How analytics teams can earn their seat at the table with Elevance Health

The Data Chief

31:46

BE WARNED! This podcast will contain spoilers for Wednesday Season 2, episodes 1-4. Join host Caitlin Reilly each week as she takes you deep into the twisted world of Wednesday with an amazing group of guests! And producer Thing will be helping out to make sure everything goes to plan - well, mostly, anyway... In this episode: Jenna Ortega peels back the layers on the new tension between Wednesday and Enid. And that terrifying vision! Plus… Series showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar reveal why they made Morticia Addams such a central character in this season, and what it means for Wednesday. Whether you’re a normie or an outcast, the Wednesday Season 2 Official Woecast will be the place for all things Nevermore! For more juicy details about Wednesday Season 2, head over to Tudum.com to get all of the latest updates. 1:15 Preparing for Season 2 3:25 Evolving Wednesday’s look for Season 2 4:12 Addams clan expands for Season 2 6:12 Joanna Lumley joining the cast 7:38 Wednesday and Enid's Friendship 9:00 Wednesday’s Vision 10:50 Jenna is a Producer 13:45 Al and Miles introduction 14:03 Wednesday takes down a Serial Killer 15:05 Intergenerational Relationships & the Addams Women 17:48 Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia in Season 2 20:48 Wednesday and Enid’s relationship 24:04 Steve Buscemi joining the cast 26:19 Wednesday’s popular! 27:45 Boy with the Clockwork Heart stop motion sequence…

about a year ago 49:22

MP3•Episode home

Tune in to learn:

How Elevance Health forms holistic views of patients’ heath by connecting community data (03.55)
Why analytics should sit at the business table (13:08)
How to understand your customers as individuals, learn their business problems, and meet them where they are (19:10)
Why data democratization should go beyond the organization (21:16)
How to engage in a new relationship with data with natural language (35:35)

Key Quotes:

“Once you're sitting across from a community-based organization and you're helping them with where to focus efforts, having data in that conversation and being able to show, well, here are where our members are located and here are the members that have a chronic need for food or for transportation. Using data in that conversation is a game changer.”
“Analytics should be at the table, not a takeaway from the table. So I think analytics, when they’re sitting around the table with the business when they're making decisions or they're working through a problem, is a very different construct than traditional models where the business convenes, works through a problem, then decides well we need more data, or we need data to drive a decision here, go ahead and put in a ticket or seek additional data and bring it back."
“I think training is critical. I've seen far too many dashboard wastelands where you have dashboards sitting out there that are accessed very little, but have really, really good information. What that tells me is there wasn't a good amount of training. There is not a strong communication plan. There's not a robustness of really ensuring that the solution is oriented to the problem that it was created to solve.”

Mentions:

Bio:

Robert Garnett serves as Vice President for Government Analytics and Health Benefits Cost of Care at Elevance Health. In this role, he leads a data-driven organization supporting analytics and insights for Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial and enterprise customers in the areas of population health, cost of care, performance management, operational excellence, and quality improvement.

Prior to his current role, Robert served as President and CEO, Amerigroup Tennessee, where he was responsible for the strategic, fiscal, regulatory, and operational leadership of the health plan. In his role, he was also responsible for building and managing state and local relationships and fostering new growth and strategic opportunities within Tennessee’s TennCare Medicaid program.

Prior to his promotion to President in 2018, Robert served as the Chief Operating Officer and previously the Director of Medicaid State Operations, leading all day-to-day health plan operations and execution, customer service, quality management, and regulatory oversight from 2014 to 2018. He served in a similar operational leadership capacity for Amerigroup Georgia from 2011 to 2014. In addition to these roles, Robert supported South Region Medicaid with business development & implementation, and strategic operations.

Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

121 episodes

#Tech #MBA #Business #Mission

The Data Chief

How analytics teams can earn their seat at the table with Elevance Health

The Data Chief

30 subscribers

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

Tune in to learn:

How Elevance Health forms holistic views of patients’ heath by connecting community data (03.55)
Why analytics should sit at the business table (13:08)
How to understand your customers as individuals, learn their business problems, and meet them where they are (19:10)
Why data democratization should go beyond the organization (21:16)
How to engage in a new relationship with data with natural language (35:35)

Key Quotes:

“Once you're sitting across from a community-based organization and you're helping them with where to focus efforts, having data in that conversation and being able to show, well, here are where our members are located and here are the members that have a chronic need for food or for transportation. Using data in that conversation is a game changer.”
“Analytics should be at the table, not a takeaway from the table. So I think analytics, when they’re sitting around the table with the business when they're making decisions or they're working through a problem, is a very different construct than traditional models where the business convenes, works through a problem, then decides well we need more data, or we need data to drive a decision here, go ahead and put in a ticket or seek additional data and bring it back."
“I think training is critical. I've seen far too many dashboard wastelands where you have dashboards sitting out there that are accessed very little, but have really, really good information. What that tells me is there wasn't a good amount of training. There is not a strong communication plan. There's not a robustness of really ensuring that the solution is oriented to the problem that it was created to solve.”

Mentions:

Bio:

Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

121 episodes

#Tech #MBA #Business #Mission

All episodes

The Data Chief

1
Why "Garbage In, Disaster Out" is AI's New Reality: Ecolab CDO 40:26

9 days ago40:26

40:26

Join us for expert insights on driving data-led change. Anand Iyer, Senior Vice President and Chief Data Officer at Ecolab, breaks down his approach to AI-powered innovation. He shares how to ensure AI initiatives directly impact the bottom line, why an engineering approach is key for prioritizing AI use cases, and that "garbage in, disaster out" is the new reality for data at AI scale. Discover how self-service analytics with AI is transforming data access and why AI is now a critical "business forcing function" in today's volatile world. Key Moments: The "Value First Mindset" for AI (03:13): Despite the hype around AI, initiatives must directly impact the top or bottom line in a measurable way. Sustained investment requires a clear link between the AI initiative and its financial value, moving beyond "soft benefits." Engineering Mindset for Prioritization (11:27): Anand discusses how an engineering approach is applied to prioritizing AI use cases, which helps teams focus on thoroughly understanding the problem and desired outcome before selecting a solution. "Garbage In, Disaster Out" (14:27): A new take on an old adage is introduced: "in the AI world is garbage in and disaster out". This highlights the magnified risks of bad data when leveraged at AI scale. Advocacy for Self-Service Analytics with AI (24:10): Self-service analytics is championed, describing how the integration of AI and conversational AI allows users to ask questions regarding the data. This removes the need for IT involvement in report generation and simplifies the learning curve for data structures. AI as a Business Forcing Function (33:38): In today's volatile global environment, near real-time data and AI-driven insights are no longer optional but a "business forcing function". Rapid reactions to market disruptions, policy changes, and supply chain issues are critical for a company's survival and success. Key Quotes: "If you want to have a seat at the table, you've got to be able to talk in terms of what the value is in terms of dollars." - Anand Iyer “We've deployed ThoughtSpot technology to be able to provide self-serve analytics to our teams, which allows them to have access to the data. This enables them to have conversational questions.” - Anand Iyer "The role that data, analytics, and AI play is the ability to give business leaders access to impact and what they should do in a very timely manner so that they can minimize any impact to business." - Anand Iyer Mentions: Before You Ask an AI Chatbot for Depression Advice, Read This 'Garbage in, Garbage out': AI Fails to Debunk Disinformation, Study Finds The Bhagavad Gita - By Bed Vyas Guest Bio: Anand Iyer is the SVP, Chief Data Officer at Ecolab, where he leads the company’s global data and analytics strategy. Based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, he oversees enterprise data governance, business intelligence, engineering, and advanced analytics to accelerate Ecolab’s digital transformation. Since joining in 2018, Anand has held several senior roles, including VP of Enterprise Architecture and VP of Architecture for Commercial Digital Solutions, helping to scale IoT and data-driven platforms across the organization. With over 14 years of experience in data architecture and digital innovation, Anand has a proven track record of aligning technical solutions with business outcomes. Prior to Ecolab, he held leadership roles at GE Healthcare Digital, CSRA Inc., and CSC. He holds an engineering degree from the National Institute of Technology Rourkela and is known for building high-performing teams and cultivating a data-first culture that drives smarter, more sustainable decisions. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

