Will Chief Trust Officers Redefine C-Suite Strategy?
The C-suite is continually evolving, expanding from a small group of traditional leadership roles to a broader set of specialised executives.
A study by Commvault, a leading provider of cyber resilience and data protection solutions for the hybrid cloud, reveals that 97% of UK business leaders believe it's about time to introduce a Chief Trust Officer (CTrO) to the C-suite.
According to another research report by Commvault and Gigamon, the majority of UK organisations believe there is an urgent need for modern defence and resilience capabilities, and also trust –- which they say is a pressing theme for the businesses of today.
Increasing pressures on trust
Surveying over 1,000 UK C-suite business leaders from companies with more than £100mn (US$135m) in annual revenue, the sample consists of responses from a series of leadership roles, - including: CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CTOs, CPOs and CSOs.
Beyond the overarching statistic that 97% of respondents believe a CTrO is needed, the study also highlights external factors increasing pressure on trust:
- 37% highlight the rise of AI
- 34% recognise data regulations
- 34% say persistent cybersecurity threats, including ransomware
What is a Chief Trust Officer?
Some 7% of respondents to the study acknowledged that no single leader holds full responsibility for ‘trust’, and accountability is split across Chief Operating Officers, Chief Information Security Officers and Chief Information Officers.
According to Commvault, this reflects an urgency to bring the efforts together and unite customer trust and regulation management under a single leader.
Discussing how resilience capabilities and trust come hand in hand, Danielle Sheer, Chief Trust Officer at Commvault, says: “Resilience is a strategic priority for global enterprises. Ten years ago, a data breach was a significant technical issue. Today it’s also a headline, a lawsuit, and a board level crisis, all in one.
“Leaders must now go beyond defending infrastructure to defending investor confidence, brand reputation and careers.
“Trust is an evolving category in the enterprise, and directly relevant to customer expectations and requirements.”
In the survey, Commvault reports that 31% of business leaders named customer trust and reputation management as a priority for a CTrOs –- along with 30% highlighting rapid crisis response to events like disinformation or data breaches.
Respondents also identified the most in-demand skills needed for the role –- including the following factors, which were chosen by over a quarter of them:
- Deep understanding of data privacy and regulatory frameworks
- Knowledge of AI governance and translating complex, emerging technologies for a diverse audience
- The ability to build and sustain stakeholder trust
CTrO outside of Commvault
CTrOs are already growing in the business industry, seen at Salesforce, a cloud-based software company providing CRM solutions, with Brad Arkin's introduction as CTrO in February 2024.
At the time, the company said: “Arkin will focus on working with customers, partners and the company’s external ecosystem to prioritise trust and security in an AI-first world.”
Introducing the role after 2023 was important, Salesforce added, because the year saw explosive growth of AI-powered services, yet a trust gap remained –- with businesses and customers expressing concern about the unethical use of security risks of technology.
In a conversation with Information Week around the time of his appointment, Brad said: “Honest conversations between vendors, customers and all stakeholders create an atmosphere of trust.”