CDAOs are under pressure to communicate value, grow their relevance and navigate a complex organizational environment.
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Leaders assume that D&A delivers value. AI demand forces CDAOs to prove it.
Organizations with AI-ready data and analytics foundations see a 20% improvement in AI-related business outcomes compared to organizations that don’t. Yet it does not follow that chief data and analytics officers (CDAOs) have automatic AI credibility. On the contrary, many CDAOs struggle to communicate the value their programs deliver — and how it connects to the success of AI initiatives.
The challenge is not one of direct investment, given that 77% of CDAOs put AI-ready data initiatives in their top 5 investment priorities for the next two to three years. Instead, it is in making the explicit connection between what D&A does and what the business achieves.
3 2025 trends will force CDAOs to prioritize D&A’s AI relevance
To identify the opportunities and actions that position D&A as a key resource in AI value delivery, CDAOs need to understand three 2025 trends:
CDAO trend No. 1: Pressure is high to demonstrate D&A value
Past support for the D&A function has been built on the idea that D&A will contribute to increases in enterprise performance. With boards and C-suites eager to invest in AI, CDAOs must now make clear how investments in AI-ready data and governance translate to tangible results from AI.
Fewer than half of CDAOs are able to do so using business-outcome-driven metrics, however — one reason they seem to struggle to secure budget.
Given that 74% of CEOs name AI as the new technology they expect to deliver business value in 2025 — and D&A is central to AI — CDAOs must prioritize efforts to communicate, in concrete and relevant business terms, the value these initiatives deliver.
CDAO trend No. 2: D&A’s relevance to AI will grow
It seems self-evident that strong data and analytics foundations would translate to stronger results from AI initiatives — and they do. Yet business executives fail to understand the relationship between what the D&A function does and their AI priorities. This is, at least in part, because CDAOs do not always align their projects and initiatives with what will best enable the strategic priorities of the business.
This disconnect will contribute to the 60% of GenAI projects abandoned by 2025 due to poor data quality or unclear business value, among other reasons, and to the 60% of organizations that fail to realize the anticipated value of their AI use cases by 2027 as a result of incohesive ethical governance frameworks.
As AI rises in importance, organizations will depend even more on CDAOs to deliver on AI-foundational D&A initiatives. D&A leaders appear to be getting the message. Investments in AI-ready data, data quality governance and data architectures are the top priorities for CDAOs for the next two to three years — supported by as much as three-quarters of organizations.
CDAO trend No. 3: Organizations are getting more complex
There is a multiway ownership of AI leadership between various C-Level leaders, including the CDAO, CIO, the chief technology officer (CTO), the head of innovation and a newly created role in some organizations, the chief AI officer. The reality is that AI will be everywhere in the organization. To democratize AI requires that AI be safely and securely embedded in enterprise applications. This requires new collaborations across often siloed technology teams, including data and analytics, software engineering, security, I&O, as well as lines of business, legal and compliance, and HR.
How 2025 CDAO trends will influence D&A priorities
The trends pushing CDAOs to focus on communicating value, responding to the increasing relevance of their function and navigating a more complex organizational environment will force these leaders to prioritize aligning D&A initiatives to business strategy, building AI-ready foundations and leveling up their leadership and communication skills.
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FAQs on 2025 trends for CDAOs
How can chief data and analytics officers (CDAOs) be successful in 2025?
Gartner defines CDAO success as “the consistent achievement of measurable business outcomes, such as revenue growth, cost savings, risk mitigation, improved supply chain operations and increased customer value.” Successful CDAOs pursue an offensive approach to D&A that starts with positioning themselves as business leaders and cultivating strong relationships with business peers. Offense-oriented CDAOs then set priorities to focus on business outcomes — such as revenue generation or contribution, customer experience improvement, process efficiency and other ROI opportunities; building the necessary skills and fostering the right collaborative and data-driven culture; and building a common data platform, including data governance and data management.
What 2025 trends are influencing strategy for CDAOs?
The grace period is over for enterprise CDAOs. Three trends are influencing the strategies and actions CDAOs need to prioritize in 2025, including:
Executive peers expect proof of D&A’s value. CDAOs should not assume that the CEO and CFO can see the connections between D&A initiatives and data-driven value. They must measure and communicate impact.
CDAOs need to grow their AI relevance. CDAOs must tie D&A initiatives directly to the digital business priorities they are meant to support.
Growing organizational complexity creates the need for CDAOs to broker connections through helping to align executives and their initiatives from different parts of the organization with the need to democratize and value impact from data, analytics and AI.
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