(US and Canada) Wendy Batchelder, SVP of Global Data Governance & Chief Data Officer of Trust, Salesforce, speaks with Peggy Tsai, Chief Data Officer, BigID, about the impact of privacy regulations and making CDOs more efficient by expanding their role. 

Batchelder says privacy regulations such as GDPR and the CCPA impact organizations’ data governance programs. They’re making the data job more complicated worldwide.

However, she notes that privacy regulations also drive how data governance is perceived across organizations, which may not be a bad thing. The rules elevate the conversation about privacy and governance, which is no small feat.

Batchelder points out that many past regulations were challenging to implement initially but became more manageable. It could be the same with new privacy regulations, which eventually become part of a company’s DNA.

How can the chief data officer role expand? Based on her experiences, she says, CDOs can look at their position from a more holistic, collaborative perspective, bringing together areas such as RPA, ML, AI, and business process management. It’s an opportunity for organizations to ensure data officers have capabilities beyond core data management analytics and data science.