The Rise of Chief AI Officers in Indian Businesses by WalkWater Talent Advisors
CXOToday has engaged in an exclusive interview with Ashutosh Khanna, CoFounder & Director, WalkWater Talent Advisors and Gibin Varghese, Partner – Technology, WalkWater Talent Advisors
- Given the rapid development of AI, how soon do you anticipate the Chief AI Officer (CAIO) role becoming commonplace in India?
Given the rapid acceleration of AI tools, customers have already started demanding for AI powered products and offerings, due to which, the companies have started looking at leadership roles to further its charter of integrating AI in its product portfolio. The new roles could be at Vice President, Delivery Leader or Chief AI Officer level. We believe that few companies will start onboarding the internal or external talent into these roles by next quarter, while a wider adoption of these roles will happen over next 6-18 months.
- Are there specific industry sectors in India where you expect early adoption of the CAIO role? Why?
In India, Technology first companies including Services companies and industries that focus heavily on data will be early adopters of the CAIO role. Companies are all at different stages of tech maturity and not every company will have the resources to invest in AI.
- What key skills and experience would you advise aspiring CAIOs to develop?
Apart from strong technical expertise in AI and the experience of successfully building AI products at scale, the most important skills will be – Business Acumen (The ability to identify new use cases and areas where AI can be effectively applied keeping in mind ethical and regulatory considerations) and Collaboration (The ability to work with multiple departments in developing the AI strategy).
- How do you foresee the CAIO role evolving in the next few years?
The regulatory framework and guidelines for AI is evolving rapidly. The CAIO will need to keep pace with the same and may in future need to drive meaningful engagement with a wide array of stakeholders including policymakers, industry bodies, policy influencers and academia. There will be overlaps in the roles of CAIO, CTO, CDO and the CIO. In some companies the CIAO will supplement the CTO or CIO role and in others a couple of these roles will merge.
- What challenges do you anticipate companies facing when recruiting for the CAIO role in India?
There is a supply and demand gap of proven talent for CAIO role in India. There are multiple routes to become a CIAO – CTO, CDO, AI/ML Scientists, AI Research leaders etc. The clarity of companies to know what suits them best is going to be a challenge. Also, finding candidates who have deep understanding and experience of building products that have to deal with user intelligence and creativity will be a challenge.
- How can executive search firms like WWT assist companies in navigating the emerging CAIO landscape?
WWT has been valued by its clients for its ability to listen and provide correct market information. We are working with our clients in identifying the talent early with different skill sets.
- What role do you envision ML/Data Leaders and CTOs/CDOs playing in the absence of a dedicated CAIO in India?
CTOs are expected to be tech agnostic and have a view on the entire system design. However, they are today spending more time in identifying the specific AI modules and then work with the existing team in building and scaling it. On the other hand ML/ Data Leaders are getting involved in end to end building of AI products at scale. The collaboration between the CTOs and ML/ Data Leader has become more important than ever.
- Are there any specific examples of Indian companies that have successfully implemented the CAIO role? What are the key takeaways from their experience?
There are very few examples of that. Companies such as Fractal and IBM have appointed a full time CAIO. We expect IT Services companies to also build the AI organization as they will be expected to support numerous clients in adopting the AI technologies
- How does WWT approach building its database of potential CAIO candidates in India?
We are constantly building our network and database of leaders across the entire ecosystem in India as well as Globally – Chief Technology Officers, Data Engineering leaders, AI/ML Leaders, AI Research leaders etc.
- What are WWT’s key priorities in advising clients on AI leadership strategies?
Building or enhancing product using AI tech will be an iterative process. We are advising clients to consider roles at different levels and not just a CAIO on day one.
- How does the demand for CAIOs differ between India and other regions, like US?
The technology and data maturity of companies in the USA is far higher than in India. Also, the USA is a leader in building total AI based products. Therefore, while we anticipate the near future demand in India to be more around building or enhancing the AI modules within the existing product portfolio, the demand for full-fledged CAIO role in the USA will be stronger for next 2-3 years.
