Chief Digital Officers Speak

The Chief Digital Officer is one of the newer titles in the C-suite, and also one of the least understood. What is this role and how does it work?

As part of Egon Zehnder's global survey, "CDO Decoded: The First Wave of Chief Digital Officers Speaks",  Lindsay Trout, Egon Zehnder's Digital Practice Leader spoke with current and former digital executives to demystify the role. View the interviews below.

There are many, many different types of CDOs. Some lead technology decision-making; others run small creative teams. Apart from the title, they don’t have all that much in common — other than a clear mandate for change.

For many organizations, there is a lack of understanding of which qualities and which environments breed success. To better understand this issue, we surveyed large company CDOs around the world, 84 percent of whom are the first to hold this title at their company. We asked them to take us along with them on their professional journey, sharing everything from whom they report to, to their specific responsibilities, to how they actually spend their time.