The CIO role and integration of a Chief Data Officer (CDO) is a growing hot button for many companies. And theCUBE cohosts Dave Vellante, Wikibon chief analyst, and Paul Gillin, SiliconANGLE enterprise editor, concluded a successful MIT CDOIQ Symposium with a discussion about the future of these two roles.

Vellante argued that the CDO role is still “stuck” with the challenge of delivering something of value.

Gillin said that although the CDO role is “up in the air, there is a need for elevated awareness of data and data governance.” He wondered if the CDO role could be symbolic. “The title may not have a lot of staying power, but it serves to get companies organized and data driven,” he said.

Can CIOs lead?

The cohosts also discussed whether talk of a CDO means the CIO has failed. Not necessarily. “We’re in a transition stage,” said Gillin. “Infrastructure is going away in the next 10 years. Does the CIO become CDO? And do they have skill set to do that?”

Vellante argued that only a small percentage of CIOs today have the skills to be an effective business leader. “There are pockets of CIOs that are driving hard toward new business models,” he said. “They’re moving everything they can toward the Cloud. I’d say that less than 10 percent are qualified to run a business P&L. The vast majority are overseers of infrastructure. But I do see that role changing. The dynamics are going to crate a vacuum, and people with right skills will fill that vacuum.”

Gillum said that the Cloud could make much of the CIO’s role irrelevant.

“IT is becoming utility — programmable utility,” added Vellante. “The successful CIO will serve new application development that’s driven by mobile and analytics. Their role as a data steward is limited.”

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of MITCDOIQ Symposium 2015.

Photo by SiliconANGLE