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Don't Rush to Appoint a Chief AI Officer

By Ava McCartney | 3-minute read | March 22, 2024

Big Picture

Focus on a value-driving business strategy infused with AI

Too often, organizations have an AI technology roadmap masquerading as a strategy. They fail to recognize that activities around AI and GenAI are business, economic, social, ethical and technology decisions.

Avoiding this mistake requires a holistic, integrated approach with clear leadership and governance. However, this does not mean that organizations should rush to appoint a chief AI officer. For most, a head of AI who is not at the C-suite level will be perfectly capable of managing the two key aspects of AI strategy execution: orchestration and multidisciplinary governance.

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Who leads the charge on AI for business

  • Many organizations are still debating where the responsibility for AI and GenAI initiatives lies. A recent Gartner survey found that a diverse set of leaders is currently accountable for AI delivery.
  • Our research shows that the head of AI must combine business and technology leadership to effectively assess the possibilities, power and perils of AI and GenAI.
  • Government agencies will see increasing mandates on AI oversight, including a recent U.S.  directive that U.S. government agencies designate a chief AI officer to lead and govern activities.

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3 critical success factors for AI initiatives

  • Aligned business strategy: Focus on building a value story, which illustrates progress toward business outcomes, tied to an organization’s business strategy. The more you are willing to rethink and recalibrate your business, the greater the potential impact of AI.

  • Collaborative orchestration: There will be many concurrent AI and GenAI initiatives that require functional, technical, security, D&A and many other organizational resources. For the best chance of success, orchestrate them together. 

  • Multidisciplinary governance: One-size-fits-all models are too restrictive, while siloed governance limits coordination and leads to inconsistent behavioral standards throughout the organization.

Gartner estimates that the spending on AI and GenAI will reach “material” levels (call-worthy earnings) for over 80% of organizations.

Source: Gartner

Take a synergistic, multidisciplinary and iterative approach

  • Areas of strategy, orchestration and governance include:

  • None of this is a one-time task. Multidisciplinary teams must iteratively revisit each item and dynamically adjust using a risk-adjusted, repeatable approach.

The story behind the research

From the desk of Frances Karamouzis, Gartner Distinguished VP Analyst

“Forget the job title, and focus on the value of AI. What is most important is that organizations have a business strategy infused with AI, rather than an AI technology roadmap masquerading as a strategy.”

3 things to tell your peers

1

The C-suite must ensure empowered, enforced and enabled organizational constructs to drive successful AI strategy and execution.

2

This requires leadership and accountability, but it does not necessarily justify a dedicated, C-suite level position.

3

Given the speed of AI updates and changes, it’s imperative that organizations take a dynamic, iterative, risk-adjusted, repeatable approach.

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Frances Karamouzis is a Distinguished VP Analyst in Gartner's Business and Technology Insights focusing on Artificial Intelligence, GenAI and Agentic AI. Ms Karamouzis was the Gartner analyst who coined the term "Hyperautomation" and first published it in 2014. She is focused on research that addresses strategy, value creation, use cases, business cases and disruptive trends. She focus on "applied" research by showcasing how to practically apply Gartner frameworks. She helps clients architect their AI, GenAI and Agentic AI Portfolio (How to Vet, Prioritize and Fund) Use Cases. Ms. Karamouzis has appeared and/or contributed to reports showcased on 60 Minutes, Wall Street Journal, NY Times, CNN, CNBC, PBS, CIO Magazine and the Council for Foreign Relations. Ms. Karamouzis earned a bachelor's degree in International Business and Accounting from New York University. She has also completed her M.B.A. in Finance at New York University.

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