Strengthening the Federal CDO: Strategic Opportunities in the Age of AI

A new report on the Data Foundation's 2024 Federal Chief Data Officers (CDO) Survey, Five Years of Progress and the Path Forward: Insights from the 2024 Survey of Federal CDOs, reveals both significant progress and emerging needs of federal data leadership. Data Foundation’s fifth annual CDO survey, conducted in collaboration with Deloitte, provides evidence on how the CDO role has evolved since the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act) formally created the role in the federal government in 2019.

To mark the launch of the report, the Data Foundation and Deloitte co-hosted a virtual event, Empowering Data Leaders Amid an Emerging AI Landscape, to explore the maturing role of the federal CDO, challenges CDOs are facing, and opportunities to strengthen the government's ability to leverage data. 

The following provides an overview of key findings from the new report on the survey and highlights insights from the event’s panel discussion with Adita Karkera, CDO for Deloitte's Government and Public Services practice, and Corinna Turbes, Director of the Data Foundation’s Center for Data Policy. 

Building a culture of data and increasing data maturity

The 2024 CDO Survey results paint a picture of growing success and maturity in federal data leadership. Almost half of the CDOs reported that they are very or completely successful in achieving their missions. This progress is particularly evident in strategic planning, with over 90% of CDOs now having organizational data strategies in place.

With increased confidence in achieving their missions and higher reported levels of data maturity, federal CDOs have paved the way for federal agencies to leverage data to realize the vision of the Evidence Act and drive future innovation like AI. “How could we successfully implement AI without the culture of data that CDOs have brought to the government?” posed Turbes. “To see the confidence that CDOs have in achieving their missions the ways they have, and really leverage bodies like the [federal] CDO Council to coordinate and facilitate learning across different agencies, is really a testament to how they have managed to create a really robust culture of data … in a remarkably short amount of time.”

Further reiterating the progress of the CDO function, Karkera explained “the role has evolved from just being that back office data leader ... to [in certain organizations] really being that C-suite leader as the head of data operations for an organization who's truly leading the charge and making sure that data is treated as a strategic asset."

Evolving roles as CDOs achieve mission objectives

Results from the 2024 survey also revealed a shift in CDOs’ mission priorities. While developing data strategies topped the list in 2023, improving data infrastructure emerged as the leading priority in 2024, with 70% of CDOs citing infrastructure as their top focus. A shift toward data infrastructure “signals that CDOs are moving from creating those strategic plans to now operationalizing those plans,” noted Karkera, “and it makes all the more sense because in view of the emerging AI landscape, we have to continue to focus on data infrastructure.”

Priority areas cited by CDOs are more widely distributed in 2024 compared to other years. CDOs are reporting increased focus on things like improving customer experience with data and preparing data for new technologies like AI – signaling a broader range of mission priorities in 2024.

A data-first approach to AI

Reflecting the expanding mission of CDOs, one-third of CDOs reported prioritizing data readiness and preparation for new technologies as a key mission priority in 2024. The survey also revealed significant involvement of CDOs in AI initiatives, with 90% of CDOs either using or planning to adopt AI in the next year.

“CDOs have really shaped their role to be that central player that's bringing together the data efforts and ensuring that the right mechanisms are in place to ensure AI success,” said Karkera. But CDOs need to be well-positioned to collaborate across their organization’s strategic priorities and agenda in order to be able to promote data readiness and responsible adoption of AI. 

"Data and AI are closely related, but they are not the same thing ... getting a clearer delineation on what a CDO officer might be on the lookout for and what an AI officer might be on the lookout for and how they can work together to help agencies innovate is crucial,” offered Turbes.

Close coordination between executive leadership, emerging AI roles, and data leaders will be critical to the success of AI. “Data is really the fuel that is driving AI solutions today,” noted Karkera. “If we are not going to have – whether it's the CDO, whether it's the CDAO, or any other C-suite leader – a shared C-suite agenda to … make sure that our data house is in order, as we leverage AI and other emerging tech, we may not be well poised for success.” 

Coordination and clarity as growing challenges for CDOs

As organizations are moving forward with AI, it’s noteworthy that many CDOs indicate a lack of clarity in their responsibilities. Only about a quarter of CDOs reported high levels of clarity in their role and responsibilities, a concerning trend in terms of government-wide data governance as the role continues to mature. CDOs point to outstanding guidance implementing provisions of the Evidence Act related to CDOs, emerging AI responsibilities, and conflicting roles with CAIOs and CIOs. 

