How to Make Your New Chief AI Officer Succeed

You Just Hired Your First Chief AI Officer (CAIO). Now What?

Adding a Chief AI Officer to your leadership team marks a significant step in integrating AI into your company’s core operations and product development. But what does the role really entail, and how should product teams adapt?

Why the CAIO Role Matters

Companies like AllianceBernstein and Intuit are leading the way by appointing CAIOs to focus exclusively on AI strategy—covering everything from data management and AI governance to partnerships with AI leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic. Their job is to drive AI integration that improves workflows, product features, and customer experiences.

According to a survey by Amazon Web Services, 60% of organizations have already created a CAIO position, with another 26% planning to do so next year. This shows a clear trend: AI leadership is becoming a priority for companies aiming to stay competitive.

Where Should a CAIO Report?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. CAIOs report to a variety of executives—COOs, CTOs, CEOs, or CIOs—depending on the company’s AI maturity and how deeply AI transforms products and workflows.

• AllianceBernstein: The CAIO reports to the COO to keep the focus on outcomes rather than technology tools.
• Intuit: The CAIO reports to the CTO, working closely on building AI-native products and speeding up development cycles.
• Gen Digital: The CAIO focuses on enhancing product functionality and productivity, recognizing that AI tools are already embedded in engineers' daily workflows.

For product teams, this means your collaboration with the CAIO might look very different depending on your company’s structure. Understanding who drives AI decisions is key to aligning product roadmaps with AI initiatives.

CAIOs Driving Product Innovation

At Intuit, AI-powered agents for QuickBooks Online were developed rapidly by empowering small, nimble teams to experiment freely with customers. This approach cut down on unnecessary meetings and sped up delivery, showing how AI can reshape product development processes.

Gen Digital’s CAIO highlights how AI boosts coding productivity with tools like AI-powered code editors. This requires rethinking traditional workflows—like reducing the frequency of status meetings—to match AI’s faster pace.

Fetch’s new CAIO focuses on AI governance and building go-to-market strategies that scale AI both internally and externally, demonstrating how product teams can expect more structured AI policies and collaboration moving forward.

Building AI Skills Across the Organization

Principal Financial Group is investing heavily in upskilling, offering targeted training for executives and rolling out data and AI education globally. This kind of company-wide learning is critical to ensure everyone understands how to work effectively with AI-powered tools and data-driven decision-making.

Product managers and developers should look out for such training opportunities to stay ahead in AI fluency. Courses covering AI strategy, prompt engineering, and generative AI can provide practical skills that directly impact product innovation. For those interested, resources like Complete AI Training offer a range of courses tailored to different skill levels and job roles.

Key Takeaways for Product Development Teams

• Understand your CAIO’s role and reporting structure. It affects how AI projects are prioritized and integrated.
• Embrace smaller, empowered teams. Less bureaucracy and more direct customer feedback accelerate AI-driven features.
• Expect workflow changes. AI tools speed up coding and decision-making, requiring new coordination methods.
• Stay current with AI skills. Engage in ongoing training to contribute effectively to AI initiatives.
• Align closely with AI governance. Clear policies on AI use and partnerships ensure responsible innovation.

Bringing a CAIO on board is just the beginning. For product teams, it means adapting to new ways of working and collaborating to deliver AI-powered products that truly meet customer needs.