In today’s fast‑moving digital economy, AI‑first enterprises are reshaping the market landscape. These organizations move with extraordinary speed, creating a competitive environment where advantages compound quickly and leaders capture most of the value. What separates these disruptors isn’t just innovative products or cutting‑edge services—it’s the way they use data. Companies that fully tap into their most valuable data assets and apply them with clear intent consistently deliver stronger AI‑powered business outcomes.

This shift puts Chief Data Officers (CDOs) at the center of enterprise transformation. They must balance data democratization, AI integration, governance, security, and culture—all while pushing their businesses toward innovation and growth.

So, what is it that sets CDOs up for success? Five core capabilities are emerging as the differentiators.

First, strategy. Today’s leaders understand that data isn’t something to simply collect; it’s something to mobilize. Their enterprise data strategies exist to power AI, and most CDOs are prioritizing investments that accelerate AI capabilities. Budgets tell the story: In 2025, organizations are allocating more than triple the share of IT spending to data strategy compared to just two years ago. But strategy doesn’t happen in isolation. High‑performing CDOs work closely with CIOs, CTOs, and CISOs to align data priorities with business outcomes and the organization’s technology roadmap. They can clearly articulate how data creates value and measure the results.

Second, scale. AI is only as effective as the data it can access. Over the last two years, CDOs have made major progress in building platforms that integrate data across silos. Instead of centralizing data for AI, most now bring AI to the dat, by reducing cost, minimizing risk, and enabling faster results. Organizations seeing higher returns from data and AI tend to use unified data hierarchies and invest in automation that extracts insights from documents, images, emails, and other unstructured sources. But scaling AI requires a cultural shift as well. Many CDOs still face resistance to change, which can create complexity rather than reducing it.

Third, resilience. As AI usage expands, the cost of poor‑quality data grows. While human analysts can sometimes work around gaps or inconsistencies, AI agents will amplify them. That’s why leading CDOs are focused on building reliable data pipelines and proactively managing AI‑related risks. Trust in data has grown significantly since 2023, but many organizations are still early in scaling and governing diverse training datasets. Some are turning to agent marketplace, whih are centralized systems that vet AI agents for security, governance, and performance before deployment.

Fourth, innovation. Data only creates value when people can use it. CDOs overwhelmingly agree that limiting access wastes data. Data democratization speeds decision‑making, accelerates AI initiatives, and empowers employees. High‑performing organizations are creating unified interfaces with strong governance, role‑based access controls, and self‑service tools. Yet talent remains a challenge, as demand for advanced data and AI skills continues to surge.

Finally, growth. Proprietary data is becoming a company’s most powerful differentiator. Many CDOs say their unique data products, such as customer 360 views to real‑time dashboards, are already driving significant competitive advantage. As general AI becomes commoditized, the ability to extract value from proprietary data will define the next generation of market leaders.

For CDOs, the path forward is clear: build strategy, scale with speed, reinforce resilience, democratize innovation, and unlock new growth. The organizations that master these capabilities won’t just compete—they’ll lead.

To read the full report from IBV, please click here.