1
Why Leaders Need to Master Responsible AI: Insights from Pioneer Noelle Russell 57:32

23 days ago57:32

57:32

Prepare for game-changing AI insights! Join Noelle Russell, CEO of the AI Leadership Institute and author of Scaling Responsible AI: From Enthusiasm to Execution . Noelle, an AI pioneer, shares her journey from the early Alexa team with Jeff Bezos, where her unique perspective shaped successful mindfulness apps. We'll explore her "I Love AI" community, which has taught over 3.4 million people. Unpack responsible, profitable AI, from the "baby tiger" analogy for AI development and organizational execution, to critical discussions around data bias and the cognitive cost of AI over-reliance. Key Moments: Journey into AI: From Jeff Bezos to Alexa (03:13): Noelle describes how she "stumbled into AI" after receiving an email from Jeff Bezos inviting her to join a new team at Amazon, later revealed to be the early Alexa team. She highlights that while she lacked inherent AI skills, her "purpose and passion" fueled her journey. "I Love AI" Community & Learning (11:02): After leaving Amazon and experiencing a personal transition, Noelle created the "I Love AI" community. This free, neurodiverse space offers a safe environment for people, especially those laid off or transitioning careers, to learn AI without feeling alone, fundamentally changing their life trajectories. The "Baby Tiger" Analogy (17:21): Noelle introduces her "baby tiger" analogy for early AI model development. She explains that in the "peak of enthusiasm" (baby tiger mode), people get excited about novel AI models, but often fail to ask critical questions about scale, data needs, long-term care, or what happens if the model isn't wanted anymore. Model Selection & Explainability (32:01): Noelle stresses the importance of a clear rubric for model selection and evaluation, especially given rapid changes. She points to Stanford's HELM project (Holistic Evaluation of Language Models) as an open-source leaderboard that evaluates models on "toxicity" beyond just accuracy. Avoiding Data Bias (40:18): Noelle warns against prioritizing model selection before understanding the problem and analyzing the data landscape, as this often leads to biased outcomes and the "hammer-and-nail" problem. Cognitive Cost of AI Over-Reliance (44:43): Referencing recent industry research, Noelle warns about the potential "atrophy" of human creativity due to over-reliance on AI. Key Quotes: "Show don't tell... It's more about understanding what your review board does and how they're thinking and what their backgrounds are... And then being very thoughtful about your approach." - Noelle Russell "When we use AI as an aid rather than as writing the whole thing or writing the title, when we use it as an aid, like, can you make this title better for me? Then our brain actually is growing. The creative synapses are firing away." Noelle Russell "Most organizations, most leaders... they're picking their model before they've even figured out what the problem will be... it's kind of like, I have a really cool hammer, everything's a nail, right?" - Noelle Russell Mentions: "I Love AI" Community Scaling Responsible AI: From Enthusiasm to Execution - Noelle Russell "Your Brain on ChatGPT" - MIT Media Lab Power to Truth: AI Narratives, Public Trust, and the New Tech Empire - Stanford Meta-learning, Social Cognition and Consciousness in Brains and Machines HELM - A Reproductive and Transparent Framework for Evaluating Foundation Models Guest Bio: Noelle Russell is a multi-award-winning speaker, author, and AI Executive who specializes in transforming businesses through strategic AI adoption. She is a revenue growth + cost optimization expert, 4x Microsoft Responsible AI MVP, and named the #1 Agentic AI Leader in 2025. She has led teams at NPR, Microsoft, IBM, AWS and Amazon Alexa, and is a consistent champion for Data and AI literacy and is the founder of the "I ❤️ AI" Community teaching responsible AI for everyone. She is the founder of the AI Leadership Institute and empowers business owners to grow and scale with AI. In the last year, she has been named an awardee of the AI and Cyber Leadership Award from DCALive, the #1 Thought Leader in Agentic AI, and a Top 10 Global Thought Leader in Generative AI by Thinkers360. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

