Research from Commvault shows that the majority of UK business leaders believe it is time to add a Chief Trust Officer (CTrO) to the C-Suite.
The study, which surveyed 1,000 UK C-Suite business leaders from companies with more than £100 million in annual revenue, found that 97% of respondents believe the Chief Trust Officer role is urgently needed to improve trust in data, technology, and governance. The leading external factors increasing pressure to focus on trust in these areas are the rise of AI (37%), cross-border data regulations (34%), and persistent cybersecurity threats, including ransomware (34%).
Current accountability for these areas is often fragmented across COOs, CISOs, and CIOs. The Chief Trust Officer role would bring these efforts together, uniting customer trust, security, and regulatory management under a single leader as a resilience imperative.
“Resilience is a strategic priority for global enterprises. Ten years ago, a data breach was a significant technical issue. Today it is 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,” said Danielle Sheer, Chief Trust Officer at Commvault. “Trust is an evolving category in the enterprise, and directly relevant to customer expectations and requirements.”
When asked what a Chief Trust Officer should prioritise, business leaders named customer trust and reputation management (31%), and rapid crisis response to events such as disinformation or data breaches (30%). These priorities reflect the broad and diverse nature of digital trust.
To address these priorities, respondents identified the most in-demand skills for the role, including:
- Deep understanding of data privacy and regulatory frameworks (28%)
- Knowledge of AI governance and the ability to translate complex, emerging technologies for a diverse audience (27%)
- The ability to build and sustain stakeholder trust (27%)
Methodology
This survey was conducted independently for Commvault by Censuswide. It reflects the views of 1,000 UK business leaders from companies with revenue of more than £100 million.
