Chief automation officer

{{Short description|Corporate executive overseeing automation}}

The chief automation officer (CAO) is the manager overseeing an enterprises's digital automation and robotic process automation strategy.{{cite news |last1=Violino |first1=Bob |title=What is a chief automation officer? And do you need one? |url=https://www.cio.com/article/409222/what-is-a-chief-automation-officer-and-do-you-need-one.html |access-date=24 June 2024 |work=CIO |date=Mar 16, 2020 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Dickson |first1=Ben |title=A Chief Automation Officer could transform your business — here’s how |url=https://thenextweb.com/news/a-chief-automation-officer-could-transform-your-business-heres-how |access-date=24 June 2024 |work=TNW {{!}} Deep-Tech |date=6 December 2022 |language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Joseph |first1=Leslie |title=The Growing Need For A Chief Automation Officer |url=https://www.forrester.com/what-it-means/ep292-chief-automation-officer/ |website=Forrester |access-date=24 June 2024 |date=Nov 3, 2022}}

The position came to prominence following the growth of artificial intelligence.{{cite news |last1=McBride |first1=Aoibhinn |title=5 emerging tech job titles for 2023, and beyond |url=https://venturebeat.com/programming-development/5-emerging-tech-job-titles-for-2023-and-beyond/ |access-date=24 June 2024 |work=VentureBeat |date=5 September 2023}}{{cite web |last1=Freund |first1=Jakob |title=Why You Need a Chief Automation Officer in 2022 |url=https://www.dbta.com/BigDataQuarterly/Articles/Why-You-Need-a-Chief-Automation-Officer-in-2022-151797.aspx |website=Database Trends and Applications |access-date=24 June 2024 |date=8 March 2022}}

A chief automation officer may establish an "Automation Center of Excellence" (ACoE) to codify best practices within the organization.{{cite news |last1=Freund |first1=Jakob |title=Council Post: Do You Need A Chief Automation Officer? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/10/04/do-you-need-a-chief-automation-officer/ |access-date=24 June 2024 |work=Forbes |date=Apr 21, 2022 |language=en}}