Why every company suddenly wants an AI chief And the one thing that will make or break them. By Denham Sadler on Jul 23 2026 01:03 PM Print article Australian companies are embracing chief AI officers. Photo: Shutterstock Australian companies are following in the footsteps of the public sector and appointing chief AI officers in growing numbers. From the start of this month, all Commonwealth public service agencies are required to appoint an existing staff member as their chief AI officer. Of the 106 that are required to do so, just two failed to meet this deadline, and one of these agencies was only established at the start of the month. According to the government, the public sector chief AI officers’ main role is to act as a “port of call when the innovative implementation of generative AI hits fear, uncertainty and doubt” and be comfortable working with CIOs and CISOs to learn about generative AI, its application and associated technical concerns that may arise. “It is not about ignoring concerns, rather balancing them with the potential upsides and recognising safe and responsible adoption involves learning, experimentation and strategic nous,” the government said. Aussie companies get on board Now many Australian companies are also adopting chief AI officer roles, signalling an ambition to embrace the new technology. All big four banks now have a chief AI officer or similar. Westpac in May last year appointed a chief data, digital and AI officer, reporting to the bank’s CEO. In November, the Commonwealth Bank appointed a chief AI officer and ANZ named a chief data and AI officer in April. NAB appointed its own chief AI officer in March this year. Many global tech giants now also have chief AI officers, including the likes of Accenture, SAP, Mastercard and Dell Technologies. Homegrown tech giant Atlassian has a chief product and AI officer who is responsible for “driving the company’s vision for the future of teamwork in the age of AI”. The goal of the position is to “build AI-native, world-class products that set the standard for how millions of knowledge workers get things done”. According to research by Datacom, two in three Australian organisations will have appointed a Chief AI Officer by 2027. Critical to success According to Enterprise AI CEO and Adaptovate founder Douglas Ross, appointing this role isn’t enough – its success will hinge on where they sit within an organisation. Who the chief AI officer reports to sends a clear signal of whether a company is taking AI seriously or not, he said. “The reporting line is the clearest statement of intent,” Ross told Information Age. “Under the CFO, it’s about efficiency and cost takeout; under sales and marketing, it’s a revenue play. “Reporting to the CEO is where it belongs – that signals transformation and gives the roll full breadth across the business processes and customer journeys where the real value sits.” Ross said he regularly sees companies creating the chief AI officer role minus the authority needed to provide proper structural changes. “Appoint a transformation leader, not a rollout manager,” he said. “Give the role a CEO reporting line, a mandate spanning processes and customer journeys rather than tool deployment, and measurable business outcomes.” A chief AI officer should have a role covering much more than just the introduction of generative AI tools such as Copilot or ChatGPT, Ross said, with the key being “breadth”. “Critically, it’s not managing the rollout of Copilot, Claude or ChatGPT,” he said. “Outside engineering, personal productivity tools haven’t delivered obvious business value. “The real job is finding where generative AI can augment business processes and customer journeys. “Without one accountable executive with a whole-of-business view, AI stays a collection of productivity pilots – lots of activity, no outcome.” Specific AI roles within organisations are now commanding large salaries and are in high demand. According to a recent report, directors of AI in Australia are earning an average of $236,000 annually. Denham Sadler Denham Sadler is a freelance journalist based in Melbourne. He was previously Editor of StartupSmart, and writes on tech and politics. His work has been published in The Saturday Paper and The Guardian. Tags: ai officer ceo ciso cto