The Data Chief

Giving ABC’s more meaning, in this episode of The Data Chief host Cindi Howson, engages in a captivating conversation with Nisha Paliwal, the managing VP of Enterprise Data Technology at Capital One. Nisha dives into her multifaceted role as a tech leader, visionary, and advocate for STEM education. The discussion traverses topics ranging from the impact of technology on younger generations to the future of work in the era of AI. With insights into Nisha's unique ABC leadership framework and Capital One's innovative culture, this episode offers a rich exploration of data leadership and human-centered tech strategy. Key Moments:The impact of technology on younger generations [3:05]Nisha’s leadership style: The ABC Framework [5:02]The future of work and AI’s impact [15:56]Mitigating risks and building trust in AI [20:20]The importance of data in AI [25:22]Capital One’s culture of innovation [31:18] Key Quotes:“Let's just be who we are and bring the best in others too. So all the people who I work with, bring their best self to work and are comfortable with whoever they want to be.” “I think AI might not be for everybody to start with. I think it's okay to wait and watch. I think it's okay to let it bake because again, these things are not cheap either, right? These require a lot of investment upfront.” “Data is the king these days, we have a lot of investment in data, we have about 1000 plus people and I'm here to serve them, to serve the organization, serve our product – I care about what we build.” Mentions:Databricks IBMHyperautomationGenerative AIThe Secrets of AI Value Creation Bio:Nisha Paliwal is Managing Vice President of Enterprise Data Technology at Capital One, where she has held a variety of leadership roles over more than eight years. An accomplished leader, visionary technologist, and passionate change agent, she has been a relentless advocate for leveraging technology and data insights to create true business value for more than 20 years. At Capital One, she also actively contributes to and holds leadership roles in the Women in Tech and Origins business resource groups (BRGs). Nisha has a big heart for her associates and desires for them to feel valued, engaged and psychologically safe. With a passion for introducing young girls to technology, she also mentors others and supports several STEM-focused non profits, with a long-term vision of bringing more women into the ranks of technology leadership. Nisha volunteers her personal time with three non-profits - Boolean Girls, CodeVa, and WingsForGrowth, which focus on STEM education for K-12 and education for women in leadership-related topics.Nisha is an avid learner who made the jump from microbiology to the tech world after teaching herself C# programming. She continues her life-long pursuit of learning by reading, listening to podcasts, and participating in internal and external speaking engagements.Nisha has recently co-authored a book “The Secrets of AI Value Creation,” published by Wiley, in her pursuit of learning and sharing those learnings with the community in the form of this book. Order Nisha’s new book, The Secrets of AI Value Creation now. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

On this episode of The Data Chief, Katie Russell, Data Director at OVO Energy shares OVO’s transformative journey to become a sustainable energy leader, emphasizing the shift to Google Cloud Platform and a data mesh strategy. The discussion covers OVO's innovative use of generative AI, measuring success through customer savings, and the ongoing challenge of fostering a data-driven culture.Key Moments: OVO’s mission and data support [1:05]Data transformation [7:37]Technology modernization [11:17]Data discoverability and data mesh [17:28]Measuring business contribution [22:03]Generative AI and data privacy [27:56]Data-driven culture and trust [30:51]Key Quotes: "We chose Google Cloud Platform as our underlying data platform with BigQuery then as the data warehouse. The thesis being that they practically invented the technology and so should be good at it." “My job is to represent my team, make sure that we're working on the right things, and then, build trust with the leadership community that we're doing the right things with data for the business.”"I'm thinking that there might actually be a bit of a full circle on data privacy and sharing. I think with ChatGPT being so easy to use with its really human-centered design and with social media ups and downs over the last few years, I'm wondering if there's going to be a revolution in data privacy and data sharing and personal data." Mentions: SQL buddies programPython programGoogle CloudBigQueryMonte CarloGenerative AIChatGPTBio: Katie Russell is the Data Director at OVO Energy, leading teams of Data Scientists, Data Engineers and Analysts who are transforming OVO’s data capability. As part of a technology led business, leveraging data using artificial intelligence keeps OVO truly innovative, delivering the best possible service for our customers. Katie joined OVO in October 2017 having spent 5 years at ONZO - an energy analytics startup - as Head of Data Science. During that time she was chuffed to be awarded Big Data Hero by techUK in June 2016 and helped ONZO win multiple awards for their innovative solutions for utilities. Prior to that Katie worked for another analytics start up in the water industry, got a PhD in Mathematical Physics and holds a BA and MMath from the University of Cambridge. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

You’ve heard the term data science, but have you heard about decision science? Juergen Kallinger, VP of Data and Insights at HP, shares valuable insights and reflections from his 22-year journey at HP. In this episode, Juergen dives into HP’s pivotal shift from solely reporting, to the dynamic realm of decision science and how it’s aligned their data team.Key Moments: Balancing technical skills and business acumen [7:16]The analogy of being a great cook [9:24]Maintaining proximity to business stakeholders [16:55]Adjusting the language for different audiences [22:35]The evolution of data science and decision science [32:48]The excitement and potential of AI [37:19]Key Quotes: “I talk a lot about extreme ownership. We're in the data world and we're at the end of a very long chain of things that have to work for us to be able to deliver high-quality data analytics and insights to our business users. We cannot assume that everything upstream always works and is always perfect and we just rely on the very last mile.” “Data is like water. It's vital for our survival in the modern business world." "The more tech buzzwords there are, the less I would use them with the business teams. I would more focus on the business outcomes and what we enable. It's important to talk about the implications of strong data governance, aligning to the same metrics, enabling specific insights, and guaranteeing higher data quality to build trust in the data."Mentions: Data warehouseData migrationData quality improvementDecision scienceGenerative AIBio: Together with his team, Juergen is currently responsible for HPs Data, Business Insights & Analytics globally. His team of consultants, project managers, solution architects & developers is responsible for the design & delivery of data products, business intelligence and analytics solutions to HPs Commercial (Sales, Category, Operations), Finance, Supply Chain, Services, Customer Support & Digital Transformation teams globally. He joined HP in November 2001 as Project Analyst in Vienna, Austria and has held several regional and worldwide management positions since then. During his career at HP Juergen worked in a wide range of international roles where he gained deep insight into HP’s core processes and systems globally covering Marketing, Sales, Pricing, Category, Configuration & Quote as well as Finance and Sales Compensation. In 2022, Juergen has been appointed to lead the HP-wide Data, Business Insights & Analytics organization to introduce a more modern, consistent, and efficient Business Intelligence operating model, data & platform strategy. Before joining HP, Juergen has worked for BASF and a local tax advisory company in Vienna. Juergen graduated with a master’s degree in economics from the Vienna University of Economics & Business and completed an executive education program for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Stanford University. Together with his wife, Juergen moved to Houston, Texas in January 2014. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Gen-AI, Gen-AI, Gen-AI. The transformative technology has captured the imagination of everyone in the tech industry. Industries are shifting before our eyes, and the roles and responsibilities of data practitioners everywhere are going to shift again. The question is not whether an impact will be made, but what will the impact be? In this episode, Cindi sits down with 3 industry leaders to discuss how AI will impact our work and our personal lives in 2024. Sandy Carter shares how a severe injury in Brazil impacted her outlook on data sharing, and data verification in a world where AI can convince millions that the Pope wears puffy jackets. Jai Das sees a gap in educating technical workers if AI is too widely adopted. Prab Pritchandi shares how the financial industries will modernize in a heavily regulated environment. Industry Predictions: There will be an intersection of AI Privacy and blockchain technology that will be poised to reshape the entire landscape of proof of ownership. And therefore, also revolutionize data sharing practices. We will go and move into a decentralized proof of ownership because of the increasing use of Gen AI and the fear of deep fakes. (34:15) - Sandy CarterGenerative AI is going to get rid of a lot of the grunt work that we have day to day. Including some of the groundwork in data prep, some of the groundwork that analysts have to do, or even understanding reports and dashboards. I think the fear about [AI] getting really smart and destroying the world is really far-fetched. All of the LLMs and all of these GPT 5 and all of these models, they're great [but] they're not really reasoning. They're not right. They're great at getting some information and putting it in a new form. They don't come up with anything original. So I'm not actually fearful of [AI] replacing humans. (14:30) - Jai Das90 percent of the data available in the world has been created in the last one year.And every year the amount of data is actually increasing. I could say data is really a good digital twin of your business [but] that itself is not a value unless you're able to convert this data to insights and then convert the insights to actionable insights. (1:06:00)- Prab Pitchandi Key MomentsJai observes 2023 AI startups are missing profitable business models (10:55)Jai identifies a gap in education. Developers are trained through repetition. But what happens when repetition is replaced by AI (24:53)Sandy breaks her femur and surgery is delayed by 48 hours due to data (34:54)Sandy says, Taylor Swift is Web 3.0 (46:30)Prab compares banking data and analytics to cricket (51:27)Prab wonders if Formula 1 can be driverless (1:07:00) Mentions: Microsoft CoPilotGoogle GeminiMidjourneyOpenAITop 10 data and analytics trends 2024The Year GenAI Comes to Fruition: 10 Enterprise Tech Trends Set to Define 2024 Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