1
How Lloyds Banking Uses Data Escape Rooms to Build a Data Culture 49:38

5 weeks ago49:38

49:38

Tune in for a masterclass in data leadership. Josh Cunningham, Group Head of Data and AI Culture at Lloyds Banking Group, unveils how this distinguished institution is boldly innovating with cutting-edge AI. Josh provides a riveting look into his unique role, which is dedicated to accelerating talent, building capabilities, and articulating data and AI's profound impact across the organization. Learn how Lloyds is rapidly expanding its data and AI graduate scheme and learn more about their ambitious quest to be the "most data literate bank". Hear how their innovative five-persona literacy framework, and engaging initiatives like the "Data and AI Summer School" and a physical "Data Escape Room," are driving their business forward on data and AI. Key Moments: The "People Side" of Data and AI (12:33): Reflecting on his career, Josh highlights his passion for the "people side" of data and AI, focusing on building teams and fostering career development. This addresses a critical industry gap where technology readiness often outpaces human capability. Scaling Data and AI Talent (17:23): Lloyds Banking Group significantly scaled its data and AI graduate scheme from approximately 10 to 100 graduates annually over three years, while demonstrating a proactive approach to balancing between AI training and tool adoption for their increasing talent pool. Data and AI Literacy Framework (22:52): Lloyds developed a data and AI literacy framework with five personas, from "data beginner" to "citizen," representing an evolving maturity lifecycle. This framework helps map and track colleagues' literacy levels over time. The Data and AI Summer School (29:06): Josh highlights this major, two-month, virtual program that offers over 200 live sessions hosted by internal and external experts. It covers diverse data and AI topics for all colleagues, from beginners to practitioners, and has attracted over 42,000 sign-ups in the previous year. The Physical Data Escape Room (32:18): Lloyds innovated with a physical data escape room that tours the UK, designed to engage colleagues (even those disengaged with data). Its puzzles, anchored to the entire data value chain, enable "learning by stealth" with phenomenal feedback. Key Quotes: "It's trying your best to meet people where they are and make it real for them. So... finding a way to anchor the learning to something that's relevant to their their day to day role, is always gonna make it land better." - Josh Cunningham "I think every organization needs to find a really well-structured balance in terms of training versus adoption." - Josh Cunningham "If I was to think about our data and AI literacy framework, we've developed a framework that consists of five personas. We've tried to break it down in terms of where people might be on their data or AI literacy journey. You can go from data beginner through to data enthusiast, through to data and AI explorer, through to storyteller, through to citizen. - Josh Cunningham Mentions Lloyds Banking Group - Escape Room Lloyds Banking Group's partnership with Women in Data Lloyds Banking Group's partnership with Code First Girls The AI Daily Brief Podcast Guest Bio: Josh Cunningham is the Group Head of Data and AI Culture at Lloyds Banking Group, where he leads the Data Culture Pillar—one of five strategic pillars in the Group’s data strategy. He is focused on embedding data-driven mindsets across the organization and empowering teams to unlock the full value of data. Josh spearheads a range of initiatives, including enterprise-wide data literacy programs, innovative talent attraction efforts, and collaboration events that foster a culture of experimentation and learning. With a background in data and a deep commitment to talent development, he is passionate about transforming how large organizations cultivate data careers, scale innovation, and use insights to shape the future of banking. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

