The Chief Trust Officer: Essential New C-Suite Executive

97% of UK organisations say the Chief Trust Officer is essential as AI, cyber, and data challenges surge

READING, England, Sept. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- New research from Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT), a leading provider of cyber resilience and data protection solutions for the hybrid cloud, reveals an overwhelming majority of UK business leaders believe it's time to add a Chief Trust Officer (CTrO) to the C-Suite. This study reveals insights into boardroom thinking as more companies in the UK and globally are challenged with protecting corporate reputations and maintaining stakeholder confidence.

In this research, 7% of respondents acknowledged that no single leader holds full responsibility; accountability is fragmented across COOs, CISOs, and CIOs. The research suggests there is urgency to bring these efforts together and unite customer trust, security, and regulation management under a single leader.

It's no surprise that trust is a pressing theme among businesses. According to another recent research report from Commvault and GigaOm, the majority of UK organizations believe there is an immediate need for modern defense and resilience capabilities, and also for trust.

"Resilience is a strategic priority for global enterprises. Ten years ago, a data breach was a significant technical issue. Today it's 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, Commvault. "Trust is an evolving category in the enterprise, and directly relevant to customer expectations and requirements."

Unique combination of expertise and skills

When asked what a CTrO should prioritise, business leaders named customer trust and reputation management (31%) and rapid crisis response to events like 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 needed for the role, including:

• Deep understanding of data privacy and regulatory frameworks (28%)
• Knowledge of AI governance and translating complex, emerging technologies for a diverse audience (27%)
• The ability to build and sustain stakeholder trust (27%)

Rising AI and cybersecurity threats drive demand for Trust

The study, which surveyed 1,000 UK C-Suite business leaders from companies with more than £100m annual revenue, found that 97% of respondents believe the CTrO 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%).

Research Methodology
This survey was conducted independently and exclusively for Commvault by Censuswide. It reveals the views of 1,000 UK business leaders, from companies with revenue of over £100 million.

The sample comprised of CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CTOs, CIOs, CISOs, CMOs, Chief People Officers (CPO), Chief Sustainability Officers (CSO), Chief Compliance Officers (CCO), Chief ESG Officers (CESGO), and Chief Trust Officers (CTrO). Data for this report was collected in June 2025. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society, follows the MRS code of conduct and ESOMAR principles, and is also a member of the British Polling Council. 

About Commvault
Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT) is the gold standard in cyber resilience, helping more than 100,000 organisations keep data safe and businesses resilient and moving forward. Today, Commvault offers the only cyber resilience platform that combines the best data security and rapid recovery at enterprise scale across any workload, anywhere – at the lowest TCO. 

SOURCE COMMVAULT