The world's top data and analytics leaders share their stories on the The Data Chief. New episodes return in January 2024. Until then, take a look at some of the previous episodes and hear case studies, industry insights, and personal lessons from the executives leading the data revolution. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Description:On this episode, Benn Stancil, Co-Founder of Mode Analytics and current Field CTO at Thoughtspot shares his thoughts on who wants to use data to solve problems, and who just wants data to validate an opinion. He brings unique perspectives to how data excellence can be proliferated through an organization, whether shadow IT is a nuisance or a guide post, and how large language models will influence the future of data. Key Moments:How an internal analytics tool Benn built at Yammer led to starting Mode Analytics to serve the new breed of technical data teams (4:00)Why the urgency around BI consolidation in 2023 prompted conversations with ThoughtSpot (52:30) The risks of shadow tools and lack of consistency; importance of a centralized data infrastructure (26:30)Using natural language search as an interface for asking novel questions and changing how people use data (44:00)Data teams need visibility into the business context; centralization for infrastructure but decentralization to embed in business units (23:30)How ambition plays an outsized role in the type of data tools selected in an organization (17:58)Key Quotes:Courage, ultimately, is needed in making a decision that you have to own. [Unfortunately], data can be a punt. If you make a data driven decision, nobody made the decision. The data made the decision. There is like an abstraction there of who was actually responsible for it. What ends up happening [in shadow IT] is you spend all this time just trying to figure out, like, which one do you trust? Who's right? Everybody has their different perspectiveGood Googlers are not people that know the, the exact syntax of weird Google searches. Good Googlers are the people who have some spider sense about where to go looking for things. And I think AI is probably going to be similar to that, where it's not the crazy prompt engineers that'll make it good. It’s like some of the next level spider sense skills that we don’t know yet.MentionsRShadow ITMicrosoft acquires YammerLarge Language Models (LLMs)ModeBioBenn Stancil is ThoughtSpot’s Field CTO. He joined ThoughtSpot in 2023 as part of its acquisition of Mode, where he was a Co-Founder and CTO. While at Mode, Benn held roles leading Mode’s data, product, marketing, and executive teams. He regularly writes about data and technology at benn.substack.com. Prior to founding Mode, Benn worked on analytics teams at Microsoft and Yammer.Personal Details:- Enjoys playing baseball and is a Braves fan- Favorite pump up song: "Labour" by Paris Paloma- Grateful for opportunities to travel and gain new perspectives Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Diana Schildhouse, Chief Analytics and Insights Officer at Colgate-Palmolive, discusses driving business value through analytics, ensuring executives are data fluent, innovating with AI, and her career path through iconic brands like Mattel and Disney.Key MomentsListening Tours: How 100’s of one-on-one conversations helped to narrow in on which business problems could be solved with data and quickly lead to business value (4:50)Working to benchmark the company against its industry helped to establish the business impact and value of data (6:41)Transforming from pockets of excellence to uniform excellence. Spreading data excellence as a way to increase data transformation (8:00)Increasing data literacy via its own data education and recognition program, Data Literacy and Analytics Academy. (9:52)Because product development lifecycles are so long, data plays a massive role in understanding consumer trends and what consumers will want in the future (19:46)Use case driven innovation drives business value fastest. (22:46)Data Clean rooms and partner collaboration is the key to generating useful 1st party data (25:06)How a center-led hybrid enabled global teams to improve data utilization at Colgate-Palmolive (31:21)Co-Creation helps create both nuance for specific teams and applicability for broader teams (33:21)Key QuotesThe approach of let's take five years and invest in data and get it to a perfect spot and then we can start doing analytics and showing that value is just not one that any company has patience for.That co-creation is so important to us, because..if the business doesn’t understand what a solution is supposed to help them do, it won't be adopted.We try to be laser focused on what we think will move the business versus starting with the data. We're not trying to boil the ocean. It's hard to show value and progress when you're not delivering tools that can actually help the business make a decision today or tomorrow.MentionsDataIQ 100Boston Consulting GroupMattelCDOIQDataCampCredlyRevenue Growth ManagementClean RoomsBioDiana Schildhouse is Chief Analytics and Insights Officer at Colgate-Palmolive. She previously held analytics leadership roles at Mattel and The Walt Disney Company. Diana has an undergraduate degree in Business and Finance from USC and an MBA from Harvard.Personal DetailsFavorite activities outside of work: walking her golden doodle named Bagel, spending time with family, movies, readingSong that pumps her up: "Who Run the World (Girls)" by BeyonceGrateful for close friendships with "personal board of directors" from business schoolSeen the Barbie movie 3 times and loved it Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

DescriptionAs the world’s seventh largest retailer, Carrefour is using advanced analytics to transform operations, better serve customers, and pioneer the future of retail. Chief Data & Analytics Officer Sebastien Rozanes explains how the company is leveraging data and generative AI to drive measurable business value across merchandising, supply chain, marketing and more.Key Moments:How a strong data foundation and data monetization mindset accelerated data maturity at Carrefour (5:46)Selling data to CPGs to improve collaboration and justify data investments (20:57)The "data supermarket" analogy to get business leaders invested in data quality (30:39)Reducing friction by enabling suppliers and retailers to work from the same data facts (32:33)Starting with imagination not limitations to identify AI opportunities (42:08)Leveraging ChatGPT to transform the ecommerce shopping experience (45:10)Key Quotes“It's okay to be 5% wrong, but 95% right…[with the time you free up] you will make up much more value than trying to optimize the last 5%.”“The role of Chief Data Analytics Officer goes way beyond the technology. It's 10 percent about technology, 20 percent about data, but actually 70 percent about transformation and adoption.”“Generative AI is a game changer for efficiency and helping us focus on human creativity.”Mentions: ParisGoogle CloudMIT CDO ForumWharton SchoolData LakesData CatalogsCarrefour LinksGenerative AIChatGPTBioSebastien Roznes is the Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Carrefour, a top 10 global retailer serving 80 million customers across more than 40 countries, including 8 countries with direct operations. Prior to joining Carrefour, Sebastien served as a Principal and Associate Director with the Boston Consulting Group with a focus in Digital, AI, and Data-Driven Transformations for Multinational Consumer Goods and Industrial Goods businesses. His educational background focuses on both Computer Science and Business providing him with unique insights on how data can serve the business. Learn more from Sebastien and how data is transforming retail on The Data Chief. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

It’s that time of year again. On this episode of The Data Chief, Cindi dives into three of the hottest book recommendations for data and analytics leaders and sits down with Dr. Barb Wixom, author of Data is Everybody’s Business, Vin Vashishta, author of From Data to Profit, and Asha Saxena, author of The AI Factor.Key Moments:Introducing Dr. Barb Wixom (2:10)Barb’s desire to continue helping people in the data industry (2:57) (Barb)The different types of organizational leaders (8:21) (Barb)Creating value from data (10:50) (Barb)The selling framework (16:42) (Barb)A financial services case study (21:56) (Barb)Introducing Vin Vashishta (27:18) (Vin)The importance of companies having a single playbook (28:08) (Vin)Benefits of a value-based approach (32:52) (Vin)Starting with a problem statement (34:58) (Vin)When a lack of data literacy becomes problematic (38:46) (Vin)Driving culture change (40:30) (Vin)Introducing Asha Saxena (46:12)What is Women Leaders in Data and AI? (48:27) (Asha)The four-quadrant framework for deploying AI (52:11) (Asha)Case Study: How an Animal Shelter leveraged AI (55:44) (Asha)How to use AI ethically and responsibly (59:32) (Asha)Mentions:From Data to ProfitData is Everybody’s Business: The Fundamentals of Data MonetizationThe AI Factor: How to Apply Artificial Intelligence and Use Big Data to Grow Your Business ExponentiallyRita McGrath, Professor at Columbia UniversitySatya NadalGoogle PaLMOpenAIJack RockartCapital OneBill Schmarzo (former guest on The Data Chief)LyftBBVAGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like these on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Not many CDOs get to enter a new role with a clean slate. But Geraldine Wong, CDO for GXS Bank in Singapore did just that. In this episode of The Data Chief, she explains how the bank has built a foundation of data literacy by providing employees the right tools, access, and knowledge to put data at the forefront of their workflow. This culture of education and understanding establishes trust, empowers departments to “self-serve” data for better productivity, and ultimately leads to stronger understanding of data for customers and employees alike.Tune in to learn:Starting from a “clean slate” as a CDO (1:32)GXS’s role and purpose as a new bank (3:49)Data security and consumer privacy (9:47)The GXS Bank data strategy (14:46)Using generative AI to improve data fluency (20:27)Advantages and disadvantages of being fully in the cloud (26:48)How higher education can better prepare workers for digital transformation (29:32)Why Singapore is a global leader in data literacy (37:24)Mentions:Data Protection TrustmarkSyntelGrabPersonal Data Protection CommissionIMDA Certification BodyGoogle PaLM 2Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Geraldine on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

In this episode of The Data Chief, hosts Cindi Howson and Sonny Rivera interview Sumathi Thiyagarajan, the VP of Business Strategy and Analytics for the Milwaukee Bucks and Fiserv Forum. Sumathi discusses being a data leader in professional sports, building a data team from the ground up, and leveraging insights to continually provide the best fan experience. Tune in to learn:Making the transition to a professional sports team (2:42)The evolution of Sumathi’s role and team (4:58)The growing importance of data across the NBA (10:02)Unique challenges Sumathi faces in her role with the Bucks (12:01)Creating personalized fan experiences (14:38)Using data to increase the team’s visibility in the marketplace (18:12)Finding (and keeping) strong data team talent (22:31)Building a talent pool through a successful hackathon (26:20)Coaching and developing a diverse data team (29:07)Addressing the challenges of fragmented data (33:50)Driving innovation for the Bucks (and across the NBA) (37:35)Mentions:FiservMarquette UniversityRandy BeanGiannis AntetokounmpoMedical College of WisconsinDeer DistrictHBR podcastsRakutenGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Sumathi on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Alex Viana, VP of Data at Vercel, has had a truly unique career. Starting with a role at the Hubble Space Telescope, Alex found his way into the data space by way of data security and searching for leaked data assets. Today, he leads the data organization at Vercel, where he views building – teams, technology processes, and metrics – as his primary responsibility. In this episode Alex shares his thoughts on leading data teams at different (but fast-growing) tech companies, the importance of building scalable data platforms, delivering value through stakeholder engagement, and balancing long-term vision with short-term action as a key to success.Tune in to learn:The origins of Alex’s data journey with the Hubble Space Telescope (4:29)Alex’s unique approach to data leadership (6:12)About Vercel (8:25)Transitioning from growth-stage to more mature companies (10:38)The biggest challenges Alex faces at Vercel (14:12)Creating synchronicity across departments (16:59)Having vision as a data executive (21:54)The role of the data team in scaling a company (24:45)Determining your value as an executive (27:31)Building a positive data culture (33:10)The growth of generative AI in data (39:20)Mentions: Space Telescope Science InstituteHubble Space TelescopeNext.js ReactPostgresAnderson HorowitzRichard HammingHealthJoyCamille Fournier - The Manager's PathBio: Alex Viana is the VP of Data at Vercel. Alex has over 15 years of experience in data management and analysis, and has led teams of data scientists, engineers, and analysts in their previous positions. Alex is an expert in Python and SQL, and has used these skills to develop software platforms for managing and analyzing large datasets. Alex has also created databases of astronomical observations and predicted moon positions. In their current role, they are responsible for providing accurate data and insights to the organization and promoting data-driven decision making.Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Alex on The Data Chief. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Each day, valuable patient data collected by healthcare systems. When used properly as part of healthcare analytics, this can help drive better outcomes for both patients and providers. However, when data management is not effectively implemented, organizations lose out on these benefits. Terry Myerson, CEO of Truveta, saw the need to unlock data’s potential while still ensuring privacy and security. In this episode, he discusses his company’s unique approach, the urgent need for better data insights for treatment protocols, and how AI is creating both efficiencies and concerns when making sense of data.Tune in to learn:The origin of Truveta [6:28]Pulling data from the provider, not the patient [9:47]Fragmentation, privacy, and unstructured data [11:58]Healthcare data trends [15:50]Population-level data [17:49]Bringing in data from multiple systems [23:08]Why transparency earns trust [26:10]Language models and generative AI [28:10]Terry’s career journey [35:29]Mentions: Providence HealthcareCNNRogaineOzempicBoston ScientificNational Library of MedicineBloombergMicrosoftWorld Health OrganizationCommon SpiritTrinity HealthThe Emperor of All MaladiesMacklemoreGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Terry on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

