CDOs, data science heads to fill Chief AI Officer positions in India

Indian enterprises are more likely to see Chief Digital Officers CDOs) and data science heads fill the upcoming position of Chief AI Officer (CAIOs), analysts and experts have said.  

“The role of a Chief AI Officer might be combined with other existing roles, such as a Chief Digital Officer or a head of data science. The CAIO role might also have to shoulder the responsibility of being a Chief Analytics Officer, especially in India,” Dr Shailendra Singh, head of data science and analytics at TVS Motor Company said.

The TVS Motor Group, which houses the TVS Motor Company, already has a CAIO in the form of Mahesh Calavai, who also dons the hat of a CDO. The TVS Motor Company also has a separate combined CDO and CAIO position, currently filled by Kumar Rajendran.

India trails the US, the UK, and Canada in numbers

The proliferation of large language models (LLMs) and the demand for generative AI applications across industry sectors combined with the changing regulatory landscape has given rise to a new position of Chief AI Officer, who will shoulder the responsibility of managing and governing all aspects around artificial intelligence, including generative AI.

Last year in September, market research firm IDC floated a quick survey globally sampling responses from 97 CIOs. Most (53%) said they either already had this AI leader role or planned to have it within the next 12 months. Nearly 26% of these CIOs said that they already have this role.  

A separate survey floated by Foundry in December last year, which polled 875 IT and business leaders globally, showed that 62 or 7% of the polled executives already had a CAIO.

These responses also go to show that the APAC region has more CAIOs, about 31, followed by the North America and EMEA region, which have 16 and 14 CAIOs respectively.

However, on a country level, the US leads with 10 CAIOs, followed by six CAIOs in Japan, Canada, the UK, Singapore, and Germany each. India and New Zealand trail these countries with five and three CAIOs each.

Indian enterprises to restructure to house the role of CAIO

Indian enterprises are more likely to restructure their designations and refactor responsibilities to make space for the CAIO position, said Ankit Bose, Head of AI at industry body Nasscom.

“In contrast to the US, which is more likely to see enterprises bring in new people for two different positions — the CAIO and the Chief AI Ethics Officer for developing responsible AI, Indian enterprises are making the CTO or CIO fill the CAIO role,” Bose added.    

In fact, the combination of roles or restructuring technology roles is not new for Indian enterprises, according to technology evangelist and data expert Tejasvi Addagada.

Addagada said he expects the duties of a Chief Ethics Officer will ultimately be combined with those of a CAIO, similar to how the role of Chief Privacy Officer was combined or rolled into the Chief Data Officer role.

“We are already seeing this (combination of the AI roles) happening now in India,” Addagada said, giving the examples of HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, and Bandhan Bank.

The refactoring of C-level technology roles across Indian enterprises, according to CK Birla Hospitals’ CIO Mitali Biswas, can be chalked up to the dearth of talent or skills presently available to take on the responsibilities for the role or create an efficient team under that position.

“While larger enterprises may still want to create a new position and a team around it, small and medium businesses will look up to their existing technology leaders, such as the CIO or the CTO or the CDO to take up the CAIO mantle,” Biswas explained, adding that maturity and pervasiveness of the CAIO role, at least in the Indian healthcare sector, is two to three years away.

Santanu Ganguly, who is the CEO of advisory firm StrategINK, said he believes that other industry sectors, including healthcare, will see the role of CAIO being adopted in the next one to three years, driven by the boards and CEOs’ agenda of shaping the future of customer-centricity, offering innovation, enhanced productivity & efficient operations.

Along the same lines, Gaurav Kataria, vice president of digital manufacturing and CDIO at PSPD, ITC Limited said that the evolution of the CAIO role is already happening in India.

“Mostly all enterprises are setting up AI centers of excellence and the persons leading those centers are already doing what is expected of a CAIO. While the CAIO is not an official CxO position, this role rolls into the CDO who helps drive strategy, governance, and connect to the board,” Kataria explained.

A reverse flow from startups to large enterprises

Some Indian enterprises may have to hire new people from outside to fill the CAIO position, triggering a reverse flow of talent from startups to large enterprises, according to technology evangelist and former Group CIO of Lupin, Sreeji Gopinathan.

“Some large enterprises may see talent suitable to fill CAIO positions in startups as most of them are born in the cloud or have transformation in their DNA in contrast to reskilling existing staffers who have not been exposed to AI as a technology,” Gopinathan explained.

Another reason behind the emergence of the CAIO role, according to Addagada, is the evolution of regulations, both in India and other countries or regions, such as the European Union. “The changing regulatory landscape will act as a catalyst for enterprises to create the CAIO role as they have to keep someone accountable,” Addagada said.