Every company, whether a mom-and-pop retailer, multi-national bank, or a travel agent that operates in a garage, is collecting data through multiple channel touchpoints. Simply put, every business is a data business today.
It only seems reasonable that the person at the helm of the business—the CEO—be a professional fluent in the language of data. In the past, the CEO role was one reserved for management that centred around administration and cash flow. Boardroom dynamics have since transformed.
A New Breed of Leader
In 2018, when Adam Brotman left a nine-year stint at Starbucks to join J.Crew as president and chief experience officer–it set a precedent. Brotman had helped digitally transform the coffee giant and made the company a leader in mobile payments. His team was celebrated for launching Starbucks’ popular “mobile order and pay” feature, which accounted for 11% of total transactions at the time.
In the same year, Ganesh Bell, GE’s first-ever chief digital officer, joined predictive analytics startup Uptake as its president. The move signalled a clear strategy: placing a leader with deep expertise in industrial data and the Internet of Things (IoT) at the core of a company whose entire value proposition was built on turning machine data into business insights.
Navigating Market Disruption
Data has become a critical driver for generating value. Moreover, it’s a significant force in the face of industry disruptions.
In 2019, Ulrik Bengtsson was elevated from chief digital officer (CDO) to CEO of William Hill, a British gambling company. It was at a time when the multi-billion-dollar gaming industry was going through a significant digital transformation. Smartphone technologies and online payments had profoundly influenced online gaming, opening up a new set of users empowered to place bets anytime and anywhere. Under his leadership, the company navigated this shift so successfully that three years later, 888 acquired William Hill, combining two of the industry’s leading brands and creating a global leader in betting and gaming.
Data leadership requires a critical focus on securing software partners that work with the core business to realise value in new realities. It also requires reacting to regulatory requirements to actively combat the widening array of risks to business continuity, including privacy evolutions.
The First-Mover Advantage
It is now increasingly common to see chief technology and data officers step into the role of CEO or president. In 2024, long-time CTO of TradingHub, Mike Coats, took over as CEO. TradingHub provides trade surveillance software to financial institutions to protect them against financial and reputational risk.
It was as early as 2002 when Schneider National, one of the oldest freight shipping and logistics companies based in the US, elevated Chris Lofgren, its then chief operating officer (COO) and former chief information officer (CIO), to lead the charge.
While logistics may seem like an unlikely industry to be at the forefront of this transformation, it reinforces the adage that “change is a constant.”
Founded in 1935 by Al Schneider, Schneider National started off as a trucking and logistics company. When the founder’s son, Don, took charge, he introduced a series of forward-thinking strategies. For example, the company purchased its first computer in the mid-1970s. At the time, most firms used computers solely for accounting purposes. Schneider is credited for seeing the opportunity to use technology to automate complex activities like dispatch and route optimisation. In 1986, it was the first carrier to install two-way satellite communication systems in all its 6,000 over-the-road trucks.
In 2013, under Lofgren’s leadership, Schneider National updated and standardised its infrastructure by retiring legacy processes and systems that were not cost effective. Oracle was chosen as the technology partner across applications, middleware, systems management, databases, and infrastructure. This partnership enabled them to launch the Quest Platform, an enterprise transformation initiative that helped the company drive profitability and reduce costs across divisions.
From Technical ROI to the Corner Office
This trend is a natural progression. Most technology leaders are already dealing with key performance indicators (KPIs) that involve calculating and delivering return on investment for tech stack investments. Stakeholders are concerned with knowing just how these technologies are impacting the bottom line.
According to a 2024 McKinsey report, approximately 40% of senior managers and C-suite executives expect to drive revenue over the next five years by creating data, analytics, and AI-based businesses—more than any other new-business-building category. If tech leaders are tasked with delivering this business impact, it only makes sense to have chief technology officers (CTOs) and CDOs at the helm, driving the business forward.