1
How a CDAO goes from baseball to insurance with Don Vu - New York Life 39:40

7 weeks ago39:40

39:40

Step inside the world of data innovation as Don Vu, SVP and Chief Data and Analytics Officer at New York Life, reveals how a 180-year-old institution is embracing cutting-edge AI. Don, shares insights from his unique background, spanning Major League Baseball and retail startups, now applied to transforming the insurance industry. Hear how New York Life leverages AI to make experiences proactive and intelligent, addressing challenges like the "last mile problem" in data operationalization. Key Moments: MLB Data Insights (07:28) : The conversation delves into how every baseball stadium is extensively instrumented with high-speed camera and radar technology, meticulously tracking every object on the field. This massive trove of data is then shared across all baseball clubs for in-depth analysis and the optimization of strategies. The Last Mile Problem (09:38) : A critical challenge in data and AI is identified as the "last mile problem," emphasizing that the primary hurdles often lie in the operationalization, change management, adoption, and acceptance of solutions, extending far beyond the mere building of models. Data & AI in Business Strategy (13:08): The discussion highlights that data serves as the fundamental underpinning for seamless operations, while AI actively transforms experiences, making them proactive and intelligent. This deep integration of AI and data is central to New York Life's core business strategy. Data Readiness & Quality (20:08) : Persistent data readiness issues are addressed, underscoring that data quality, latency, governance, and stewardship—with business owners held accountable—are absolutely crucial for both structured and unstructured data environments. AI Interoperability & Agent-Driven Future (22:43): The episode explores the importance of tracking emerging AI protocols such as MCP (Model Context Protocol) and agent-to-agent protocols. A compelling vision of the future is also shared, where AI agents act on behalf of consumers. Realizing this vision depends on interoperability across AI systems, enabling smooth, intelligent collaboration between diverse platforms. GuideMe Application & AI (32:46): New York Life's innovative "GuideMe" tool, utilized by agents during client meetings, is described as possessing incredible potential for pervasive AI integration. This integration is set to significantly supercharge both the agent and client experience, streamlining financial planning. Key Quotes: “There is this phrase that data practitioners often cite. It's like this notion of garbage in, garbage out. And data quality matters. The latency of your data is significantly important. The notion of data governance and data stewardship, with a business owner being accountable for the quality of data, is really important." - Don Vu “We think human-led protection-first holistic advice and guidance is really the key here, and we have amazing advisors, we have amazing agents throughout the country, and what we're really focused on is really enhancing them and trying to make their lives easier by having AI at their side.” - Don Vu “Data is the underpinning foundation upon which that runs seamlessly and consistently. AI is the way by which it becomes proactive and intelligent across the entire set of experiences.” - Don Vu Mentions How New York Life’s “Guide Me” is Leading the Way in Digital Transformation Rockaway Beach: New York’s Best Kept Secret Leading Change: By John P. Kotter Diner: South Williamsburg, Brooklyn Restaurant Guest Bio Don Vu is the Senior Vice President and Chief Data and Analytics Officer at New York Life. In this role, Don leads the company's artificial intelligence (AI) and data team, overseeing AI, data, and insights initiatives and ensuring data architecture supports New York Life's business objectives. Prior to joining New York Life, Don served as chief data officer at Northwestern Mutual, where he spearheaded organizational transformation and enterprise data and AI strategy. His impressive career also includes leadership positions at WeWork as vice president of data and analytics and 13 years at Major League Baseball (MLB) as vice president of data and analytics. Don holds a B.S. in Information Systems and Commerce from the University of Virginia and actively contributes to the field as an advisory board member for McIntire's Business Analytics program. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

1
How the Met Police Uses AI to Prevent Crime and Protect Communities 45:04

9 weeks ago45:04

45:04

Step into the future of policing where data is a mission-critical asset. Cindi Howson talks with Aimee Smith, Director of Data at the Metropolitan Police, about the Met’s bold data transformation—from digitizing records dating back to 1829 to using AI and cloud tech for smarter, faster decisions. Hear how initiatives like the V100 program and real-time analytics help improve city safety. Key Moments: Genesis of the Met’s Data Strategy (03:35) - The Met's data strategy's origin is traced to former Commissioner Cressida Dick's leadership, who envisioned leveraging data to transform policing, leading to a program building data capabilities and broadening analytics use beyond traditional intelligence and performance applications. Mission with Data and AI (13:34) : The Met's overarching mission to use data and AI for precise decision-making is articulated, acknowledging the complexity of policing's multiple goals: crime prevention, incident response, organized crime intervention, victim service, and custody safety. Infrastructure Evolution (15:18) : The transformation of the Met's data infrastructure over 5 years, from 8 separate operational systems to an integrated one with cloud technology adoption, is described, enhancing analytics and data science capabilities. V100 Initiative (19:58) : The V100 initiative, a data and analytics effort to reduce violence against women and girls by prioritizing individuals with a history of harm, is explained. Concert Security Powered by Analytics (27:50) : The use of ThoughtSpot by frontline officers is illustrated with a sergeant's innovative application for analyzing crime data around events like the Taylor Swift Eras tour to improve policing plans. AI Agent Development (36:37) : An innovative project to build an AI agent that assists frontline officers at crime scenes by providing real-time guidance is outlined, aiming to improve public protection and investigative outcomes. Key Quotes: “So if an officer wants to start being able to do their own searches, creating their own sort of planners, thinking about doing their own trend analysis essentially, of crime data, which is great, isn't it? I mean, that's just exactly how you want ThoughtSpot to be used. Every officer has access to that.” - Aimee Smith "I like to think of it as a utility belt—you know how cops wear their utility belt? Well, hanging on there is this ThoughtSpot tool. A sergeant invented a way to use it for planning major events, concerts, to make sure our presence is right. And now that's replicable by other people who want to do the same thing." - Aimee Smith "One of the 5 principles of our business strategy for London to keep it safe is to be more precise in the use of data for decision making. So it's a high-level principle of our strategy. That makes data and analytics much harder, because there aren't enough data specialists and too many data parts to point at all those missions in one go.” - Aimee Smith Mentions Met Police’s V100 Initiative Met Police Develops an Open Data Strategy with the Open Data Institute Met Police’s Concert Preparation for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Cressida Dick Reflects on Public Trust in the Digital Age The Data Protection Act Guest Bio Aimee Smith's distinguished career in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) spans almost a quarter-century, truly a testament to her profound dedication to integrating robust data into the very core of police decision-making. She embarked on her journey in 2001 as an Intelligence Analyst, steadily rising through the ranks. By 2014, her leadership capabilities led her to head UK Policing’s largest Confidential Intelligence Unit. A pivotal "light-bulb moment" crystallized for her the critical importance of effective data management in driving operational outcomes, inspiring her to passionately spearhead the comprehensive MPS data transformation program. In a landmark achievement, Aimee was appointed as the first Director of Data for the MPS, where in 2019, she successfully established the inaugural Data Office within law enforcement, fundamentally reshaping how the service leverages its information. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

