More than two in five Australian firms have already appointed chief AI officers, and that number is expected to swell. More than two in five Australian firms have already appointed chief AI officers (CAIOs), and that number is expected to swell to almost two-in-three by 2027, according to Datacom research. “The whole point of a chief AI officer role should be moving from sort of scattered AI activity to deliberate transformation.” Prior to 2022, responsibility for AI was spread across chief data officers, chief digital officers, chief technology officers and chief information officers. “Chief AI officers need to be technically literate, and they need to understand what AI is and does and how it works,” Compagnone said.