Who in the C-Suite Should Own AI?
"The question of who controls AI is the critical org-chart issue at the dawn of the AI era, and it will influence a company’s strategy, investment levels, and the distribution of power and influence among leaders. How can organizations decide? Sociologist Andrew Abbott developed one of the most insightful frameworks for understanding this problem in his landmark 1988 book, The System of Professions. Abbott showed that professional groups are locked in a perpetual contest over who controls which domains of work, and that major technological or social disruptions are the moments when those boundaries get redrawn. Applied to the C-suite, his theory reveals why the current scramble over AI will become heated, and it points to a practical way for leaders to move past the turf war and toward an organizational structure that actually works"
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The CIO felt the answer was obvious: agentic AI systems roll up to her. The COO countered that an agentic workforce is the definition of ops. The CFO noted that an AI system was already making underwriting decisions with direct P&L impact. The Chief Risk Officer observed that autonomous decision-making systems are a major risk exposure. The CHRO saw AI agents as functionally equivalent to workers, which partly fall under his remit. The Chief Data Officer reminded everyone that the whole kit and caboodle depended on the right permissions and data access, and this was her domain.
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professional groups are locked in a perpetual contest over who controls which domains of work, and that major technological or social disruptions are the moments when those boundaries get redrawn.