1
Why Hyatt is Investing in AI and Self-Service to Transform the Future of Hospitality 41:00

12 weeks ago41:00

41:00

Embark on an insightful exploration of the hospitality sector, powered by data-driven analysis. Cindi Howson and Hyatt's data trailblazer, Ray Boyle (Vice President, Data and Analytics), are charting a course through Hyatt's data innovation. Witness how Hyatt's four-pillar data strategy is revolutionizing everything from employee empowerment to guest personalization and operational efficiency. Discover how Hyatt is democratizing data with self-service tools and pioneering an AI-powered frontier to redefine the very essence of hospitality! Key Moments: Data as an Asset (08:26): Ray emphasizes the importance of shifting the organizational mindset to view data not as a cost center, but as a critical asset. He discusses how data should be cared for, invested in, and stored like any other valuable asset, with the expectation of generating value for the business. Hyatt's Data Strategy Pillars (13:00): Ray outlines the four key pillars that form the foundation of Hyatt's data strategy. These pillars include cultivating people and building a data-driven culture, personalizing the guest and customer experience in a high-trust environment, operating with excellence by ensuring operational efficiency and information consistency, and growing with intent by integrating new businesses and data flows. Key Milestones in Hyatt's Data Transformation (16:42): Ray details the significant milestones in Hyatt's data transformation journey. These include clarifying the data strategy, establishing the data and AI operating model, building data governance capabilities, modernizing the data platform and infrastructure, expanding data assets, and releasing new services like personalization and forecasting. Data Democratization and Data Fluency (23:00): Ray explains Hyatt's strong emphasis on self-service analytics to empower users across the organization. He discusses the importance of data accessibility, trustworthiness, and usability, as well as the potential of generative AI to further democratize data access and insights. This includes building a data community to facilitate knowledge sharing and learning, as well as providing tooling and guidance to business organizations to effectively roll out analytics within their domains. AI's Impact and Collaboration (31:35): Ray explores the transformative impact of AI on businesses and its role in fostering tighter collaboration between business and technology teams. He discusses how AI is driving the need for reimagined workflows and how it's changing the way data is used and delivered across the organization. Key Quotes: “ThoughtSpot has been a key partner of ours on that journey. We just roll the data into the cloud, and we're working to publish our assets, sales, finance, loyalty, revenue, search, and marketing into that infrastructure so that there's just a growing base of information that everybody can use in the self-service context.” - Raymond Boyle "Velocity is something you build over time. It's how I think about the operating model around data, ensuring everyone plays their role and develops the necessary skills. To me, velocity increases as you establish the operating model and you have the business, technology, and data organizations, along with governance and security, all participating effectively. - Raymond Boyle "When you think about the business outcomes and how people are beginning to consider AI's potential in that transformation, I believe AI is becoming a more significant factor every quarter." - Raymond Boyle Mentions The Four V’s of Big Data, Including Velocity Dalva, By Jim Harrison Minnesota Timberwolves’ Success Guest Bio Ray Boyle (current Vice President, Data and Analytics at Hyatt) has enjoyed a distinguished career spanning several industries and roles across consulting, software, analytics, and data leadership. His notable roles include leading strategic planning, research, and analytics for Walmart’s Sam’s Club division; serving as Vice President of Walmart Global Customer Insights and Analytics; Vice President of Walmart’s Global Data and Analytics Platform; Vice President leading FICO’s global retail and CPG practice; and Executive Vice President heading IRI’s Global Shopper Analytics and Services team. Since 2019, Ray has served as Vice President, Data and Analytics at Hyatt. Aligned with Hyatt’s purpose — to care for people so they can be their best — his ambition is to elevate and scale that care through data-driven decisions and automation that benefit guests, customers, owners, and colleagues. Guest Bio Ray Boyle (current Vice President, Data and Analytics at Hyatt) has enjoyed a distinguished career spanning several industries and roles across consulting, software, analytics, and data leadership. His notable roles include leading strategic planning, research, and analytics for Walmart’s Sam’s Club division; serving as Vice President of Walmart Global Customer Insights and Analytics; Vice President of Walmart’s Global Data and Analytics Platform; Vice President leading FICO’s global retail and CPG practice; and Executive Vice President heading IRI’s Global Shopper Analytics and Services team. Since 2019, Ray has served as Vice President, Data and Analytics at Hyatt. Aligned with Hyatt’s purpose — to care for people so they can be their best — his ambition is to elevate and scale that care through data-driven decisions and automation that benefit guests, customers, owners, and colleagues. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

