Executive ownership of your AI strategy
In a recent post I looked at the different AI use cases in the revenue function of your business.
Another useful exercise to complete is to map your senior leadership across the Gartner AI Opportunity Radar to determine who the executive sponsors might be for your upcoming AI programs.
As a quick reminder, the AI Opportunity Radar has a vertical axis from external use cases (for your customers, suppliers and other 3rd parties) down to internal use cases (for your internal teams and processes).
And on the horizontal axis we go from everyday AI on the left where we are improving a high volume existing process, across to game-changing AI on the right where we are creating new products and ways of working that will disrupt our business and entire categories.
What I have done is laid out a number of senior executive roles depending on their field of responsibility.
I should note I have not assigned any significance to how close a role is to the centre of the chart.
Having placed the roles on the chart, it highlights some common themes.
The vast majority of AI use cases in development or POC are in the bottom left quadrant and are focused on making existing processes more efficient.
We see the heads of legal, HR and finance involved in these projects, and as we include some of the similar use cases in the top left quadrant, we see customer service chatbots and digital SDRs owned by the heads of sales or the Chief Customer Officer.
The Chief Financial Officer is very focused on these quadrants - doing more with less.
On the right hand side we get into game-changing AI - these are the use cases that can help you win your category and redefine how your business runs.
In the bottom right we look at our core capabilities - the way that we design and develop our products, our supply chain, and our logistics and distribution channels.
Your CIO, your Head of Supply Chain and Head of Product are responsible here, as well as your Chief Operating Officer.
In the top right quadrant we look at new external use cases driven by AI, and here your Chief Revenue Officer (you may call them a Chief Commercial Officer) and your Chief Technology Officer are the responsible executives.
Too often we hear that a Chief Revenue Officer is just a Head of Sales rebranded, and I find this chart helps clarify that distinction. The Head of Sales is in the top left quadrant, focused on improving the effectiveness of today’s business, whereas the Chief Revenue Officer has a longer term view and is focused on new and expanded revenue streams and value propositions.
I have the Chief Marketing Officer bridging both the top quadrants as they improve the high volume everyday processes, as well as positioning the company for success in the new world.
The Chief Executive Officer sits right in the middle with ultimate responsibility for all four quadrants, although their eyes should be firmly set on the right hand side of the chart.
I do not have a Chief Data Officer or Chief Analytics Officer on the chart. They are the linchpin to bringing all of these quadrants to live and don’t naturally sit in just one.
I hope you find this visualisation useful - what would you change?
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