Digital transformation is in its adolescence, and the modern C-Suite is poised to take it to maturity. However, the need to make everything digital, harness data everywhere, and proliferate intelligent decision-making across the organization is no longer the job of the CIO. It is the job of the entire C-Suite.
The CMO is focused on optimizing marketing effectiveness and increasing a return on investment. The CRO is focused on one thing: driving more revenue through both digital and personal interactions. The CFO is driving the valuation of the company for all stakeholders. The CEO needs consistent visibility into every part of the business in order to set the strategy and guide the organization. The CPO cares about the health, well-being, growth, and effectiveness of the people in the organization. The CAO cares about the business value being generated from the overall analytics program.
All of these business areas are now tightly knit into one digital whole, connected by a web of data. Every decision regarding the insight supply chain impacts every part of the business. While some organizations are setting up the office of the CDO or CAO to bring these disciplines together, every C-level executive should be involved in the journey toward ubiquitous, insight-driven decision-making.
To address this great opportunity, I launched a research project to identify the characteristics, priorities, and best practices of leadership teams that are ahead of the digital transformation game and already using analytics as a strategic weapon to disrupt their industries and gain an unfair advantage. The goal was to get a better understanding of where C-teams are at in terms of data literacy, organizational maturity, and the management and measurement of digital excellence.
The research I did at EMA, “Digital Transformation, Analytics, and the Modern C-Suite,” was designed help modern executives better understand how to operate in the digital world as insight-driven leaders. It was also designed to help data and analytics software and services executives better understand how to position their technology in a way that hits home with key decision-makers. The research yielded executive personas for digital and analytics leaders, and much more. It is worth the time to read.