1
How Macquarie Bank Uses AI and Data to Enhance Customer Experience 41:12

14 weeks ago41:12

41:12

Prepare to see banking in a new light! Cindi Howson and Macquarie Bank's data trailblazer, Ashwin Sinha (Chief Data Officer), go deep into the AI revolution transforming financial services. Discover how one of Australia's most dynamic financial institutions, Macquarie Bank, is wielding the disruptive force of generative AI, not just for efficiency, but to combat high-stakes threats like fraud. Plus, discover the remarkable evolution of the data analyst from report-generator to AI-powered strategic powerhouse! Key Moments: Drivers of Digital Transformation (04:36): Ashwin outlines the key factors driving a digital transformation and early cloud adoption, emphasizing customer obsession, improving turnaround times, and ensuring technology reliability. Leveraging Dual Cloud Providers (12:25): Ashwin discusses Macquarie Bank's use of AWS for infrastructure and core applications and Google Cloud (GCP) for its digital and data stack, including AI capabilities. The Power of Gen AI in Analytics (14:16): Ashwin explores the role of generative AI in enhancing productivity for data analysts, particularly through prompt engineering and tools like ThoughtSpot. Empowering Analysts Through Evolution (16:56): Ashwin details Macquarie Bank's successful strategy for evolving the data analyst role by proactively introducing self-service analytics, emphasizing upskilling, and enabling analysts to concentrate on higher-impact activities Combating Data Risk and Fraud Prevention (26:04): Ashwin discusses the increasing threat of scams and fraud and details Macquarie's two-pronged approach: educating customers and employing AI and machine learning to detect and prevent fraudulent activities. Importance of Prompt Engineering (32:57): Ashwin stresses the significance of prompt engineering as a general-purpose technology that can drive productivity across various business functions, not just within technical roles. Key Quotes: "There is always a big backlog in most organizations, which you cannot get done just because you do not have enough capacity. You cannot prioritize them. You cannot execute fast enough. And so, what prompt engineering and GenAI broadly does is take away the low-value tasks that you could just use AI and machine learning to do for you." - Ashwin Sinha "Prompt engineering—even though it has 'engineering' in it— I see that as a general-purpose technology. It's a bit like we've just got access to a super powerful search with a lot more analytical and reasoning capability. That's how I think of the usage of any of the foundational or large language models for, you know, the general population who are not in engineering or technical roles. Whether they're in business roles, sales and distribution, finance, marketing, or any of those functions, the use of prompt engineering just enables the next level of productivity for them. - Ashwin Sinha Mentions Prompt Engineering in the Age of AI AI Agent Governance ThoughtSpot Spotter: Your AI Analyst Scuba Diving and the History of the Liberty Shipwreck in Bali The Importance of Child Education in India Guest Bio Ashwin Sinha is the Chief Data Officer and Executive Director at Macquarie Bank, where he oversees the strategy and execution of Data and AI. Before joining Macquarie in 2019, Ashwin was a Partner at KPMG, leading the Data business. He has also held various global software engineering, start-up, and consulting roles over the past 22 years, focusing on data and digital transformations. Outside work, Ashwin is passionate about child education and macroeconomics Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

