The 2025 Federal CDO Survey

The role of chief data officer (CDO) in the federal government has reached a pivotal moment. Six years after the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Evidence Act) established the CDO function, the 2025 Federal Chief Data Officer Survey captures a maturing data leadership community navigating unprecedented transition. The Data Foundation’s sixth annual survey of federal chief data officers, conducted in collaboration with Deloitte, includes department-, agency-, and bureau-level chief data officers and statistical officials, documenting how CDOs are adapting to organizational change, workforce reductions, and the rapidly expanding intersection of data governance with artificial intelligence.

In 2025, federal CDOs operated against a complex backdrop: a new administration, government-wide workforce reductions, shifting reporting structures, and evolving responsibilities that increasingly integrate data and AI policy. Despite these challenges, the survey reveals continued progress in mission achievement and a growing recognition of the CDO’s strategic value. The long-awaited publication of the Office of Management and Budget’s implementation guidance for Title II of the Evidence Act provided essential clarity, though it simultaneously elevated new organization-specific implementation needs that will shape the CDO function in the years ahead.

Key findings from the 2025 Federal CDO Survey include: 

• AI integration has become central to the CDO mission. AI use across federal organizations increased from 67% in 2024 to 78% in 2025, reflecting heightened federal prioritization of AI. In 2025, 30% of CDOs also serve as CAIOs, and nearly all CDOs (96%) collaborate with AI leadership at least monthly, with 70% collaborating weekly. This close collaboration, combined with 64% of CDOs being “very” or “completely” involved in setting data governance policies for AI use, reflects both federal prioritization of AI and CDOs’ central role in ensuring responsible implementation through data governance. However, as CDO, CIO, and CAIO responsibilities increasingly overlap, CDOs call for clearer guidance on authorities. 
• Critical challenges and needs have become more evenly distributed across multiple areas. While financial and budgetary resources remain the top need for advancing CDO missions, the proportion of CDOs citing this constraint dropped from 88% in 2024 to 67% in 2025. This decline suggests that as the CDO function matures, challenges are becoming more evenly distributed across multiple areas (including data infrastructure) rather than being dominated by a single constraint. CDOs cited capacity constraints as their second most critical need for advancing their mission, and some expressed concerns about meeting statutory requirements, including OPEN Government Data Act implementation. More than half (57%) of CDOs report they are now operating with five or fewer FTEs, up from 36% in 2024. 
• The Federal CDO Council grew in value. The 2025 survey reveals the Council’s increasing importance to the CDO community. More than half (56%) of CDOs found the Council’s resources “very” or “completely” helpful, up from 47% in 2024 and 19% in 2023. CDOs particularly value the Council’s knowledge-sharing function, with 30% specifically highlighting opportunities to learn from other CDOs’ experiences. 
• External stakeholder engagement has declined. The 2025 CDO survey reveals decreased engagement with the private sector (from 72% to 57% reporting at least monthly collaboration) and the general public (from 40% to 28%). This decline in external stakeholder engagement contrasts with high levels of internal collaboration, particularly with AI leadership (96% collaborate at least monthly). The reduction in external engagement may reflect strategic prioritization of internal organizational needs given capacity constraints, but it raises concerns about CDOs’ ability to fulfill statutory requirements for open data and public engagement. This also raises concerns about the government’s ability to maintain knowledge about the rapidly changing technological capabilities of the private sector and capabilities the government may need to adopt in coming years. 

Based on the findings from the 2025 survey of federal CDOs, the Data Foundation and Deloitte offer the following recommendations: 

1. Ensure adequate CDO capacity. While CDOs have demonstrated continued progress on Evidence Act implementation, reported capacity constraints may limit their ability to effectively fulfill statutory requirements and meet growing demands. With implementation deadlines for OPEN Government Data Act requirements such as DCAT-US 3.0 in 2026, department and agency leaders must prioritize sustained resources (personnel and data infrastructure) for CDO offices to maintain and advance progress on quality data for trustworthy AI. CDOs should also be empowered to apply AI tools to their own operations as a way to improve efficiency in core data management functions. 
2. Harness AI potential by robust data governance. Harnessing AI’s full potential starts with robust data foundations and governance—clear data ownership, consistent definitions, high-quality pipelines, strong privacy/security controls, and traceable lineage—so AI outputs are accurate, compliant, and trusted. CDOs can lead the way by setting enterprise-wide standards, prioritizing high-value data products, and aligning stewards, risk, and technology teams around measurable data quality and accountability that enables responsible scaling of AI use cases.
3. Provide clarity around the role of CDOs. Organizational clarity about responsibilities and authorities becomes increasingly important as organizations adopt more sophisticated AI capabilities, including agentic AI systems that can operate with greater autonomy. Department and agency leaders should provide comprehensive guidance delineating the distinct yet complementary responsibilities of CDOs, CIOs, and CAIOs. 
4. Provide sustained CDO community support. As AI innovation increases the need for interagency data interoperability, the CDO Council’s coordinating function becomes even more important in ensuring that federal data management evolves cohesively rather than in fragmented agency-specific directions. Durable support and long-term predictability will allow the CDO Council to effectively serve the maturing CDO community. Further, by ensuring CDOs have the capacity to engage beyond their organizational boundaries, agencies can fulfill transparency requirements while maintaining awareness of data governance trends and innovations that may benefit government modernization. Public-private partnerships can also be leveraged for providing support to the CDO community through future technological and organizational transitions.  

CDOs have demonstrated remarkable adaptability and progress over six years of Evidence Act implementation. As the CDO function continues to mature and AI transforms federal operations, data leaders need sustained organizational commitment, clear authorities, and adequate capacity to fulfill their expanding mandates. By addressing the challenges documented in the 2025 Federal CDO Survey while building on demonstrated successes, the federal government can ensure that CDOs continue driving data-enabled transformation in an increasingly complex technological landscape.