Introduction

This chapter examines the idea that there are two types of CDO; the first-generation CDO (FCDO) and the second-generation CDO (SCDO). We go on to discuss their roles and deliverables.

An evolving role

The CDO is an evolving role and, as such, there are different ‘flavours’ of CDO, who are still all about the data but maybe come at the problem from different directions. We find there are few things in life where ‘one size fits all’, so why should we assume that one CDO will solve all our problems? The simple answer is that they won’t, and while there are many different varieties (being the wonderful, multifaceted humans we are), currently they can be loosely categorised into two groups: firstand second-generation CDOs. Before we jump into the current CDOs, we look at where the role came from.

Every C-Suite role had come from somewhere, believe it or not the CFO wasn't a core component of the strategic team. The very first CDO was in 2002 for Capital One, with a slightly eclectic responsibility for IT, Supply Chain and Market Analyses – nothing about getting value from the data. The banking industry picked up on CDOs faster than any other industry, focusing them on the governance side of the role, but by then the uptake of CDOs had begun. Data from Forbes shows that by 2012 only 12% of Fortune 1000 companies had a CDO, but by 2018 this had grown to just under 70%, and the number continues to rise. Countries are now getting the idea. France was the first European country to have a CDO, in 2014, closely followed by the UK in 2015. In 2019 every state in the US was tasked with having a CDO of their very own, so it's fair to say that the role is more established. However, this hasn't stopped the evolution of the role and, as more people from varied backgrounds bring their experience to bear, the role will continue to evolve. As we discussed in Chapter 2, this evolution has even resulted in the FCDO Replayed. Perhaps this is even a re-evolution.