Welcome to our third annual Europe and US Data, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence Executive Organization and Compensation Survey, which examines both organizational structure and compensation for executive roles with artificial intelligence and/or data analytics responsibilities.

For this report, Heidrick & Struggles compiled compensation data from a survey fielded in summer 2023 of 201 executives in Europe and the United States. 

We hope you enjoy reading the survey. As always, suggestions are welcome, so please feel free to contact us—or your Heidrick & Struggles representative—with questions and comments.

Executive Summary

As organizations across all industries face the challenge of adapting ever faster to various tech-based innovations such as generative AI, data and analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI), technology leaders are becoming critical to organizations’ strategy and execution. The results of our survey highlight this growing importance. In 2023, 65% of respondents say they are in a role that has existed at their company for less than five years—a drop from over three-quarters a year ago. This suggests that these roles are becoming more established within organizations across industries and that the technology function is continuing to mature.

Most respondents report a wide array of functions reporting to them, from data science and engineering to machine learning, emphasizing the expansive remit and critical nature of data, analytics, and AI expertise across organizations. In addition, respondents most often report to the chief digital officer (CDO), chief technology officer (CTO), or chief information officer (CIO) or the CEO, and there was a notable increase in the percentage reporting to the CDO, CTO, or CIO. This speaks to the historical, ongoing desire of technology leadership functions to own all technology responsibilities in organizations. 

As for how these organizations are adapting to new technology innovations, results are mixed. Almost half of respondents think that their board mostly or to a large extent has sufficient expertise on data and analytics, but only 29% say the same about AI and machine learning. Regarding AI, in particular:

• A notable 10% of respondents overall said their company does not currently have an AI strategy leader. 
• Thirty-seven percent of respondents think that their company’s AI, data, and analytics function is either industry-leading or among the best, and 12% think they have significant room for improvement.
• Customer or technical service and product development are currently the areas in which respondents are most commonly using AI. 
• Despite the huge increase in attention being paid to AI this year, just over half of respondents, 52%, indicated they don’t have adequate funding to build the data and analytics program their company needs. 
• Two years from now, 57% expect to be using AI for recruitment and HR, up from 17%, and the area where respondents expect the biggest increase in usage.
• Only 29% of respondents said that generative AI specifically was contributing to a measurable business improvement today. Forty-five percent said they have not seen measurable business improvement yet because they are currently piloting the use of AI before implementing it more widely.

As to compensation, reported average total compensation, including any annualized equity grants, for data, analytics, and artificial intelligence executives in the United States was $1,134,000. In Europe, it was $565,000. Average total cash compensation was $605,000 in the United States and $382,000 in Europe.

For full organization and compensation data, download the complete report. 

About the authors

Ryan Bulkoski (rbulkoski@heidrick.com) is a partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ San Francisco office and global head of the AI, Data & Analytics Practice.

Frédéric Groussolles (fgroussolles@heidrick.com) is a partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ Paris office and a member of the global Technology & Services and AI, Data & Analytics practices.

Sebastian Holmer (sholmer@heidrick.com) is a principal in Heidrick & Struggles’ Munich office and a member of the global Technology & Services and AI, Data & Analytics practices.