According to the IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Data and Analytics 2025 Predictions — Asia/Pacific (Excluding Japan) Implications, by 2028, 60% of Chief Data and Analytics Officers (CDAO) in Asia-based top 2000 companies will rival the CIO in terms of influence on enterprise spending in technology. This signals the growing role of CDAOs in shaping technology investments across the Asia/Pacific region and a shift in organizational priorities.
Traditionally, CIOs led technology decisions, focusing on IT systems, security, and innovation. However, as data has become a strategic business asset, CDAOs are increasingly responsible for data governance, compliance, and analytics strategies that support business goals. While CIOs continue to manage technology infrastructure, CDAOs ensure data initiatives create value and comply with regulations. This shift is especially pronounced in the Asia/Pacific emerging markets, where the rise of GenAI is revolutionizing how businesses collect, analyze, and use data to drive innovation and operational efficiency. As a result, CDAOs are taking on a central role in shaping technology strategies, complementing the CIO’s focus on IT systems while maximizing data’s value to drive business success.
“As enterprises embark on their Agentic AI journey, they must first establish a strong Enterprise Intelligence architecture—one that forms the foundation not only for Agentic AI but for AI in all its forms. Achieving this requires the adoption of unified data platforms that seamlessly integrate best-in-class capabilities in data intelligence, data quality, and multimodal data management,” says Deepika Giri, head of research, Big Data & AI, IDC Asia/Pacific including Japan (APJ) Research. “Amid this shift, CDAOs are emerging as key decision-makers. With data-driven strategies becoming the backbone of AI transformation, enterprises must empower CDAOs to lead the charge in building scalable, intelligent, and future-ready AI ecosystems,” ends Giri.
This study presents the top 10 predictions for Data and Analytics initiatives through 2030. Each prediction is assessed based on its impact (a mix of cost and complexity to address) and time frame to the expected stated adoption level. This study also highlights IT impact and guidance for technology buyers for each prediction statement. The following are some of the predictions representing the expected trends with potential impact on Data and Analytics initiatives:
Data and Model Governance: By 2026 only 25% of A2000 organizations will have aligned data intelligence with AI model intelligence to unify governance policies, practices, and technologies in the synthesis of data used with AI models.
Data Platforms: By 2027, over 50% of organizations in APeJ will be ready to use their data with GenAI due to the increased adoption of data platforms for data storage, standardization, and access.
Data Collaboration: By 2028, data collaboration via data exchanges and/or data clean rooms will have penetrated 70% of A2000 organizations.
Synthetic Data: By 2028 GenAI’s creation of synthetic data will improve the accuracy and reliability of predictive analytics by 40% in areas with limited data.
Data Security and Privacy: By the end of 2025, data security teams in A2000 companies will provide 40% of the information collected from their tools to other lines of business to provide unified governance across the business.
