Data science has undergone seismic shifts over the past decade, and Peter Wang, CTO and cofounder of Continuum Analytics, Inc., knows that Chief Data Officers (CDOs) must be the first to embrace new developments in this dynamic field.

“CDOs need to provide strategic vision. They must lean into the change and be resilient,” Wang told Stu Miniman (@stu) and Paul Gillin (@pgillin), cohosts of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE media team, during the MIT CDOIQ Symposium. Wang will addressed this topic during a session he led at the Symposium entitled “The ‘D’ in CDO Stands for Disruption.”

Why should a CDO be so disruptive, anyways? According to Wang, it’s a CDO’s responsibility to disrupt stagnant ideas about data and data governance. “CDOs have to charter changing mindsets on how we can have cross-functional and integrative approaches to data,” he explained.

The evolving role of the CDO

After all, the position of CDO is a relatively new one — which means that it’s a role that’s often open to interpretation. “The position of CDO is one that’s constantly being redefined,” Wang said. “CDOs must be able to lay out strategies in a time of great change across IT and computational environments.”

These days, data strategy can make or break a company, and Wang stressed the importance of being open to innovation. “Data flows everywhere,” he said. “The CDO needs to be open to software outside their own firms and be the conductor of all that data.”

Watch the full video below and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of the MIT CDOIQ Symposium.

Photo by SiliconANGLE