It’s one thing for a company to invest in new technology. It’s another for a company to become invested in technology. In this episode, Yao Morin, CTO of JLL explains how she isn’t just adding data to the company workflow, but is instead fostering a culture of innovation and data-driven mindsets across the 240-year-old company through education, and by demonstrating data’s business value across departments. Key Moments: Yao’s rapid rise at JLL [4:01] Energy efficiency data in commercial real estate [13:26] Fostering creativity and imagination in data teams [16:29] Better understanding of B2B customer pain points [21:24] Yao’s approach to startup investment [23:45] Generative AI and the data/analytics workflow [28:58] Delegating to better manage large data teams [32:27] The underrepresentation of women in data and tech leadership roles [36:02]Mentions: IntuitStubHubJira / ConfluenceInvisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado PerezTom DavenportDiablo IV (video game)“Bohemian Rhapsody” by QueenGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Yao on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

The role of data teams continues to evolve across industries. But in mission-driven fields such as healthcare, data creates efficiencies that could potentially save lives. In this episode of The Data Chief, Cindi is joined by Jeremy Forman of Seagen to discuss the pivotal role his data team plays in driving insights-informed decision-making, and how they successfully collaborate with other departments to improve patient outcomes. Key Moments: The key challenges for data leaders in healthcare [3:50]How Jeremy’s team supports company-wide initiatives [9:16]Fostering cross-team communication and collaboration [12:08]An ideal data organizational structure [14:39]Driving organizational change [17:09]Building an entrepreneurial culture [20:59]Setting competing priorities [29:01]FAIR data principles [36:34]Jeremy’s career path [41:19]Mentions:Bill and Melinda Gates FoundationGeronimo Restaurant in Santa Fe, New MexicoChatGPTBardAmazon TitanLos Alamos National LaboratoryOracleGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Jeremy on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

When it comes to investing, it’s been said that the biggest risk of all is not taking one. But for many of us, the prospect of figuring out how and where to smartly invest our money is overwhelming if not flat-out confusing. TIFIN is a FinTech company focused on democratizing this process by matching investors to potential investments with AI. In this episode, Raja Musunuru, the Chief Product Officer of financial tech leader TIFIN, covers a wide range of topics, from the importance of understanding customer needs to promoting data fluency across an organization. Tune in to learn:About TIFIN [00:55]Raja’s unique perspective on technology, data, and products [12:01]The costs of cloud computing [16:04]Cloud governance and oversight [20:02]Views on FinOps [21:22]Optimizing the costs of multi-cloud operations [29:23]Promoting data fluency [36:19]Mentions: TIFINAmicus.ioDr. Vinay NairKPMGAmazon Web Services (AWS)Google CloudGrit: The Power of Passion and PerseveranceThe MindsetGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Raja on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Using data to gain customer insights can be difficult. Using data to gain customer insights from an ever-growing, ever-changing entertainment audience presents a much steeper challenge. In this episode, Elizabeth Stone, VP, Data & Insights at Netflix, explains how her dedicated team reflects the larger Netflix culture, balancing hard data with a mindset of learning and experimentation to make decisions that improve the Netflix experience. Tune in to learn:Elizabeth’s role as head of Netflix’s data and insights team (2:46)How Netflix is leveraging machine learning (11:13)The continued culture of innovation at Netflix (13:44)Using data to inform intuition and choice (18:00)How the data and insights team engages with other stakeholders (22:30)How Elizabeth obtains the resources she needs (25:37)The importance of cross-functional understanding and collaboration (32:13)Mentions:Gartner Data and Analytics ConferenceLyftRandy Bean, author of Fail Fast, Learn FasterChatGPT/OpenAIDaft Punk / Hot Chip / LCD SoundsystemGuest Bio: Elizabeth Stone leads Netflix’s Data & Insights org. Data & Insights is a centralized and globally distributed team that includes: data engineering, metrics development, analytic insights and tooling, research and development of machine learning algorithms, optimization and automation, experimentation and causal inference, and consumer research. The Data & Insights team applies this functional expertise to improve and evolve all parts of Netflix's business including the member-facing product, streaming delivery, content, studio production, games, ads, business operations, and growth. Elizabeth previously worked in finance, both as a trader and as an economic consultant, before transitioning to the tech industry, where she led teams at Nuna and Lyft. She is a graduate of MIT and Stanford University.Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Most data professionals aspire to be leaders within a single industry. It’s rare to see professionals establish and re-establish themselves as powerful influencers across multiple verticals. But this is precisely what Dr. Alexander Borek has done, helping some of the world’s most recognizable brands scale tangible value from data, analytics, and AI. In this episode, he covers a wide range of topics, including his personal career journey, creating cultures of innovation, centralized vs. decentralized data products, and the imminent impact of generative AI. Key Moments: Background on Zalando [2:15]Dr. Borek’s The Ultimate Data and AI Guide [5:32]Becoming a data leader in multiple industries [7:02]Germany’s growing data culture [14:30]The need for a greater sense of urgency in data understanding [17:07]The origins of the data mesh [19:33]The benefits of cross-team collaboration [24:44]Data mash vs. data fabric [31:30]Using data for insight and action [37:28]The rapid expansion of generative technologies [40:10]Mentions: Bernard MarrThe Ultimate Data and AI GuideNetflixVolkswagen ManufacturingCelonisData Warehousing InstituteThe Wall Street JournalKubernetesGartnerIBM Advanced Analytics CenterChatGPTYou can join Alex in person at the Data Masterclass Europe 2023 conference! The conference will be held in Berlin from June 21-23. Apply to join here. Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

The role of the CDO is changing, and with these changes come new opportunities to prove business value. On this episode of The Data Chief, Ido Biger, EVP of Data and Technology for Delek US, explains how he’s breaking down data silos and turning insights to actionHe also takes listeners through several analytics use cases including creating operational efficiencies for frontline workers and reducing customer churn. Tune in to learn:Ido’s role at Delek and confronting his biggest challenge (04:23)How Ido breaks down data silos (11:53)Using data-driven insights to increase operational efficiency - Telco case study (15:15)Using data-driven insights to reduce customer churn - Airline case study (20:01)Why COVID was a huge opportunity for the airline industry (26:20)Turning insights to action - Oil and gas case study (29:08)The importance of finding a sponsor for your data project (32:19)How to prove value as a CDO (33:04)Ido’s work as a professor (35:12)The skills data professionals need to succeed (37:32)Mentions:Roman Empire on NetflixDoug Laney Simon SinekMashinaThe Data Chief Guest’s Pump-Up Songs PlaylistGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

What is the true value of data? Whether you’ve been collecting data for years or are just getting started, the reality is that data holds zero value on its own. In fact, it’s a huge cost. In this episode of The Data Chief, industry veteran Bill Schmarzo, currently in Customer Data Innovation at Dell Technologies, shares why modern data leaders must let go of the notion of being data-driven and focus on business outcomes. He also discusses how having more data isn’t always the right move, especially when considering larger business goals.Tune in to learn:Demonstrating data’s value in an uncertain economy (7:36)Defining data KPIs (16:54)The importance of data-driven decision-making (22:43)Moving from “data-driven” to “value-driven” (33:24)Modern data culture (42:08)Mentions:Data Analytics Recession PlaybookThe top 10 books every data and analytics leader must readGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Bill on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Modern data leaders know creating a data-informed culture requires cross-functional partnership and collaboration across the entire business. IT by themselves can’t do it. Nor can individual business departments. Both the IT and business strategy must be in lock step to achieve results. On this episode of The Data Chief, Dora Boussias, Senior Director of Data Strategy and Architecture at Stryker, discusses the role of modern data executives, three keys to creating a data-informed culture, and her approach to breaking down silos based on her own 28 years of experience building effective data strategies across industries.Tune in to learn:How Dora’s diverse experiences have helped her approach to data strategy (6:53)How data leaders should be connecting data strategies to business value (10:37)How technical strategy and data strategy differ (13:57)Dora’s investment in continued learning about business challenges (14:59)Why there are no “dumb questions” when working toward a goal (18:51)Emphasizing change management to create a bigger impact (23:36)The importance of a collaborative culture across all business divisions (28:25)Can data-fluent cultures be driven from a grassroots approach? (30:32) Why data alone is not enough to make good decisions (34:00)The state of female leadership in the data industry (36:55)The lighting round (45:36) Mentions: The Goal9 Data and Analytics Trends for 2023Randy Bean SurveyAvgolemono Soup Recipe (Greek Lemon Chicken Soup)Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Dora on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

