We’ve heard of CEOs and CFOs, but CROs? As automation becomes more commonplace, businesses in certain industries might need to start thinking about hiring chief robotics officers. PwC estimates that right now, companies can automate approximately 45 percent of workplace activities, and by 2024, robotic automation will be a $3.5 billion industry in North America. This dramatic shift will pave the way for new training and career opportunities, and provide critical sources of employment across organizations. Part operations, part HR, and part IT, the CRO needs to be a forward-thinking, strategic operationist who can spot opportunities for automation while providing employees the training they’ll need to evolve and adapt. Essentially a liaison between the human workforce and the automated workforce, the position will become indispensable at companies that are increasingly looking at robotics to maximize their productivity. Many worry that automation will gut the job market, leaving huge swaths of the population unemployed; but this isn’t necessarily the case. Automation will create opportunity within workforces for employees to be retrained and gain new skills to perform more strategic, complex tasks, and the CRO will be leading this massive shift.