Short answers, pulled from the story.
A chief product officer is a corporate executive responsible for all product-related matters in an organization. This typically includes product strategy, product vision, product innovation, product design, product development, project management, and product marketing. In many technology companies the role also covers distribution, manufacturing, and procurement.
The chief product officer is to the business's product what the chief technology officer is to technology. The CPO owns every product decision, while the CTO owns every technology decision. The two roles are distinct but often closely connected in technology-driven organizations.
Chief product officers are most common in technology companies. They are also found in organizations where technology plays a large role in serving customers, with banks and newspapers cited as prominent examples.
The chief product officer is sometimes known as head of product. Both titles refer to the same executive function within an organization.
The CPO takes the overall business strategy and translates it into a product strategy, then deploys that alignment throughout the organization. This bridging function ensures that product teams build in a direction that matches what the company is trying to achieve.
Banks and newspapers are organizations where technology now forms a large part of how they serve customers. Digital products such as mobile banking apps and online editions have become central to their operations, making a dedicated product executive a structural necessity.