What is this CDO role?

A Chief Data Officer usually reports to the CEO of a company and sits somewhere between the Chief Information Officer and the Chief Technology Officer. They are responsible for how the organisation utilises, manages, and governs all of their data. This includes data strategy, data governance, data compliance, data management, and data analytics.

Although the role has been around for a few years now, it continues to evolve and there are many challenges for those who take on the responsibilities that go with this title.

For startups in particular, the role can be overwhelming, demanding, and challenging. Staying on top of all the data needs in a fast-growing, ever-changing company is quite a task. There are many different moving parts to manage and it’s important to get it right from the start in order to scale effectively. In this article, we aim to help breakdown some of the key impact areas to help a startup CDO focus.

What are the key impact areas for a startup CDO to focus on?

1. Data strategy and building the culture around data

A CDO is responsible for aligning the data strategy to the startup’s business goals and objectives. This includes defining data governance policies and setting standards that everyone can understand, agree with, and follow.

2. Data infrastructure and architecture

As a startup grows, it’s important for someone to take charge of how the data infrastructure and architecture will evolve. Tools, platforms, and systems built and/or used, all need to work well in the now but also in the longer term too. The ambition of most startups is to scale up quickly and to be able to expand without any disruption to the customer experience. This requires a robust data infrastructure that is set up for growth, scalability, and expansion.

3. Data compliance

Startups needs to make sure that they understand and are following all data privacy regulations and industry standards. There are a range of legal and ethical data management policies and standards that need to be upheld and the CDO is responsible for making this happen. They will also need to put measures in place to safeguard sensitive information and be the one at board-level, to sign off due diligence checks and audits.

4. Data analytics, business intelligence and reporting

One key area for all businesses is finding the best ways to gain insights and business intelligence from the data they have. The CDO can have a direct impact in driving key business metrics, identifying performance indicators, and drawing out actionable insights that can fuel better decision making at the highest level.

5. Business innovation

The Chief Data Officer can play a pivotal role in identifying how data can be leveraged for innovation, market expansion and how it can be used to enhance customer experiences. By keeping up to date and being aware of the latest opportunities in big data analytics, artificial intelligence (ai), machine learning (ML) and other emerging technologies, they can help the business to stay ahead of competition.

What if my startup doesn’t have a CDO?

Don’t panic! It is absolutely fine at the beginning of a startup, not to have a full-time CDO dedicated to managing all of your data needs and in fact, you may never want or need a full-time CDO to join your business. However, as your business grows, so will your user base, your company as a whole and your data infrastructure. Then your need to manage and govern your data more carefully will increase and you will need to consider your options wisely.

Not all businesses can afford or will ever want to hire a full-time CDO and that is ok. You do, however, need a way to boost your data capability and to have a senior person taking responsibility for it. One way to do this is to partner with an organisation that offers something called: CDO-as-a-Service i.e. interim resources with Director-level data expertise who can help you with your specific needs as and when you need them. By doing this, you can get strategic support at the level you need, along with a team of skilled resources if you need that too.

Here are a few key criteria you may want to out for when exploring the CDO-as-a-Service option:

Data expert with CDO experience

Make sure that you feel comfortable with the person (or people) who you will be working with and that they have experience in your sector, at the Chief Data Officer level and can talk you through in detail, how you will work together.

Resource pool to build your data capability

Check if they have a team and/or access to specific resources who can help you to build your data capability and to carry out projects that you need e.g. data scientists, data analysts, data protection/privacy specialists, data engineers.

Training and transferring skills

If your startup has any skills gaps that you have identified, find out if it is possible to train your staff and to up-skill them in a structured way. Set up a system for transferring skills with the partners you’ll be working with to make the most of the partnership and to build long term data capability into your business.

Final thoughts

Whether you have a Chief Data Officer in place already or not, taking on all of the necessary data responsibilities that most startups have can be a big challenge. Many functions of a CDO will only be partly covered, as in truth, it is an almost impossible task for one person alone. So, if you are finding yourself struggling or a little daunted with it all, you will not be the only person feeling this way and we hope that some of the above will help you navigate your next steps with greater confidence.

In today’s world, data is everywhere and so whoever can control it and harness it well holds the key to success!