Workplaces are rapidly changing—and so are the power dynamics of the C-suite. As AI becomes a fixture of corporate strategy and business growth, the next generation of leaders predict that some executive roles may go extinct.
In a survey of 1,000 directors, VPs, and SVPs between the ages of 25 and 45, 29% say that chief transformation officers will be phased out or diminished within the next five years, according to a new report from West Monroe, a digital services firm. It is the role most expected to be eliminated. Thirteen percent of respondents say chief diversity officers will become obsolete, and 9% say that chief digital officers will dwindle.
Casey Foss, chief commercial officer for West Monroe, says the survey-takers are right:chief transformation officers are being phased out as AI changes the pace at which companies evolve. Most companies initially created the role around 2020 or later to facilitate large-scale business modifications over a much longer span of time. But now, with the advent of AI, the speed and capacity of innovation is much greater.
“Organizations, leadership, and boards are becoming less comfortable with ‘Let’s take a year to transform and then we’ll see the results,’ versus, ‘We’re going to transform and do many micro transformations every three months and measure the results,’” Foss says.
Business transformation has become a responsibility for every C-suite member—from AI officers to CHROs, everyone has a hand to play, Foss says. The same goes for inclusion initiatives. That, along with the rollback of DEI programs, may explain why survey participants targeted chief diversity officers for obsolescence. “Every leadership team knows that if you have a diverse team thinking holistically about how you solve client problems, you get to a better outcome and value faster,” Foss notes, adding that an increased expectation to do more with less may be a part of why the position is in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, the upcoming cohort of leaders is divided on the role of chief digital officers. Although 9% of respondents say the job is likely to be phased out, an equal proportion of participants say the position will increase in importance in the next five years. Foss says employees of technologically-advanced companies that “started three or four years ago on their digital journey” now see the role’s duties being dispersed across their organization’s executives, reducing the need for one centralized leader. Whereas “industry laggards” may see chief digital officers as more crucial right now, she says.
The Gen Z and millennial professionals predict that several other positions will grow in influence. A whopping 40% say that chief AI officers will become more important, while 11% believe chief information/data officers will rise up, according to the report.
“Employees are like, ‘We care about AI, it matters.’ But also they need a strategy, and they need to recruit high-level talent that’s been there and done that. Then they need somebody who can help push it,” Foss says. “Ultimately that role, once those things are done, gets rolled back into a chief data officer role, which exists today and I think will exist in perpetuity.”
Foss says she’s not surprised at the next generation’s predictions but stipulates that things will change as AI becomes a routine fixture of work. Echoing the sentiments of the survey participants, she predicts the duties of the AI officers will become a responsibility for all senior leaders at some point.
“Eventually, similarly to digital, AI is going to be in every aspect of the business. Once people are more comfortable with the technology and there’s a clearer understanding of how frequent new tech updates are going to come, that will stabilize, and chief data officers will remain,” she says. “Whatever the next emerging technology is might be the next chief role.”