 "One in 5 Indian companies to hire executive for digital journey")
Soon after Sree Sreenivasan was appointed chief digital officer (CDO) of New York City, he gave an interview to an online news portal over WhatsApp. Perhaps an apt way for one who leads the digital journey for an organisation.
In India, the increased use of digital and mobile-based technologies across organisations to engage with young employees and customers has prompted companies to hire more experienced professionals to carve a digital journey.
India has been ahead of the curve in recruiting CDOs, says Peter Sondergaard, global head of research at Gartner. “The number of Indian enterprises looking for CDOs is more than the global numbers,” he says. One in five Indian organisations are looking for an executive to lead their digital journey, as against one in 10 globally. A LinkedIn search shows 493 CDOs in India. The number of such officers in the US, in Greater New York City or the UK is much more — they started the process much earlier. However, the trend is picking up here, too. Local companies need to serve the growing demand from young and digitally connected employees and customers, who influence purchase decisions at homes and organisations. This shift is more felt in sectors such as banking, financial services & insurance (BFSI), health care and retailing, where there is intense competition to gain the attention of consumers.
The same sectors are scouting for people in the digital role. The aim is to define a digital map for the future.
According to a December 2015 study by PwC, only six per cent of the world’s top 1,500 companies had appointed a CDO to oversee the digital transformation of their business. European countries hired CDOs at a higher rate than those elsewhere. “Larger companies which are more consumer-facing are looking for this profile. The role of a CDO would be more consumer-focused and to ensure better experience in using new technologies, be it through mobile app or a video chat, for service,” said Pareekh Jain of HfS Research.
Nearly half of the CDOs in India are in BFSI companies. Among the very recent appointments, less than a year old, are those of Madhivanan Balakrishnan, chief technology & digital officer at ICICI Bank; Deepak Sharma, CDO ar Kotak Mahindra Bank; Bhupesh Arya, CDO at DHFL Pramerica, and of Gaurav Zutshi as CDO at Aditya Birla Group's financial services.
Jain says the role of a chief information officer and chief technology officer continue to be back-end technology focused. CDOs, who report directly to the board, are at larger decision-making roles and usually paid an annual salary of Rs 2-3 crore in Indian companies.
The next set of technology disruption, such as offering services to a customer by using data from wearables or virtual reality-based communication, are expected to drive the demand for CDOs, who are to bring technology innovation in sync with the business goal.