Since the first chief data officer (CDO) was appointed at Capital One in 2002, the role has been plagued by confusion about its purpose.

Initially, when most CDOs were in large financial institutions, their most common roles were defense oriented, involving data security, privacy, quality, and regulatory compliance. More recently, companies have also increasingly expected CDOs to be offense oriented, focused on revenue, marketing, customer service, and better decision making. But most organizations do not clearly define the role of their CDO and expect far too much from this position.

So, what is the purpose of a company’s chief data officer?

On November 30, Randy Bean will lead a live, interactive HBR webinar about the purpose and jobs of CDOs. He will share insights into:

• The increase in the prevalence of the CDO role

• Confusion over the responsibilities of CDOs

• The seven distinct jobs of CDOs, including both offense- and defense-oriented jobs – like chief analytics officer, data entrepreneur, data governor, and more

If your organization has a chief data officer or is contemplating establishing this position, join Randy Bean and HBR to learn how to best structure this role to meet all of your organization’s essential data-related needs.