al, the focus is on automating other tasks that up to now only humans have been able to do. To stay ahead of the curve, they need chief AI officers to lead the way, focusing on the best ways to forge a successful partnership between humans and Al.

"At first it made no sense to me," says Luv Tulsidas, founder and CEO of innovation consulting firm Techolution. "You have CIOs, you have CTOs, why do we need chief AI officers? I get it now."

The skill set needed to direct AI efforts in the future are different because the ways businesses are looking to use it are so different.

"A lot of the people who have built careers based on traditional software logic and compsci are going to struggle to make the shift. They may not have the same roles in this new world of Al," he told BOSS. "You need somebody who understands the nuances of AI."

MULTIPLE SKILL SETS

With a goal of delivering full-blown, realtime automation, companies can't simply slide a data scientist or machine learning engineer into the CAIO role. This type of AI is more like a product, Tulsidas said, and as such the AI chief needs a combination of skills.

"They need to be product-first. What's the business problem? What do we need to automate? How do we build a great product, and how do we get AI to match that?"