The implications of employment shifts have different effects on certain subsets of the population. Understanding these implications in real time helps businesses, governments, and individuals make better decisions about what to do next. ADP serves its customers in more ways than just payroll, taxes, and employment benefits. CDO Jack Berkowitz shares more about these benefits, and the parts of ADP’s business dedicated to reporting and sharing data. Tune in to learn:Managing high data volumes and maintaining data reliability at ADP (03:05)Real-time employment data about equity in the workforce (05:33)Monetizing data and how that has changed (09:35)The end of FTP? (12:06)The role of payroll data plays to tell the truth about diversity and inclusion in the workforce. (19:45)Jack’s personal career shift from the vendor to end-user (27:08)Lightning Round (28:00)Mentions:ADP National Employment Report Edward Tufte https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/Randy Pausch https://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture/story/index.htmlhttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/221514864_Storytelling_Alice_motivates_middle_school_girls_to_learn_computer_programmingBeau Miles - Backyard Adventurer https://beaumiles.com/the-backyard-adventurer/the video that I watch over and over: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvT5XS7j-DcGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Jack on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Historically, computers haven’t been particularly good at determining user intent from real-world language inputs. However, the advancement of natural language processing technologies, like ChatGPT, has led to remarkable improvements in AI systems' accuracy in responding to human queries. In this episode, Amit Prakash, Co-founder of ThoughtSpot, discusses the development of AI and the accountability required to make it ready for daily use.Tune in to learn:What was the problem Amit was trying to solve when he co-founded ThoughtSpot? (04:48)When did Amit first start looking at ChatGPT and natural language processing? (08:16)Why did ChatGPT explode in 2023? (21:00)Is ChatGPT ready for important work and research? (31:26)Will ChatGPT spell the end of platforms like ThoughtSpot? (32:41)Mentions: Elements of Programming Interviews: The Insiders' Guide, By Adnan Aziz, Tsung-Hsien Lee, Amit PrakashElements of Programming Interviews in Java: The Insider's Guide, By Adnan Aziz, Tsung-Hsien Lee, Amit PrakashElements of Programming Interviews in Python, By Adnan Aziz, Tsung-Hsien Lee, Amit PrakashAlan WattsMore coming soon!Follow Amit on Substack and view his series of blogs on ChatGPT and LLMs. https://amit.thoughtspot.com/Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Amit on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Everywhere you look, change is redefining the data landscape. From the rise of the analytics engineer to data leaders clamoring to make self service analytics real, it’s clear organizations are looking for new opportunities to put their data to work.But which changes matter? In this episode, we break down some of the data and analytics trends for 2023 that will help you identify key ways to rise above your competitors. Tom Davenport is back for another episode and this time he’s here to talk about AI and the relationship that the workforce should start building with it. Tony Baer weighs in on the great data framework debate. And Sonny Rivera points out the need for better education in the analytics industry, particularly when it comes to data modeling techniques. Tune in to learn:The biggest surprise in the survey findings around the role of the CDO (03:13)Data governance or data enablement? (05:14)CDO’s making a play for CEO in 2023 and beyond (07:27)Legacy companies and AI adoption (08:30)2023 prediction from Tom (13:50)Could we have predicted that data mesh would be such a hot topic in 2022? (23:45)Tony’s prediction for data mesh, data lakes, data warehouse, data fabric? (30:28)Tony’s prediction and hopes for CDOs in 2023 (35:00)ThoughtSpot's new evangelist, Sonny Rivera (35:55)Sonny’s work in the DBT community (41:30)Sonny’s prediction for the analytics engineer in 2023 (44:10)The need for more modeling education in analytics boot camps (45:02)What should your 2023 resolution be as an analytics engineer? (48:06)Mentions:CDO Agenda 2023: Prioritizing business value creationTom Davenport BooksZhamak Deghani on The Data Chief Tony’s reaction to an article article about the best Data Mesh9 data and analytics trends for 2023 - eBookGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Tom, Tony, and Sonny on The Data Chief. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Today’s digital economy is more competitive than ever, and making smart data decisions can be what sets the leaders apart from the rest of the field. With new technologies now democratizing data at an accelerated pace, how can companies ensure that their data strategy is helping them stay ahead of the curve? As our third season comes to a close, Cindi takes a look back at some of our most insightful conversations to lay out six essential rules that every Data Chief should follow to dominate the decade of data.Tune in to learn:Rule 1: Leverage the best-of-breed from the modern data stack (02:30)Rule 2: Empower everyone with true self-service analytics (10:58)Rule 3: Drive actions with operationalized insights (18:44)Rule 4: Build a flexible data foundation (27:26)Rule 5: Utilize third-party data to build a 360-degree view (35:07)Rule 6: Deliver engaging data-driven UX (38:47)MentionsGilead Sciences’ Murali Vridhachalam and ZS Associates’ Mahmood Majeed on the Modern Data Stack and Data MeshThe Modern Milkman’s Chief Strategy Officer, John Hughes on Using Data to Save Our Oceans from Plastic Afterpay’s Nitish Mathew on Prioritizing Customer Needs, Balancing Governance and Freedom, and Giving Your Team PurposeServiceNow’s Vijay Kotu on the Power of Micro-Decisions and Aligning Data Strategy to Business StrategyThree Must Read Data and Analytics Books with Tim Harford, Zhamak Dehghani, and Brent DykesUnilever’s Vandana Khanna and Deeksha Singh on Demystifying Data, Dreaming Bigger, and Inspiring Business Users with The Art of the PossibleOpenTable’s Grant Parsamyan on How Data and Analytics is Helping the Restaurant Industry Rebound from COVID-19Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders on The Data Chief. https://www.thoughtspot.com/data-chief Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at https://mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

On this episode of The Data Chief, we look back at some of the key themes from season one, including the rise of the CDO, the intricacies of aligning your department’s goals with that of the businesses, and how you coped with accelerated timelines. While we relive these important conversations, we also discuss why culture and data fluency continue to be the biggest hurdles to becoming a truly data-driven business.Tune in to learn:The Rise of the Data Chief (02:54) Aligning with Your Business Values (08:32)Rapid Technical Innovation and the Shift to Cloud (15:52) Technology Reflects Culture (23:30)Assessing your Data Fluency (31:52)Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders on The Data Chief. https://www.thoughtspot.com/data-chief Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at https://mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Each year, around 8 million tons of plastic waste enter the ocean, killing wildlife and damaging the environment for future generations. Much of this pollution originates from the wasteful packaging used for everyday grocery products. But a greener grocery alternative is making waves from across the pond. Joining us today is John Hughes, Chief Strategy Officer at The Modern Milkman, a UK-based grocery delivery company that brings locally sourced goods directly to customers without any single-use plastics. From the startup’s early days, John sought to invest heavily in data modernization. Hear how his data-driven approach has helped the company cultivate a shared mission with customers to make the world a cleaner, safer, and better place for all of its creatures.Tune in to learn:About The Modern Milkman and how John became associated with it (04:46)How data has helped lead to the company’s growth (12:17)The Modern Milkman’s data stack (28:14)The benefits of working with startups (32:40)Advice for larger companies on data stack modernization (38:00)Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like John on The Data Chief. https://www.thoughtspot.com/data-chief Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at https://mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Treating data as a treasure is a foundational principle for Jan Sheppard, the Chief Data and Analytics officer at New Zealand’s Crown Research Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR.) This agency leads ongoing research in public health, environmental health, and forensics for the country of New Zealand. Like many other CDAOs, her role is relatively new. But the unique values she applies to data can be traced back many hundreds of years to the indigenous Maori people of her country. Through her work, Jan recognizes the profound impact data can have on people and their environments for generations to come. Learn more about the important climate and health policy challenges that ESR is working to solve with data in this episode, plus her take on data literacy vs. business savviness, and why her data strategy is just two pages long. Tune in to learn:How do you make vastly different data work together at ESR? (07:12)Data’s role as a treasure (11:43)How do government and private companies look at data differently (13:50)How do you guard against the misuse of data? (18:39)Dangers of misinterpreting the models and need for data-savvy. (21:16)Jan’s data North Star - recognizing the value of the data (25:10)Goal to create digital twins to help address climate change (30:13)Working around the difficulty of unstandardized ESG reporting (34:05)Maori values and data at ESR - the life force of data (40:35) Mentions: The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution book by Walter IsaacsonESR’s Data StrategyGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Jan on The Data Chief. https://www.thoughtspot.com/data-chief Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at https://mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

At French bank, Société Générale, providing the best customer experience in the modern digital world means rethinking everything about banking, including its corporate structure. Three years ago, Julien Molez, joined the bank’s leadership team to become the first Innovation Data & AI Leader. On this episode of The Data Chief, Julien addresses changes sweeping the banking industry, including higher customer expectations, tougher regulations, and the ESG revolution. He also reminds us that at the end of the day, fancy AI models and algorithms will only perform as well as the data that goes into them. Tune in to learn:Creating a value-driven data framework (06:31)How do you achieve customer personalization while adhering to GDPR? (15:29)How do you truly secure data at all touchpoints? (20:29)How is Société Générale leading in ESG reporting? (23:44)What were Société Générale’s unique challenges in scaling up AI use cases? (28:55)How do you educate business stakeholders about the best data possibilities? (35:56)What is a key data framework technique? (40:00)Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Julien on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

