In an environment where an organization’s continued existence hinges on the success of digital transformation, having a strong, focused leader at the helm of this transition is paramount. However, leading a transformation requires a big-picture, enterprise wide vision that ecomposses both digital innovation and business strategy. 

Enter the Chief Digital Transformation Officer (CDxO), an executive responsible for transforming an organization’s traditional analog business into digital ones. While Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and (CTOs) oversee traditional IT activities (i.e. IT infrastructure, IT management, cybersecurity and product development), the CDxO is more concerned with implementing digital initiatives that enable strategic innovation and business transformation. 

Some other definitions of CDxO include:

“The CTO is meant to see the whole picture and consider people, data, and infrastructure in a cross-functional way, thus ensuring a seamless transformation across the organization. This executive oversees the transformation of every business process and anticipates changes and obstacles along the way.” - BMC Blogs

“Because the chief digital officer role is so reliant on the use of technology, there is an overlap with the chief information officer (CIO) position -- and there's some competition as a result, says Ellis. Yet rather than being experts in IT implementation, CDOs are commonly characterised as change agents.” - Mark Samuels, ZDNet

“Often the most digital person in the organization, the CDO, as “transformer in chief,” is charged with leading a business’s digital transformation while working closely with the CEO and the C-suite to help shape the business response to the crisis.” - Mckinsey Digital

“The CDO is a member of a company’s senior management, responsible for the company’s digital strategy and development, building new digital services and business models that likely did not previously exist.” Konstantinos Michos and Julius Kosfeld for Digitalist Magazine

Unlike traditional C-Suite roles, the CDxO is transient by design. Meaning that companies usually only employ a CDxO to kickstart digital transformations, the goal being that once innovation is fully embedded into the organizations DNA, a CDxO is not really needed as, with the right technology and culture in place, digital innovation self-perpetuates. 

For example, LVMH’s star Chief Digital Officer, Ian Rogers, only stayed in the role for about 5 years. As he himself explained, “I predict that in ten years’ time, the Chief Digital Officer title will go away. It is a transitory role. It is the role of a change agent. You need it right now because you need people who understand the levers of innovation that large organizations have, but which they don’t utilize. But over time, these ‘digital’ titles should be fully eliminated.”

Then Why Have a CDxO?

Because they are not beholden to a particular function (i.e. finance, HR, sales, IT, etc.) and often report directly to the CEO, the CDxO possesses a bird’s eye view of the entire organization. Instead of being an expert in technology or business, they are experts in how the two intersect as well as how to generate excitement for transformation within the ranks. In addition, because CDxOs don’t stay long, when needed they can act as “bad cops,” shaking things up and challenging other leaders in ways that long-term colleagues simply can’t.

However, over time, as the technology becomes the core of the company’s business model, many of the CDxO’s responsibilities will be absorbed by other executives and leaders. For example, while CDxOs were all the rage in the early to mid-2010s, around 2016 hiring started to slow as more and more companies achieved digital-first status. In fact, Deloitte even predicted that CDxOs would become obsolete by 2020. Boy were they wrong. 

In response to the massive changes and disruption brought on by the global pandemic, companies are once again turning to CDxOs to help them confront a new normal. In addition, some CDxOs are even staying on long term as the page of digital change shows no signs of slowing down.