Over a third of major UK companies have appointed a CDO

More UK CDOs have a background in marketing than technology

More than a third (35 per cent) of the UK's largest companies have appointed a Chief Digital Officer (CDO) or equivalent, according to a new study of digital leadership by PwC's strategy consulting business Strategy&.

This is significantly higher than the global average of 19 per cent, which itself has trebled since 2015, but is still lower than France, where 62 per cent of companies have a digital leader, and Germany (39 per cent).

The study found that the UK insurance industry is the most likely to have a digital leader in the UK (67 per cent); followed by telecoms, media and entertainment (56 per cent); food, beverages and agriculture (50 per cent); and banking (47 per cent). More than a third of consumer products, retail or wholesale companies had a CDO, while only a quarter of the technology and electronics sector had a digital leader in place.

Meanwhile, digital leaders in the UK are less likely to have a technology background (29 per cent) compared to their international counterparts (41 per cent). In fact, nearly half (48 per cent) have a background in marketing, sales or customer services, compared to a third globally. Almost a fifth (19 per cent) had a background in consulting, strategy and business development.

In regards to recruitment, there is an even split in how CDOs in the UK were given the task as a digital leader; with 50 per cent having been recruited internally and another 50 per cent being external hires.

Strategy& also found that just over a fifth (21.4 per cent) of the UK's digital leaders were considered ‘C-level', which is relatively low compared to the global finding of 40 per cent. However, a large proportion were still senior executives - 38.1 per cent being directors and 4.8 per cent being vice presidents.

Strategy& examined the top 2,500 public companies around the world by market capitalisation, including 120 in the UK. The study defined the CDO as the executive, no matter of the title, who has been given the task of putting into practice the digital mission of his or her company or business unit.

Its findings were similar to the 2017 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey - which found that three quarters of organisations globally don't have a CDO or someone serving in that capacity. However, Harvey Nash found that 69 per cent of organisations had no CDO and no intention of hiring one, while six per cent didn't have a CDO but were planning to hire someone in that capacity.