It is once again that time of year when our host, Cindi Howson shares her favorite data and analytics book recommendations. In this special annual episode, we feature three of the industry’s top data writers, thinkers, and fellow podcasters. Tim Harford comes to the conversation with his new book, The Data Detective, and big-picture ideas about how traits like curiosity serve data scientists so well. Zhamak Dehghani shares her concept of The Data Mesh, especially as it relates to sharing data across business verticals. Finally, in his book, Effective Data Storytelling, Brent Dykes compels readers to think carefully about the way they craft the message or narrative around the data they’re interpreting. Tune in to learn:Making sense of the world through a data lens with Tim Harford (05:18)Tim’s favorite of the ten data commandments (07:11)Guard against using data as a control mechanism (15:14)How does curiosity create a healthier relationship with data? (19:57) Data Mesh with Zhamak Dehghani (32:31)Blending centralized and decentralized schools of thought (36:39)Data Mesh isn’t for everyone (48:11)How do you begin your data mesh transformation? (53:28)Brent Dykes and the importance of data storytelling (1:02:17)Why do data scientists need to be better communicators? (1:11:13)The Venn diagram of data storytelling (1:15:14)Mentions:The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics by Tim Harford Data Mesh: Delivering Data-Driven Value at Scale by Zhamak Dehghani Effective Data Storytelling: How to Drive Change with Data, Narrative, and Visuals by Brent Dykes Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Tim, Zhamak, and Brent on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Who’s hungry? Thanks to delivery apps like DoorDash, it’s never been easier for modern consumers to satisfy almost any craving in just a few taps. At the helm of DoorDash’s data organization is VP of Analytics & Data Science, Jessica Lachs. With metrics guiding every decision at the company, a key part of her decision-making comes down to properly quantifying the value of each possible tradeoff. Learn more about her decision-making framework, plus how her career in finance evolved into entrepreneurship and ultimately led her to create the data and analytics organization at DoorDash. Tune in to learn:Using data to move levers that balance tradeoffs (09:28)Managing an unpredictable and complicated supply chain (12:26)The confluence of personalization and consumer privacy (15:08)Strategy for data architecting by the DoorDash team (21:00Cultivating a creative team that also communicates effectively (26:59)Unlikely career journey: Lehman Brothers to entrepreneurship (33:00)Cultivating a positive response to failure (35:51)Lightning Round (40:15)Mentions:DoorDash Restaurant Online Ordering TrendsBuilding a Source for Truth for a Digital Inventory with Disparate Data SourcesHow To Drive Effective Data Science Communications The Rose Code: A Novel by Kate QuinnThe Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne JeffersGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Jessica on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Swiss RE’s SVP of P&C R&D, Jerry Gupta is a firm believer in the revenue-generating potential and AI and machine learning. On this episode of The Data Chief, Jerry offers his view on innovative data model, frameworks for building and operationalizing these models, what makes a good data scientist, and why it will always be more challenging for data teams to maintain existing models vs. innovate new ones. Tune in to learn:The difference between ost cutting versus revenue-enhancing initiatives 03:20 More about the Data Model framework 07:50 Why the quality of your output depends on the quality of your input 11:35 How to address the shortfall of data scientists in the job market 13:48 How to set more clear value statements for models 27:56 More about informing the regulation of ethical AI and machine learning 45:33Mentions:McKinsey Global Survey: "The state of AI in 2021" "Unreasonable effectiveness of learning neural networks: From accessible states and robust ensembles to basic algorithmic schemes" Tom Davenport International Risk Governance Center - EPFLGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Jerry on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

What keeps a data pro at one company for almost thirty years? On this episode of The Data Chief, Pascale Hutz, the Chief Data Officer and EVP of Enterprise Digital & Data Solutions at American Express, shares how her career at American Express has transformed over the years and what she’s learned along the way. Tune in to hear more about her latest cloud migration journey, why she’s on a “mission to decommission,” and how she fights imposter syndrome even as a C-level executive in one of the largest, most impactful financial services firms in the world. Tune in to learn:About Pascale’s career journey (03:41)That data should be considered like a product 14:18:How to stay tranquil during transformation (17:02)The importance of decommissioning tech (21:21)Mentions:"Data Mesh: Delivering Data-Driven Value at Scale" (written by Zhamak Dehghani)World50“Enterprise Data Platforms, American Express, VP: The Data Landscape is Evolving Continuously” “Not Impossible” (written by Mick Ebeling)Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Pascale on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

How can data be activated to create better healthcare outcomes? Dr. Victoria Gamerman, the Global Head of Data Governance and Insights at Boehringer Ingelheim, offers that part of the answer is that data is changing to be thought of as part of the broader healthcare “ecosystem.” Listen in for how some of the philosophical frameworks concerning data can help to improve healthcare.Tune in to learn:Changes in how data is being used in healthcare (07:00)How a system could be set up to share health data safely and wisely (13:05)How design thinking can apply to healthcare (25:41)What data mentality needs to change (28:26)Mentions:HBS Professor Linda Hill Says Leaders Must Engage with Emotions as Never BeforeClayton Christensen - "Jobs to be Done" theory“Coded Bias” (movie)Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Victoria on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.Show Notes for YouTube:How can data be activated to create better healthcare outcomes? Dr. Victoria Gamerman, the Global Head of Data Governance and Insights at Boehringer Ingelheim, offers that part of the answer is that data is changing to be thought of as part of the broader healthcare “ecosystem.” Listen in for more of Victoria’s takes on how data can improve healthcare.Key Moments:00:00 Getting to know Victoria and her career journey04:26 What sort of work does Boehringer Ingelheim do?07:00 What are some changes in how data is being used in healthcare?10:24 Is sharing health data becoming easier?13:05 Creating a system to Share health data safely and wisely16:42 Will wellness data become more integrated?19:47 Are regulators behind technologically?25:41 How does design thinking apply in healthcare?28:26 What mentality about data needs to change?30:37: Data and academia36:54 How can we bring people along in terms of data?38:33 Learning from data disasters42:11 How does Victoria continue to learn new things?Mentions:HBS Professor Linda Hill Says Leaders Must Engage with Emotions as Never BeforeClayton Christensen - "Jobs to be Done" theory“Coded Bias” (movie)Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Victoria on https://www.thoughtspot.com/data-chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at https://mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

What does it take to turn a new position that never existed into one that delivers transformation for an entire organization? As the first Chief Data Officer at Prudential Financial and the initial Chief Data Analytics Officer at a prior career stop at State Farm, Kjersten Moody knows the answer. Tune in to learn how being a constant learner has consistently allowed her to see challenges as opportunities for growth.Tune in to learn:How Kjersten’s role model influenced her life and career (04:08) How Prudential is thinking differently about its strategy and data (32:28) About the role that a good culture can play in supporting transformation (36:19)How Kjersten has elevated data science at Prudential (42:33)How to meet stakeholders in a place that’s helpful to them (47:38)Mentions:“The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right” by Atul GawandeGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Kjersten on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

How do you make innovation truly come alive? For Abhi Bhatt, the AVP, Technology, Data & Analytics at CarMax, innovation is about using data to change “business models.” Abhi also describes the need to train up teammates and others who use the data concerning technological advances. Additionally, he shares his career journey and how his positive experience as a CarMax customer initially activated his interest in the company.Tune in to learn:How did Abhi end up working at CarMax? (13:00)How can companies make the most of their internal data? (17:18)How do you train up relevant parties concerning new technology? (23:41)How does Abhi find talent? (27:56)How does Abhi keep up with so much innovation? (37:07)Mentions:Top Trends for 2022Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Abhi on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

How has the Chief Data Officer role changed? Heidi Lanford, CDO of Fitch Group, shares that “it’s gone from stewarding and protecting data to monetization of data.” She explains how CDOs can be effective by working together with other company leaders and communicating simply. Learn from Heidi why there can be great career value in being willing to be uncomfortable.Tune in to learn: How does Heidi work with the leadership team? (10:03) How does Heidi suggest CDOs communicate to CEOs?(13:05) How can a CDO work with the technology side to update the tech stack? (18:58) How is Heidi helping her workers become more data literate?(27:50) What’s the benefit of choosing to be uncomfortable in one’s career journey? (37:48)Mentions:“Getting to ‘Yes And’: The Art of Business Improv”Building CDO Influence in the C-SuiteGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Heidi on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Your data will never be clean and it will never be perfect. So how do we create meaningful models anyway? As Dr. Katia Walsh puts it, data leaders are facing a “tsunami of data.” But that tsunami shouldn’t stop you from testing, iterating, and moving quickly. Dr. Walsh is the Chief Global Strategy and AI Officer at Levi Strauss & Co. and today she shares how her team has leveraged a mindset of “think big, start small, scale fast” to create cutting-edge data models and digital capabilities quickly. Tune in to learn:(4:22) Why every business is a data business and how building out new digital and AI capabilities is about improving the 3Cs (connections, commerce, and creation.)(8:21) How Levi Strauss & Co. leverages data to create custom experiences no matter where a customer engages with them. As Katia says, “It’s not business; it’s personal.”(18:43) Why Katia’s motto is “think big, start small, scale fast.”(19:43) What do when you don’t have perfect data (and why you will never truly have perfect data).(27:55) Where to look for your organization’s next data leader - it’s not where you think.(30:36) How Levi Strauss & Co. is using bootcamps to increase data literacy at every level of the organization.Mentions:Levis.comGet even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Katia on The Data Chief. Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

With every passing year, a new batch of data tools comes available, and a new crop of data professionals enters the job market. The Chief Data Officer has evolved into a position that acts both on the offensive and defensive sides of these changes. Our guest today, Cara Dailey, the EVP, and CDO at LPL Financial, has helped shape and define the role of data leaders in the C-suite as she’s moved through her career. Her experiences at companies like Nike, Bank of the West, and Silicon Valley Bank have led her to embody a spirit of data-enablement – rather than governance. She also begs the question, “Is all data created equal?” Tune in to find out on this episode of The Data Chief. Mentions: InvestInDataTom DavenportRandy Bean - Fail Fast, Learn FasterSimon Sinek - Start with WhyMonte Carlo Barr MosesHarvard Business ReviewKey TakeawaysGreat CDOs balance offense and defense. Primarily, the role of the CDO started with the idea that organizations needed someone focused on protecting the data, keeping it safe and secure. Now, as the world has evolved, so has the role. Modern data leaders need to also be able to impact their organization by bringing value through performance data analytics for clients, customers, and employees. Cara posits that it’s not enough to simply protect; you must also ask yourself what are you actively contributing? Focus on data enablement. The best data executives can think of themselves as part of a data enablement forum, inviting a collaborative attitude in the increasingly important world of data governance. Make it such an integral part of the program you’re creating as the data leader. Think of yourself and your team as the data glue that holds the organization together. Not all data is created equal. While data is a powerful tool for decision-making, it’s important to remember not all data needs to or even should be valued the same. In highly regulated environments, absolute accuracy may be required. But for internal use cases like improving a product or process, directional indicators are just as good.Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Cara on The Data Chief. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