In addition to CDOs’ personal roles and responsibilities, more clarity around how CDOs can collaborate with their data counterparts can help build a more cohesive approach to data governance across the federal space. The importance of shared priorities across an organization’s approach is not limited to AI – a clear vision across agencies can mitigate the federated and siloed approach CDOs are reporting. “Interagency coordination with the CDO Council can be a really powerful antidote to this siloed effect that we're seeing,” said Turbes. 

While AI is not the only thing CDOs are focused on, AI offers a valuable use case when considering effective coordination for responsible data use. “We’ve got to have the right data governance policies in place. We have to have the right guardrails in place as we think about creating responsible AI solutions,” Karkera said. “Because if you cannot have trust in the data that is fed into the AI models, you're not going to be able to have trust in the AI decisions that are coming out.”

Bolstering leadership support 

Interagency guidance is only one piece to strengthen the CDO position and ensure they remain the “glue” in coordinating government data use, as Karkera put it. Resource constraints and capacity limitations are consistent challenges for CDOs. Over 80% of CDOs invariably cite financial and budgetary challenges as a key barrier to success, and leadership support emerged as one of the top three barriers CDOs face in 2024. 

To effectively advocate for the resources and capacity they need to achieve their missions, CDOs must demonstrate their organizational value and generate buy-in from leadership. To do this, CDOs and the broader data community can be “thinking of those high impact examples that can help make the case for funding or help tell the story of the return on investment,” said Turbes. A clear effort to “make sure [that] data strategies are tied into agency missions [and] are tied into the business practices and priorities” is a key step to building strong relationships and coordination with organizational leadership, Turbes added.

The next five years: how the data community can support CDOs’ progress

Clearly defining roles and responsibilities is a top priority to address CDOs’ most critical needs in the next five years – with guidance implementing the Evidence Act as a primary vehicle to address the lack of clarity. Agency leaders and Congress can support the CDOs by addressing their consistent lack of resources – as Karkera succinctly put it: “for CDOs to be successful, they need to have that financial and budgetary allocation.” Role clarity can also be improved through placement of the CDO office, signaling a level of authority and leadership across the organization for data initiatives, added Karkera.

Balancing individual agency needs with government-wide coordination should also be considered when thinking about how best to support CDOs, cautioned Turbes. “As we move forward, thinking about the critical needs, [we will need to think about] how we support individual agencies with a government-wide coordination. How are we able to meet current challenges as well as plan for future opportunities and to fully take advantage of them?”

The Data Foundation’s report reiterates the needs discussed by Karkera and Turbes, and presents four overarching recommendations that largely align with the panelists’ priorities. Supporting the CDOs is not only an opportunity for White House and agency leaders, Congress, and interagency bodies to build a more data-driven culture across the federal government – but also presents an opportunity for the data community to weigh in and offer support for federal data leaders. 

Elevating the value of CDOs is one way the data community can support the CDO role. As an example of providing support for data leaders in the AI space, the Data Foundation published a guide to data policy for AI, with an accompanying AI-Ready Data Policy Tool, doubling down on the critical role of data governance and clear processes for making assessments of when and how to leverage federal data for AI technologies. The Data Foundation’s tool requires users to become familiar with their data leaders and policies – ultimately lifting up the critical role that CDOs will play in responsible, effective AI in government. 

Strong data governance frameworks enable the government to ensure citizen data is used appropriately, build public trust in federal data stewards, and demonstrate the value of the CDOs. As CDOs become more engrained as leaders in decision-making processes, their value – or return on investment, as Turbes put it – is clear and can make the case for further allocation of resources from federal leaders. 

Notably, continued support for the Council is essential for breaking down data governance silos revealed in the 2024 CDO survey. The CDO Council serves a key role in promoting collaboration mechanisms and coordinating knowledge sharing across CDOs – providing resources, tools, and networking opportunities that help CDOs find clarity in their missions absent of authoritative government-wide guidance and more effectively advocate for themselves to agency leaders. The CDO Council, also established by the Evidence Act, is set to sunset in 2025. A bill to authorize the Council is currently moving through the House, and passage is a critical opportunity for Congress to demonstrate a commitment to the CDOs and data-driven government.

The growing maturity and success of federal CDOs suggests that the foundation for data-driven government continues to strengthen, even as new challenges emerge. While the data community cannot expect to address all challenges, targeted support and enhanced clarity through government-wide coordination efforts can help CDOs advance their missions of building a data-driven government prepared for an era of AI.

For more detailed findings and recommendations, the complete survey report is available through the Data Foundation's website.