Do you have what it takes?
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Factories once had “chief electricity officers.” The title sounds quaint today, but when manufacturing shifted from steam power to electricity in the early 20th century, companies needed leaders who could redesign workflows and operations for a new power source. Only once electricity became embedded everywhere did the role fade.
Retail is now at the same kind of turning point. Artificial intelligence is not a feature or a tactic—it is a transformative capability that will redefine merchandising, supply chains and most importantly how customers discovery, choose, and buy products. And just as brands once relied on Chief Digital Officers to steer them into the e-commerce era, today they need Chief AI Officers (CAIOs) to cut through inertia and embed AI where it matters.
From Algorithms to Strategy
The early signal came more than a decade ago from Stitch Fix. In 2012, the subscription apparel company appointed Eric Colson as Chief Algorithms Officer from Netflix. His job wasn’t about back-office IT; it was about making algorithms core to the business model. Recommendations, styling, and inventory all ran through machine learning. At the time, it seemed unusual, now it seems prescient.
By 2019, heritage brands were catching on. Levi Strauss & Co. named Katia Walsh as SVP and Chief Strategy and AI Officer, a role reporting to the CEO. Levi’s was explicit: AI was not just a technical skill, but a strategic driver of growth and efficiency. Walsh’s remit covered data platforms, digital transformation, and embedding AI into marketing, merchandising, and operations.
These early moves framed AI as something bigger than an engineering tool. They positioned it as a change agent for the enterprise.
The New Wave of CAIOs
Uber Head of Driver Product Daniel Danker addresses the audience during an Uber products launch event in San Francisco, California, on September 26, 2019. – Uber on Thursday unveiled a new version of its smartphone app that weaves together services from shared rides to public transit schedules while adding more security features. The upgraded app is intended to let Uber users see, and ideally tap into, the company’s array of options for getting around or having restaurant meals delivered. (Photo by Philip Pacheco / AFP) (Photo credit should read PHILIP PACHECO/AFP via Getty Images)
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Fast forward to this year, and the pace has accelerated. Walmart named Daniel Danker EVP of AI Acceleration, Product and Design, a role reporting directly to CEO Doug McMillon. Pairing AI with product and design makes clear this isn’t about IT plumbing—it’s about redefining how the world’s largest retailer creates value for customers, associates, and suppliers.
Just days later, Lululemon announced its first Chief AI & Technology Officer, hiring Ranju Das as part of a planned CIO transition. By explicitly putting “AI” in the title, Lululemon sent a message to employees, investors, and competitors: the future of product development, personalization, and guest experience will be powered by artificial intelligence.
These are not one-off experiments. They are structural statements that AI has reached the boardroom.
Why a Chief AI Officer Matters
Every disruptive technology arrives with the same paradox: incumbent organizations struggle to invest in tomorrow while serving today’s P&Ls. Clayton Christensen called this the innovator’s dilemma. Typical retail organizaitons are filled with status-quo anti-bodies that immedately see new ideas as a threat and attack it. Early in the digital shift, companies broke the institutional inertia by creating Chief Digital Officers. AI now requires a similar solution.
A Chief AI Officer is not a figurehead. When designed correctly, the role:
- Translates complexity into outcomes: tying AI initiatives to growth, margin, and customer value.
- Drives cultural change: making AI everyone’s job, not just IT’s.
- Sets guardrails: balancing innovation with data privacy, risk management, and brand reputation.
- Creates momentum: by focusing on lighthouse initiatives that prove impact fast.
Designing the Role for Success
Retailers considering the hire should be intentional. The most effective CAIOs report to the CEO, giving them the authority to cut across merchandising, stores, supply chain, and marketing. Others may blend the role with a CIO or Chief Data Officer when data infrastructure is the gating factor, but they should always have the clear sponsorship of the CEO, and the CEO must see themselves as an AI change agent. One famous retail CEO has taken to starting every meeting by asking “how did you use AI to prepare for this meeting?”
Boards should look for leaders with both product DNA and commercial acumen. It’s not enough to have built models; the right candidate has scaled them, measured impact, and killed pilots that didn’t pay off. They know when AI is a transformative capability—and when it’s hype.
For the executive stepping in, success comes from dual accountability: proving quick wins while building durable foundations. Within 100 days, a CAIO should have a credible governance framework in place and at least a few high-impact use cases live in customer or operational settings.
What Success Looks Like
It’s hard to lose weight, without a scale. Metrics for AI leadership should go beyond pilots, demos, and press releases. Investors should expect to see:
- Revenue impact: higher conversion, repeat purchases, or basket size.
- Operational efficiency: improved forecasting, labor productivity, or inventory turns.
- Risk reduction: fewer fraud incidents or compliance issues.
- Customer experience: Contextually relevant personalization and targeting, faster service resolution and higher satisfaction scores.
- Platform health: model performance, reuse across business units, and declining cost per inference.
Avoiding the Pitfalls
Retailers should also guard against familiar traps:
- AI theater: flashy prototypes with no deployment.
- Pilot purgatory: too many small tests, no scale.
- Vendor sprawl: dozens of overlapping tools without governance.
- Narrow remit: focusing only on generative AI in marketing while ignoring the bigger value pools in supply chain and operations.
The Endgame
History suggests the CAIO role will be transitional. Just as we no longer appoint chief electricity officers and many companies no longer need CDOs, AI fluency will eventually become ambient across every function. But that’s not a reason to delay.
The real mistake isn’t hiring a Chief AI Officer you may not need five years from now. It’s failing to empower one when you need them most.
Retailers who understand the magnatude of AIs impact will ensure they have someone at the very top whose mandate is to make the future arrive sooner.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasongoldberg/2025/08/27/your-most-important-retail-hire-might-be-obsolete-in-five-years/