If you look around your home, it’s very likely you have at least one item from the Unilever family of brands lying around. From the soap in your shower to the ice cream bars in your freezer, Unilever delivers everyday products that help people get more out of life. And they rely on data to ensure they’re doing so sustainably. Today’s guests are Unilever Director of Digital Finance Transformation, Vandana Khanna, and Director of Data and Analytics, Deeksha Singh. On this episode, the two leaders join Cindi to share exactly how they’re using data to impact everything from supply chain decisions to employee belonging. They also dive into how they are demystifying data at every level, eliminating manual reporting and data visualization work, and using data and AI to be a more sustainable company. All of this and more in today’s episode with Vandana Khanna and Deeksha Singh. Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Vandana and Deeksha on The Data Chief. Key TakeawaysChange starts with inspiration: When an organization is used to manually creating dashboard reports for every business question or visualizing data in Excel, it can be hard to break these habits and change behaviors at scale. The key is inspiring people with the art of the possible. Show users what good looks like and how technology can empower them to be faster and smarter, and the rest will follow.Digital transformation goes hand in hand with opportunity: It’s common for business people to run for the hills when they hear the word “transformation.” As a leader, it’s important to communicate that there's nothing to fear. There is no transformation without people. You need both to move the needle, and often people’s roles become even more important because they’re needed to ensure the technology is working as it should.You may never be bias-free, but you can be bias-aware: People and data are inherently biased, but thankfully bias awareness is growing in corporate culture. One of the most effective ways that global brands like Unilever are achieving less bias and more diversity is by bringing more diverse leaders into the fold. These leaders bring new perspectives and context to processes that increase the inclusivity of your product and organization overall. Key QuotesVandana:“So an example would be when we started working on RPAs, we started taking away all the manual reporting. Imagine the width and the breadth of the manual reporting we had! As soon as RPA were put in place we had triggered momentum across the sourcing units with these RPAs. They became the biggest hit because people said, ‘Oh, wow, I'm able to save so much time.’” “Human beings have biases. We cannot eliminate our biases. No matter how we try, we will never be bias-free. We will be bias-aware.” Deeksha:“I also believe that data is one of the key strategic assets for any transformation to happen for any organization for that matter. And it's growing, it's growing in variety in volume in velocity. Any organization will be able to manage the complexity and make sense of this data in a timely manner, which I think will thrive when it comes to digital transformation today and in future.” “Sustainability is at the core, the heart of everything we do. Unilever's purpose is about making sustainable living commonplace, and yes, a large amount of data is being used – in terms of how we enable a reduction in carbon reduction in plastic deforestation and its impact and even sustainable sourcing. So if I were to pick an example, a case in point of sustainable sourcing. We've partnered with a third party who provides us with the cloud services that, along with the satellite data that is available – in terms of monitoring the impact of these ingredients that are being sold from different locations across the globe, coupled with the power of AI. We mix all of this [and] we get very rich geospatial data, which we are using in a lot of decision making when it comes to, where we are sourcing from. So for example, if these ingredients are being sourced from a location, which is impacted by deforestation and has a future impact of deforestation, we can take a quick decision of not sourcing from those locations, from those places where there is deforestation in act.”“I feel that as an organization, what we have also realized is the power of data and digital literacy, which is around raising the floor and bringing people along – in terms of making them literate [and] making them aware of things that are coming their way, rather than just giving them a surprise, blow to their heads to say that we are changing tomorrow.”“Everybody wants change, but nobody wants to change.” MentionsUnstereotype - Unilever’s bias awareness and trainingMagnum Ice Cream - Mentioned guest productInvisible Women - Book recommendation BiosVandana KhannaAs a digital transformation Leader and Director of Digital Finance Transformation at Unilever, Vandana has extensive experience in Finance, IT, Supply Chain,

Nitish Mathew, the Global Head of Data Engineering and Governance at Afterpay, joins The Data Chief to discuss measuring the impact of analytics, the rise of the analytics engineer, the importance of taking risks, and much more.Tune in to learn:Why you can't take a data center mindset to the cloud (6:30)Why stakeholder satisfaction is the ultimate KPI (15:00)Inspiring your team through purpose (19:10)How to build a “walled garden” for business users (22:40)The importance of taking risks and celebrating failures (30:40)Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Nitish on The Data Chief.Episode mentions:Afterpay BlogNetezzaBlockCashAppChristian IdiodiFive Dysfunctions of the TeamFail Fast, Learn Faster: Lessons in Data-Driven Leadership in an Age of Disruption, Big Data, and AI Risk: A User's GuideINSPIRED: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love--The Data Chief is presented by our friends at ThoughtSpot. Searching through your company’s data for insights doesn’t have to be complicated. With ThoughtSpot, anyone in your organization can easily answer their own data questions, find the facts, and make better, faster decisions. Learn more at thoughtspot.com. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Whether you’ve passed your cursor over their logo on a streaming service, spotted it on the front of a Golden State Warriors jersey, or use their cash-back rebate system, the Rakuten brand is everywhere and actively expanding. Today’s guest, Takuya Kitagawa is the Managing Executive Officer & CDO at Rakuten. On this episode, Takuya joins Cindi to discuss how the company has found massive, international success across multiple industries by integrating data across lines of business to deliver better customer experiences. He also dives into the importance of data fluency at every level, and elaborates on how Rakuten is leveraging the concept of “digital twins” to better connect with customers. Stick around to hear all of this, plus exciting details regarding Rakuten latest moonshot projects.Key TakeawaysIntegrated data delivers better customer experiences: Rakuten has seen major success in offering enhanced services and experiences to customers around the world. Their secret? Integrating data across multiple lines of business, starting with customer login credentials. This approach makes using multiple services a seamless experience and builds customer loyalty.You don’t have to reinvent the wheel: Before building a new technology from the ground up, see if anyone else has already done it. There’s so much you can learn, borrow, or buy from others. If you can learn to leverage the innovation that’s already happening around you, you’ll be in a better position to accelerate your own digital transformation. Invest in data fluency at every level: It’s important that executives be just as data fluent as anyone else in your organization. For Rakuten, investing in data fluency at the highest levels of leadership manifests as quarterly AI bootcamps and mandatory data trainings.Key Quotes“We discovered when we acquired the credit card company, that it is much, much cheaper to send traffic from one internal service to the other than down going through of course advertising companies such as Google and Facebook, even though this takes a little ingenuity and creativity. If you think about it, eCommerce and credit cards come really well together because, to shop online, you need credit cards and the key point is how do you connect credit card back to the shopping?”“Our CEO had a very, very clear directive - if we are going to acquire a company, integration of it starts from integration of ID. So log ID needs to be completely the same. This already has been a common practice across Google, in Facebook to align the log ID starting from there you really have to integrate the data. So that's a key point when you acquire a company one of the key agreements you have to make with the other company is we have to integrate ID and data.”“Algorithms [are] becoming a commodity at this point. The key differentiator of AI is data."“Frankly, the best practice is to learn from [the] outside, because venture capital money is flowing at this ridiculous amount, and there [are] so many people, so much money, and so much effort to try to make things easier. Before you try to build what’s necessary yourself, it's better to look around and see if there are other companies who can help you… Be humble. [We] try to learn from our site and leverage what is already there.”MentionsDr. Hisataka Kobayashi’s Discovery of photo immunotherapyHarvard University Partnership FC Barcelona and Golden State WarriorsAbout TakuyaTakuya Kitagawa is the managing executive officer and Chief Data Officer of Rakuten Inc, and serves as the director for Well-being for Planet Earth(WPE). As Chief Data Officer of Rakuten group, he is responsible for the end-to-end value creation and execution of AI & data strategy, and manages a global organization located across the world including Japan, U.S., India, France and Singapore. He also leads Rakuten institute of technology, R&D function of the group, as the global head. Vision of his group is the fundamental understanding of customers and their behaviors with AI and data; how business and service can empower customers to spend their money and time better. As a board of director for well-being for Planet Earth, he further extends and applies the understanding of human beings and society to contribute to more general domains of well-being across the world. Prior to working on AI, he worked as a theoretical physicist and published more than 20 papers in journals including “Science” and “Nature Physics.” Dr. Kitagawa obtained his Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University and A.B. in physics and mathematics from Harvard College.--The Data Chief is presented by our friends at ThoughtSpot. Searching through your company’s data for insights doesn’t have to be complicated. With ThoughtSpot, anyone in your organization can easily answer their own data questions, find the facts, and make better, faster decisions. Learn more at thoughtspot.com. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

As the world continues to fill with impersonal, factory-machined goods, so increases the desire to see and feel more human creativity in the items we use in our lives. Etsy, a community marketplace for creative goods, was designed to help people sell their unique and homemade items online. The company continues to innovate and transform the small-business world, leading by focusing on innovation in their technology. Today’s guest, Chu-Cheng Hsieh, is the first Chief Data Officer at Etsy. On this episode, Chu-Cheng Hsieh joins Cindi to discuss his unique perspective on helping build a data-driven organization from the ground up and how he’s fostered a culture of experimentation that has led to rapid growth and transformation within the company. He also dives into trends such as machine learning and data observability, and explains some of the most helpful mental frameworks he’s learned in his life and career.Key TakeawaysCheck human intuition with data: Your gut feeling might be right, but in today’s world it’s critical to remember the importance of being able to back up your thinking and your decisions with facts. Hsieh emphasizes the importance of trusting the data that’s in front of you, even if the answer goes against decades of personal experience.Create a ‘regret minimization framework’: Popularized by Jeff Bezos, the ‘regret minimization framework’ is a way to help you more clearly define what career decisions you should make. It encourages the thinker to imagine being at the end of their life, looking back at what they’ve done, and asking themselves, “Is that really the life story I want to have?”Invest in insights: Hsieh shares that “You don't want to judge your success based on just [the] outcome. You should judge your success based on the decision quality.” By investing in thoughtful decision-making, you can increase the probability of success, even when you don’t have all the facts or data.Key Quotes“I only have one life, so I can either become a professor or I can do something different. So I use[d] something called regret minimization framework. I think Jeff Bezos mentioned this. I closed my eyes, imagined [myself] 30 years from today and I'm telling my life story to my grandson. And I think [what] kind of story will make me feel more excited and happy?”"One thing which I learned, this surprise[d] me, is that human instinct is often wrong. You [think] that if I change this color from blue to red that people will like that. [But] that's your opinion. You are just one person. Even [with] 20 years of experience in this field, you could be wrong. I can show you tons of examples that the data will show totally different[ly] [from] what you thought it to be.”“Your intuition, [is to] think one millisecond doesn't matter. It actually [does] matter because sometimes this one millisecond, especially for people who are using their mobile device, the user experience can be totally different, especially when the network is spotty.”“You don't want to judge your success based on just [the] outcome. You should judge your success based on the decision quality. And if you have good insight, this doesn't mean that you always [are] right. The only thing you can do is to invest [in that] insight, so that when you make a decision, you know the reasons and insight behind the decision. This gives you a higher probability of making the right decision. So this concept of ‘Thinking in Bets’ is what I [use] to help me to make a better quality decision.”MentionsBook: Thinking in Bets Jeff Bezos’ regret minimization frameworkAbout Chu-ChengChu-Cheng Hsieh manages the data org across Etsy globally, including engineering, data science, and machine learning. Partnering with Etsy’s product and business executives, he develops the data strategy, represents data science, and drives high-impact decisions. He is specialised in search engine, recommendation systems, and machine learning technology. His primary responsibility is to deliver strategic and creative data science approaches that help achieve Etsy’s mission and goals.He received a PhD in computer science from UCLA, and has two master degrees. In his leisure time, he enjoys innovating and collaborating with academic researchers. He has brought cutting-edge research into products. He publishes papers in top-tier conferences, such as WWW, SIGIR, KDD, and enjoys giving talks/keynotes at a variety of academic or industrial conferences on information retrieval, recommendation systems, and data mining.--The Data Chief is presented by our friends at ThoughtSpot. Searching through your company’s data for insights doesn’t have to be complicated. With ThoughtSpot, anyone in your organization can easily answer their own data questions, find the facts, and make better, faster decisions. Learn more at thoughtspot.com. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

