Scope

The Chief AI Officer decides where AI changes the business, which programs get a budget, and which leaders are accountable for shipping them. The role is not a second CTO. It exists when AI work cuts across product, risk, and operations and no single function can hold it.

Required experience

Has run an AI or data organization that shipped to customers, not only a lab. Has sat with a CEO or board on what to stop funding. Can explain a failure in production as clearly as a win.

Interview focus

Ask what they killed, who they reported to, and how a business owner knew the program worked. A tour of model names is not the answer.

Sample job description

Set the AI agenda with the CEO. Choose the first programs, the leaders who own them, and the measures the board will see. Hire or reshape the AI leadership team. Report progress and risk in language a board can use.