The Rise of the Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer: The New Power Player in the C-Suite
As artificial intelligence moves from academia into corporate America, it’s not only changing the way companies operate, it’s also reshaping the face of leadership. A title that barely existed a few years ago is now rapidly spreading: Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (CAIO). This role signals how deeply AI is integrated into corporate strategy and identity.
According to the IBM 2025 survey, 26% of global enterprises currently have a chief artificial intelligence officer, compared with 11% two years ago. More than half (57%) were promoted from within, and two-thirds of executives predict that nearly every major company will have one within the next two years.
The title first appeared in the early 2010s, when deep learning started to take off, but it only really gained momentum after 2023 with the rise of generative AI. The U.S. government solidified its importance in 2024 with Executive Order 14110, which requires each federal agency to appoint a CAIO to oversee AI governance and accountability.
The private sector quickly followed suit. Artificial intelligence strategists are entering the C-suite, marking the emergence of a new leadership role in the algorithmic era.
“AI is often a specialized function under the chief technology officer (CTO). Organizations realize that AI is too strategic to be managed as a side project,” Baris Gultekin, vice president of AI at software giant Snowflake, told the Observer. “In addition to CAIO, we often hear that Snowflake customers now have large internal AI councils made up of cross-department personnel to strategically and effectively promote enterprise-wide AI adoption.” Gultekin reports to the CEO through Snowflake’s product leadership.
Some of the most influential chief AI officers are already reinventing big tech companies. At Meta, former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang will take over the position in mid-2025 to co-lead the Meta Super Intelligence Lab with former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. Microsoft’s Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind and former CEO of Inflection AI, is now in charge of Microsoft AI and is responsible for overseeing the company’s long-term infrastructure construction. At Apple, veteran AI leader John Giannandrea continues to guide the company’s AI direction, reporting directly to CEO Tim Cook.
Companies outside of technology are also joining the trend. Lululemon appointed Ranju Das as its first chief artificial intelligence and technology officer in September to promote personalization and innovation. Consulting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers recently appointed Dan Priest, former vice president and chief information officer of Toyota Financial Services, as its first chief information officer for the U.S. market. Even universities like UCLA and the University of Utah have added CAIOs to coordinate campus-wide AI strategies.
From CIO to CDO to CAIO
In the 1980s, chief information officers (CIOs) led the IT revolution; in the 2010s, chief data officers (CDOs) emerged with big data; now, CAIOs embody the institutionalization of artificial intelligence
“CAIO is responsible for exploring which parts of the business can be safely delegated to AI agents, how teams can properly manage AI decisions, the type of infrastructure needed to provide context-rich data to AI systems, and more,” Sean Falconer, head of AI at data streaming platform Confluence, told the Observer. “The CDO ensures the data is clean, while the CIO ensures the data is accessible. The CAIO ensures the data is actionable and capable of reasoning, predicting and taking autonomous steps on behalf of the business.”
In industries such as banking, healthcare, and retail, CIOs often serve as translators, translating complex AI potential into practical results. “They grapple with complex legacy processes and cultural resistance, making upskilling and ensuring the organization’s willingness to change as important as building the model themselves,” said Snowflake’s Gultekin.
The rise of the chief AI officer also parallels the growing influence of data engineers. A study by Snowflake and MIT Technology Review Insights found that 72% of global executives now believe data engineers are critical to business success. More than half said data engineers play an important role in shaping AI deployments and determining which use cases are feasible.
Bhaskar Roy, director of artificial intelligence and product solutions at business automation platform Workato, told the Observer: “Enterprises will always need a CIO, and over the years, the CIO has evolved to provide strategic guidance to the enterprise, not just the IT function. What we see overlapping (with CAIO) are areas that are critical to the company, such as governance, technical support and strategic alignment.” “CAIO’s mission is clear: to continuously push the limits of artificial intelligence and ensure that the organization remains at the forefront of technological change, while listening to the needs and concerns of customers.”
