Say ‘AI’ to the average person on the street, and most might respond with something about ChatGPT and how it seamlessly fixed their holiday itinerary for them or gave them a tonne of great gift suggestions for their Christmas shopping list this year.
But the rise of AI implementation in business means it has far-and-wide-reaching implications and benefits for those across all industries and sectors, not least in consumer-facing and retail environments. That means a boardroom rethink and the need for knowledgeable individuals to sit at the top table to advise on strategic methods on how AI can create better, more resourceful solutions and outcomes for business.
The scale of demand for senior AI leadership
Utilising AI (and why wouldn’t we for such an article?), the facts are stark. There are more than 1,000 live requirements on Indeed’s US jobs board for a Chief AI Officer and related senior AI roles.
The UK isn’t far behind, with somewhere in excess of 700 matches relating to senior-level AI positions on Indeed’s advertised positions. Germany, the Netherlands, France, Sweden and the Nordics are all also leading the search volume for such positions. That’s just one platform.
High-profile appointments signal intent
To support this, there have been some very high-profile hires taking place, especially in the United States, in the last 12 months. The likes of General Motors, PwC, MetBank and even the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States have all, in 2025, made their first high-profile CAIO appointments.
It’s probably unsurprising to see big tech, the financial sector, law and consultancies be the first major movers in this space, and it won’t surprise you to learn that others, particularly in consumer-facing and retail-related industries, are following suit.
Retail’s long-running relationship with AI
But one could justifiably argue that, while the rocketing popularity of platforms like ChatGPT has crossed into mainstream daily use (ChatGPT alone now deals with an estimated 1.5bn prompts per week), retail has been as equally enterprising as other industries when staying ahead of the curve.
In 2019, the fashion world stood up and took note when Levi Strauss named its first SVP and Chief Strategy and AI Officer. Katia Walsh had direct reporting to the CEO, and the juxtaposition of AI and strategy in the title was a very clear indication that the fashion giant saw AI as way more than just a tool but a strategic driver of growth and efficiency that would affect all parts of its business.
AI leadership without the title
Rethink Retail, the authoritative retail analysis site, has recently published its top AI Leaders In Retail for 2026, the third year of them running such a list. That makes for fascinating reading, with individuals from the likes of Walmart, Target, LVMH, Adidas, Sephora and Tesco all featuring, supporting the fact that other big brands have all parachuted significant hires in the AI space in 2025 into C-suite positions. These include the likes of Lululemon, Ralph Lauren and Nike, while staple High Street fixtures like Boots, M&S and John Lewis have all announced high-profile AI-led investments in operations and processes.
Most striking with the Retail Rethink 150 list is the volume of individuals where AI doesn’t feature in their job title. Unsurprising, perhaps, that Chief Data and Analytics Officers and Chief IT and Digital Officers feature prominently, but the volume of COOs, CEOs and Presidents that sit among the (largely American) list is worthy of note.
From specialist function to shared capability
AI is already something that appears to be moving away from being a siloed consideration and into an opportunity that all departments will need to start considering how – not if – it best adopts it. In the same way that there was a surge in specific digitally inspired titles 15 to 20 years ago, one feels the onset of AI and its rapidly growing influence on how it’s taking seed in all walks of life, professional and otherwise, will mean that we’ll all be naturally thinking about it, regardless of whether it’s in your job title or not.
A Forbes article published a few months ago outlined a similar theory, when early 20th-century factories were desperately hunting for chief electricity officers. Sounds trite today, but all the hallmarks are that AI will be second nature to all people’s lives and working practices.
Avoiding AI theatre and pilot purgatory
Within the same article, it warns that businesses must be careful of a number of pitfalls that can easily ensnare an organisation blinded by the ‘next shiny thing’.
Big statements about plans to invest in high-profile prototypes draw accusations of AI theatre. Declarations like this may please stakeholders, investors and wider markets, but to do so without actually deploying successful prototypes will eventually draw suspicious glances.
So too will pilot purgatory and a temptation to go overboard and trial a host of AI tools in a range of departments, simply because a competitor has announced its stance on AI. Dozens of tools within departments not necessarily speaking to each other, with only limited understanding of outcomes, will also threaten to destabilise long-term implementation.
Why the CAIO may be a transitional role
That’s where the value of a chief officer, sitting directly opposite the CEO in the boardroom, becomes invaluable in implementing both the correct strategies and then the correct tools. Such is the pace of development and the apparent benefits across all industries and all walks of life that one feels any such CAIO would be best served understanding that such a title may only last a generation or two before entire workforces understand, appreciate and embrace its power, making the need for an individual or team of AI experts an obsolete title.