There’s nothing like watching your favorite sports team live and in-person. The roar of the crowd. The smell of the concession stand. The suspense of the game clock winding down to its final seconds. But would you have guessed that behind every ticket purchase, box of cracker jacks, and Jumbotron moment, there are teams of data professionals working to make your fan experience even more seamless and engaging?Joining Cindi today to discuss the data and analytics powering our favorite sports events are Jay Riola, the SVP of Strategy & Innovation for the Orlando Magic, and Charlie Shin, the VP of Data Strategy and Analytics for the Indianapolis Colts. With perspectives from both the NBA and the NFL, Jay and Charlie explore the evolution of mobile ticketing, challenges with identity management, the importance of building fan trust, and the most surprising insights they’ve ever discovered within their data. Key TakeawaysCustomers expect more for their data: When customers share their data, they expect something in return. Respecting their privacy and keeping their data safe are the bare minimum. They expect real, tangible value. As a business, your responsibility is to use this data to enhance their experience. Whether that be through custom offers, more relevant content recommendations, or more seamless purchasing experiences, what matters most is that you’re delivering on the expectation of value.Collecting data is one thing, putting it together is another: While technologies like mobile payments and social media have made it easier for businesses to collect data, they’ve also added complexity to the process of building accurate customer profiles. To truly understand the person on the other side of the screen, you must have the right skills and infrastructure to bring all that data together. Great data scientists need to be a triple threat: It is no longer enough to be very good at the technical components of your job and “so-so” at translating insights into actionable recommendations for business stakeholders. The best data scientists have technical chops, a deep understanding of how their business works, and the storytelling skills to turn insights into influence.Key QuotesCharlie:“In sports, they started off by focusing on the product, which is the on-field performance, our players. So a lot of the emphasis was using datas to optimize their investments, enhance their quality of on-field performance. But as the competition grew… now we've seen a shift where the focus is more on the customers and their experience in addition to the on-field quality.”“Identity management is a key topic in sports at this point… We have a variety of different data sources, whether it's ticketing, merchandising, digital engagement, or website or apps, there's a lot of information that's coming through. And then we're trying to figure out how do we tie all this together so that we have that clear understanding of that single view of our customers across these touchpoints. And I don't think this is just a sports industry challenge, right? I think it's a challenge across all industries that manage consumer information.”Jay:“We were a pretty early adopter of variable ticket pricing and thinking about the value from a ticket perspective of our games differently based on the team that we were playing, the time of the year, whether it was early in the season versus later in the season, obviously weekday versus weekend, but just recognizing that the marketplace values these games differently and so should we... Then it became, how do we dynamically price our tickets? How are we changing pricing as we approach games to reflect the demand situation that we have or if an opponent is performing better or worse than we expected, and we can raise or lower pricing. I think where data is really helping guide us… is product development and thinking about ticketing in new and kind of transformational ways.”“We have seen significant growth in ticketing revenue and improvement in retention of fans, as we've introduced this more sophisticated way of thinking about pricing and sales to our business. And I would venture to guess that most teams that have implemented this are seeing returns as well in terms of revenue growth and also total ticket sold.”“We are fortunate to work in an industry where fans are more willing to share their data with us… But I do think that the same expectations do come along, which is I'm giving you something and in return, there's an expectation, obviously that you will protect my data and store it safely… but also that now you're going to enrich my experience with you somehow… I think it's kind of shifting responsibility to companies to be far more active in how they think about not just security and data management, but returning value on that expectation that will come from your fans and your consumers.”About CharlieCharlie Shin is a highly analytical customer strategy and marketing executive with global and domestic exp

For years, businesses have prioritized academic background and domain expertise when searching for top talent, matching current skills to job reqs with little regard for candidate aptitude. But according to Iwao Fusillo, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at General Motors, this is an outdated strategy. Iwao has led and developed data and analytics teams across multiple verticals, including finance and sports. In his experience, the secret to building successful and diverse teams is assessing passion, too. Fusillo, a data and analytics veteran with prior stops in the NFL and American Express, now leads GM’s program for enterprise-wide analytics and data science. In this episode of the Data Chief, Iwao joins Cindi to discuss how data and analytics are fueling the future of General Motors, advice for structuring and scaling data teams, and how GM’s newly founded data and analytics academy is fostering data literacy across the organization.Key TakeawaysPresentation is key: As data and analytics professionals, one of the most important skills you can develop is how to speak the language of the business. This means presenting data stories in a business-friendly way so that non-technical stakeholders start to build trust in data programs, not fear or confusion.The best talent is both skilled and passionate: If you’re only evaluating candidates based on a bulleted list of current skills and past experience, you’re very likely missing out on great talent. Don’t discount a desire to learn and passion for your product or industry.AI requires a hands-on approach: While AI and machine learning offer many opportunities for improved business operations, they can pose great risk if left unsupervised. Responsible use of these technologies means paying attention to data quality and acting quickly when biases are identified.Key Quotes“It's such a unique time to be in the automotive industry because automotive and tech are coming together. As I sit here today, as GM's Chief Data and Analytics Officer, I really do feel that data and analytics are fueling GM's future, our all-electric, zero-emissions future, and being responsible for a program of enterprise-wide analytics, top-tier data science capabilities in an industry that I've got such passion about is big for me.” “As analytics mature over the next decade, as A.I. continues to mature over the next couple of decades, Chief Data Officers, Chief Analytics Officers will in fact be tapped more for CEO positions and independent board positions. Many more functions will be led by data-savvy, senior executives.”“Passion, when it comes to data, [data] literacy is really important. That's why we put the GM analytics academy course out there, to not only build the literacy itself but just the passion in having a core competency around analyzing and presenting data in a compelling way to make decisions.”“I am seeing a rapid uptake here at General Motors in data and analytics being a part of that strategic story, data, and analytics, being a part of every person in every function and how they think about it and how, how they think about advancing their function.”“There's domain expertise, and I think having great math and science skills are important, but they're not a full package. You don’t have to have math and science, or you have to have transferable skills, yes. I would say, I would take the passionate person who I could drop into a textile mill in the middle of the Midwest somewhere. And that person will figure it out. I'd rather have that than the person with the exact academic background.”“Some of the attributes we teach in the analytics academy are speaking in the vernacular of the business. How do we talk about data concepts from descriptive analytics to predictive analytics? How do we talk about those concepts in a business-friendly way?” Bio:Iwao Fusillo joined General Motors as Chief Data and Analytics Officer in January 2021. Reporting to the Head of Innovation & Growth for GM, Iwao is responsible for driving GM’s program for enterprise-wide analytics and data science capabilities. He leads the end-to-end data lifecycle and establishes business processes for best-in-class data strategy, architecture, governance and democratization. Acting as GM’s data evangelist, he ensures that GM’s 1,300+ data analytic professionals use a value-based approach to defining workstream priorities and serves as a trusted business advisor to senior management and various stakeholders to identify strategic analytics opportunities with transformative value creation potential. --The Data Chief is presented by our friends at ThoughtSpot. Searching through your company’s data for insights doesn’t have to be complicated. With ThoughtSpot, anyone in your organization can easily answer their own data questions, find the facts, and make better, faster decisions. Learn more at thoughtspot.com. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Every day we make decisions. Some are as simple as deciding when to leave for work in order to beat traffic or what to eat for breakfast. Others bear much greater importance, such as what new products to launch or what new markets to tackle. Analytics plays an important role in helping your business make these decisions in a smarter, more data-driven way.“The purpose of analytics is to help us make decisions, is to create decision-making capabilities across the company. The next step was to find out what those decisions are that we would need to make? When I say decisions, these are not like once in a quarter, boardroom decisions. I'm talking about everyday decisions that many of our colleagues make every single day.”Vijay Kotu is the SVP of Data and Analytics for ServiceNow, a company that is helping enterprises manage digital workflows. In this episode of the Data Chief, Vijay discusses how he is building a high-growth “mathematical enterprise” where frontline workers are empowered to make smarter business decisions with data and AI. He also speaks about the impact of ecosystems, the need for businesses to have a holistic view of their data in order to create positive outcomes, and why being intentional about analytics use cases is absolutely essential. Key Takeaways:Don’t underestimate the impact of micro-decisions: We all want to be more data-driven, but don’t fall into the trap of thinking that data and analytics can only be applied to once-a-quarter, boardroom-level decisions. Enabling frontline employees to be more data-driven in their everyday work is a hugely powerful way to make a positive impact across your entire business.Evaluate how data can improve workflows: The holy grail of analytics is converting insights to action. One of the most effective ways to do this is by automating workflows whenever and wherever possible. With automation, you help everyone in the business be more efficient without adding any extra work or manual decision-making.Data becomes exponentially more powerful when it’s connected: Having all of your proprietary data in one place is a great way to start your data journey but it becomes exponentially more valuable when you connect it to outside data sources. Bringing together multiple sources of data gives you even richer insights about your customers, employees, and products.Data serves the business: At the end of the day, your data goals should align with that of businesses. Data and analytics professionals must remember that data is there to serve sales, marketing, product, IT, etc. into making better decisions for the business. They are the ones running the functions and the data and analytics teams are the backbone of that. Therefore, data teams should be designing products with that in mind.Key Quotes“The purpose of analytics is to help us make decisions, is to create decision-making capabilities across the company. The next step was to find out what those decisions are that we would need to make? When I say decisions, these are not like once in a quarter, boardroom decisions. I'm talking about everyday decisions that many of our colleagues make every single day.”“Data just in one place, it's less valuable. But when you connect it with other data points that you have, it becomes even more valuable.”“What are you going to do with those insights? That would be the actions. If these insights are helping you make a decision, how do we actually put that decision in action is closing the loop. That has been the Holy Grail of analytics. Rather than stopping at insights, you're closing the loop on helping people do that action here.”“The things that matter the most for our customers right now is a prioritization decision, and doing really well in those areas will help us reach further in our goal.”Bio:Vijay Kotu is Senior Vice President of Analytics at ServiceNow. He leads the implementation of large-scale data platforms and services to support the company's enterprise business. He has led analytics organizations for over a decade with focus on data strategy, business intelligence, machine learning, experimentation, engineering, enterprise adoption, and building analytics talent. Prior to joining ServiceNow, he was Vice President of Analytics at Yahoo. He worked at Life Technologies and Adteractive where he led marketing analytics, created algorithms to optimize online purchasing behavior, and developed data platforms to manage marketing campaigns. He is a member of the Association of Computing Machinery and a member of the Advisory Board at RapidMiner.To hear more about ServiceNow, check out their podcast.--The Data Chief is presented by our friends at ThoughtSpot. Searching through your company’s data for insights doesn’t have to be complicated. With ThoughtSpot, anyone in your organization can easily answer their own data questions, find the facts, and make better, faster decisions. Learn more at thoughtspot.com. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

