Dive Brief:
- Alaska Airlines’ CIO has left the company to become a smart cities chief digital officer (CDO), according to CIO.com.
- Veresh Sita reportedly joined Dubai-based Emaar Properties, one of the largest real estate developers in the United Arab Emirates, as its CDO.
- Sita told CIO.com the primary focus of his new job will be "incorporating artificial intelligence, machine learning and Internet of Things into digital smart cities."
Dive Insight:
The CDO role, which often includes duties like increasing customer intimacy, competitive advantage and efficiency, is becoming more common in companies as they look to improve competitiveness.
CDOs tend to serve as a bridge between IT and business groups, and the hiring of one often demonstrates a company’s desire to sharpen its focus on data. As companies turn more and more to data, the influence of CDOs is set to increase.
Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Michael Nilles, the CIO for Swiss manufacturer Schindler Group, recently took on the title chief digital officer for the company instead. Nilles believes as Schindler undergoes a digital transformation, the title of CDO makes more sense because it’s customer-focused and invested in growing the top line.
