Why your business needs a CDO

Joe Svetlik

Monday 27 November 2017

The Chief Digital Officer (CDO) is one of the most important roles in any business, but many organisations don’t even have one. Read on to find out why they’re crucial to your business thriving in the modern landscape.

What is a CDO?

With the unstoppable rise of digital enterprise comes many opportunities and also many challenges for any business. The CDO’s task is to ensure the business is making the most of these opportunities, and facing the challenges head-on. It’s an extremely important role, no matter what the nature of the business. In some sectors, digital will be the fastest-growing revenue stream. In traditional media companies, the CDO may oversee the transition to a digital-first proposition, ensuring it capitalises on its products while maintaining its core brand values. While CIOs (Chief Information Officers) usually come from tech and data backgrounds, and CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers) from communications, CDOs are usually from the digital native generation i.e. they’ve grown up with digital. As such, they’re ideally placed to see the business through digital-tinted lenses.

What do they do?


The CDO will be the one setting the strategy and adapting to a constantly shifting digital landscape. They’ll also build relationships within and outside of the organisation, recruit top talent, lead teams and be diplomatic when resolving potential tensions between different parts of the business.





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