At the end of every year, you’re probably asking the same questions we are. What are the big changes coming next year? How do I stay ahead of them? And what’s separating real trends from the hype?To answer these questions, we are excited to bring together some of the top minds in the industry. In this special episode, we’ll pick their brains and dig into what you need to know to thrive in the year ahead. You’ll hear from three incredible guests -- all of whom are building and shaping the future of data and analytics:First, Ben Taylor, the Chief AI Evangelist at DataRobotThen, the Global Field CTO of Databricks, Chris D’Agostino.And finally, Bruno Aziza, the Head of Data & Analytics at Google Cloud.Nothing is off the table. So whether you want to hear about augmented everything, dig into the debate around different cloud platforms, or learn why analytics has become more impactful than ever, this is the episode for you.Key TakeawaysCDOs must deliver simplicity but contend with complexity: As the data ecosystem continues to introduce new innovation at an ever increasing rate, data leaders must grapple with all these new capabilities. At the same time, however, the rising need for access to this innovation from nontechnical, business professionals means CDOs must simultaneously deliver simple, intuitive experiences that empower the rest of the businessIs the data warehouse on the way out? D’Agostino makes a bold prediction that within 10 years, the traditional data warehouse won’t exist. That begs the question: what will replace it? The lakehouse, data mesh, and data fabric are all contenders, but require organizational changes, not just the introduction of new technologies, as Aziza points out. Preventing bias within models: A consistent problem in the industry - one that we’ve touched on several times this year - is the potential for machine learning and AI to scale bias in unprecedented ways. As we enter 2022, it will become even more imperative that you and your team are able to answer questions like “how will this model potentially amplify basis,” “how can we prevent biases,” or “what biases exist in our data sets?” Creating an ecosystem of data sharing: The rise of analytics exchanges creates massive opportunity for businesses for two reasons. First, it allows users to share data across platforms at a faster rate. And second, users are now able to share more than just data, but actual assets at an improved rate.In 2022, AI, ML, and data products must prove value: For years, companies have experimented with AI and ML, but as Taylor points out, the disillusionment with the impact of these experiments is at an all time high. So whether you’re building data products or launching new AI use cases, data leaders need to lead with the value they will deliver, not only imagine the art of what’s possible.--The Data Chief is presented by our friends at ThoughtSpot. Searching through your company’s data for insights doesn’t have to be complicated. With ThoughtSpot, anyone in your organization can easily answer their own data questions, find the facts, and make better, faster decisions. Learn more at thoughtspot.com. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

We are back with more episodes! In the coming months, you’ll hear from executives and data leaders from companies like Databricks, Google, General Motors, Etsy, ServiceNow, and more. Our guests cover topics like cloud acceleration, ethical AI, data fluency, scaling data teams, the trends that matter as we enter 2022, and much more!You won’t want to miss these upcoming episodes, so be sure to subscribe to The Data Chief on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Plus, you can dive deeper into these subjects at thedatachief.com where we host live events, share industry articles, and you can join a private slack community of like-minded Data Chief listeners.--The Data Chief is presented by our friends at ThoughtSpot. Searching through your company’s data for insights doesn’t have to be complicated. With ThoughtSpot, anyone in your organization can easily answer their own data questions, find the facts, and make better, faster decisions. Learn more at thoughtspot.com. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

As we wrap up Season 2 of the Data Chief Podcast, It’s time to once again thank all of our listeners for tuning in and sending Cindi your ideas, and to all of our awesome guests who willingly shared their time and insights along the way. This season The Data Chief shared stories such as Sol Rashidi, CAO Estèe Lauder Companies, about how she starts every day by reading for an hour. Or from Season one, Alberto Rey Villaverdo, Executive Director of Advanced Analytics at VirginMedia, about how he reads an hour or more every single day. It’s those stories that have inspired this special end-of-season episode.In this podcast, Cindi is joined by four distinct authors with must-read books, two new that are new to bookshelves, and two that are time-tested. Be sure to check out the companion blog on thedatachief.com for other books Cindi recommends as well.In this episode you’ll hear from Randy Bean, author of Fail Fast, Learn Faster.John Thompson on Building Analytics TeamsCole Knussbaumer Knaflic on Storytelling with DataDoug Laney on Infonomics: How to Monetize, Manage, and Measure Information as an Asset for Competitive AdvantageKey TakeawaysFrom Randy Bean, Developing a data culture is an ongoing process: Becoming data-driven or developing a data culture is not a destination, it's an ongoing process that never truly ends. In fact, the most sophisticated data companies are often the most worried about how they’re doing. This mindset of continued iteration and improvement is what fuels innovation. When you feel like you have it all figured out, think again.From John Thompson, When building an analytics team, hybrid models deliver the best of both worlds: Although more complex than other organizational models, hybrid data teams allow you to meet the needs of your business in a faster, more scalable, and more effective way. How? At any given time, high-volume data professionals will be focused on repetitive tasks like data acquisition, data integration, feature engineering, modeling, and feeding data objects up the chain, while artisanal data scientists directly interface with the subject matter experts embedded across various lines of business. From Cole Knussbaumer Knaflic, Shape data stories with your audience in mind: When presenting data, it’s important to understand who your audience is. What do they care about? How will this information impact them? What action should they take after receiving it? Tailoring your data story to them and building a narrative arc that takes them along for the journey is key to creating the kinds of a-ha moments that stick.From Doug Laney, Data monetization requires innovative thinking: For many organizations, the value of their data outweighs the value of the rest of their business. Instead of focusing on the limitations of regulations like GDPR or HIPPA when going to monetize it, try to think outside the box. Can your data help you develop a new product or service? Can it forge a partner relationship? Can you sell a derivative of it? The possibilities are limitless.--The Data Chief is presented by our friends at ThoughtSpot. Searching through your company’s data for insights doesn’t have to be complicated. With ThoughtSpot, anyone in your organization can easily answer their own data questions, find the facts, and make better, faster decisions. Learn more at thoughtspot.com. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

Is the role of a data scientist still a “sexy job” or has it lost a bit of its luster? And what’s more important for successful data leaders, deep data knowledge or business savvy?Daniel Seymore is the Head of Business Intelligence for Investec, a bank that is delivering out of the ordinary insights in the world of finance to help its customers create and manage wealth. One of Daniel’s career-guiding principles is to question the conventional, and on this episode of The Data Chief, he sheds light on some of these questions and shares how he is continuing to live by this principle to help Investec modernize its data capabilities. Daniel and Cindi also discuss why the only constant in life is change, which means businesses must place a larger emphasis on upskilling workforces. Lastly, the two dive into why domain expertise might be the most important skill for any data leader.Main TakeawaysDomain expertise matters: The hardest pivot for most technical professionals is moving away from day-to-day technical capabilities and into a leadership role. Data science is an important part of any company’s toolkit, but great leaders should understand the problems they’re solving on a business level and be able to relay it back in a way everyone can understand.Fail quickly to learn and adapt: With any project, it’s good to have a plan but it’s also important to embrace the idea of failure. The faster you fail, the sooner you can learn and adapt your processes to succeed.Change management is about partnerships: Gone are the days when employees sit back and take every direction from their boss at face value. Successful change managers recognize the individual value each employee can add to a project. They treat it as a partnership. And this is benefiting not just immediate teams, but the business as a whole.About DanielDaniel Seymore joined Investec in 2016 and soon after got appointed to lead the Private Bank Business Intelligence team. Prior to Investec, Daniel worked at SARS as the Manager of the Performance Analytics team. His career has mainly been focused within the data realm with extensive experience within the fields of data analytics and decision sciences.At Investec Daniel is responsible for operational and strategic management of the business intelligence and operational analytics capability within the Private Bank department. This includes identifying and implementing machine learning use cases and scaling the capability enterprise wide, refactoring and streamlining of data warehouse processes and implementation of self-service capabilities for end-users.--The Data Chief is presented by our friends at ThoughtSpot. Searching through your company’s data for insights doesn’t have to be complicated. With ThoughtSpot, anyone in your organization can easily answer their own data questions, find the facts, and make better, faster decisions. Learn more at thoughtspot.com. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.