Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) point to exciting commercial opportunities in nearly every sector of the Middle East. Over the past year, the range of use cases unlocked by generative AI has demonstrated how the technology has leapt from an abstract concept to a usable and useful tool in the minds of many across the region.
Many business leaders have expressed excitement about AI’s potential to enhance operational efficiency, decision making and service delivery among many other areas. By some estimates, AI stands to contribute up to profitably replace or augment around 5 percent of tasks over the next 10 years. Recent PwC research predicts that the Middle East is expected to accrue 2 percent of the total global benefits of AI in 2030, or equivalent to a staggering $320 billion.
The enthusiasm seems well-founded, but it is easy to forget that the outcomes of AI applications are only as good as the data it is based on. Effective AI use calls for clean, well-ordered, and easily accessible data, which is not easy to achieve. In reality, many organisations lack the right architecture to attain such data. This is especially true in the Middle East, where with a few notable exceptions, the role of data leadership has not typically been a business priority.
Interviews with data and technology professionals in the region highlight the challenge businesses face in deriving business value from AI. Vedran Karamani, group director of data analytics and AI at Kuwait-based Alghanim Industries, noted that Middle East companies are struggling to generate business impact through data analytics and AI on a level approaching that of “digital native” US-based tech companies. A big reason is the “lack of ability to integrate analytical outputs and AI into operations”.
Mohamed Abdel Hamid, chief information officer (CIO) at Mashreq Bank in Dubai, said lack of accountability when it comes to data was a problem. While everyone has a role to play in optimising data, “the drive towards higher data management and maturity needs clear ownership”.
Enter – or in some cases re-enter – the chief data officer (CDO). Globally, more than 80 percent of companies are thought to have a CDO in some form, but the role’s characteristics and scope can vary considerably from one organisation to the next. In the Middle East, CDO hiring and implementation has been sporadic over the past decade.
Many businesses have deferred creating the role, preferring to focus on activities that drive more immediate results. Others have sensed a need for an expert to take charge of their data but have failed to commit to integrating the role into the organisation.
This tends to manifest in the form of unclear reporting lines and deliverables, or departmental resistance to disruption. As a result, while the CDO should sit at the heart of the business, they often remain something of an outsider, unable to make a meaningful impact.
Businesses now find themselves on the back foot amid rapid technological change. To stand a good chance of succeeding in the AI era, leaders in the Middle East must reappraise the importance of the CDO in their organisation and ensure they are empowered to succeed.
A fresh approach should begin with clarity of purpose. Leaders need to understand the level of data maturity and infrastructure in their organisation and what they want to use that data to achieve from a business standpoint.
This will determine the CDO’s entry point, the company’s expectations from the role, and the timeframe for achievement. Support from the top will be an important determinant of the CDO’s effectiveness, and the right reporting line is crucial. Often, this will mean the CEO. The key consideration is that the CDO is empowered with the resources and license to achieve their goals.
Working effectively as a CDO means having permission to disrupt entrenched ways of working across the organisation. The role is intrusive by nature, and the default response is resistance. To counter this, leaders have a duty to ensure that stakeholders understand both the strategic importance and value that the CDO brings to the table.
It bears noting that there are no quick fixes to data management. Extracting the full potential from an organisation’s data is a long-term undertaking, and leaders should view the CDO’s role in a similar light.
Data warehousing, efficacy testing and fine-tuning take time, but when executed correctly, results will follow. Figures by IDC predict that the Middle East and Africa region will see the world’s fastest AI spending growth through 2026. Hiring and integrating a CDO is a necessary step that should also be seen as an investment in the organisation’s success in the era of AI.
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