1
How SeaWorld Uses Data to Create Unforgettable Guest and Marine Life Experiences 45:20

16 weeks ago45:20

45:20

Ever wondered how data powers the magic behind your favorite theme park experiences? Join Cindi Howson and Gavin Hupp, VP of Technology, Enterprise Architecture, Data and Martech, E-commerce and Analytics at United Parks and Resorts, as they explore the complex data ecosystem of a theme park, from e-commerce and guest experience to AI's role in shaping the future of entertainment. Key Moments: Theme Park Business Model (03:12): Theme parks are described as a mix of multiple businesses, including e-commerce for ticket sales, animal experiences, entertainment venues, culinary and restaurant services, and retail operations. This combination creates a complex ecosystem, similar to city planning, within a single physical location. Data Ecosystem Challenges (03:37): Gavin highlights the challenge of managing data within theme parks due to the variety of business areas. Each area generates unique data, leading to disparate and sometimes siloed data sets across different business applications. AI as an Innovation Driver (11:24): AI is viewed as a key driver of innovation within the theme park industry, capable of creating new products and services, such as augmented reality experiences, and enhancing personalization at scale. AI for Process Optimization (11:24): Beyond guest-facing innovation, AI is also seen as a tool to optimize business processes, streamline operations, reduce costs, and identify opportunities for revenue growth through personalization and increased efficiency. Data-Driven Decision-Making (17:30): United Parks and Resorts emphasizes the importance of guest feedback, collected through surveys and other means, and uses it to inform decision-making and guide the company's overall strategy. Agile Development Approach (28:50): Gavin explains how the company employs agile development principles, using "skateboards" as a metaphor for quickly delivering initial solutions and value while simultaneously iterating and building more comprehensive and scalable solutions ("scooters" and "factories"). Key Quotes: "To become more data-driven, you have to break down silos. This requires making people aware of the silos, the challenges they create, and framing it as a data quality discussion. Getting business leaders to care about data quality isn't easy; they want end results and impact." - Gavin Hupp "There's product and service innovation, and business process innovation, where AI optimizes and streamlines operations, decreasing costs and increasing revenue through personalization." - Gavin Hupp “There's an agile concept, a principle where, at the end of the day, you need to get movement, you need to get going. And so you can use a skateboard to go from point A to point B.” - Gavin Hupp Mentions Gavin Hupp, Forbes Article Penguin Trek: Seaworld Roller Coaster Conway’s Law 4 Values of Agile Development Scrum Diet & Eating Habits of Killer Whales Guest Bio Gavin Hupp is currently the VP of Technology: Enterprise Architecture & Data, Martech, e-Commerce & Analytics at SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (United Parks & Resorts). In addition, he is also a member of the Quartz CIO & CISO Advisory Board. Gavin’s expertise is helping shape the agenda to ensure it’s packed with actionable strategies and forward-thinking insights. Gavin Hupp has a strong background in technology, data, and marketing, with experience in various leadership roles in companies such as PetSmart, Denny's, and Transdev North America. Gavin has a strong educational background, with degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and Western International University. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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How SharkNinja Drives Business Value: The Power of Data for All 41:21

18 weeks ago41:21

41:21

How does SharkNinja use data to fuel its rapid growth and product innovation? Join Cindi Howson and Elpida Ormanidou, VP of Analytics and Insights at SharkNinja, as they dissect SharkNinja's data-driven culture, Elpida's journey in the data space across CPG and retail, and her insights on AI in the workplace. Key Moments: Data-Driven Culture (03:36): SharkNinja strongly emphasizes data in its culture, utilizing it to inform decision-making processes. The company is committed to using customer feedback gathered through data to drive the development and refinement of its product offerings. CEO's Data Focus for Customer-centric Innovation (05:43): SharkNinja's CEO demonstrates a notable dedication to data by actively engaging with it. This involvement includes closely reviewing customer feedback and using data insights to guide product discussions and challenge teams to improve. Data Ethics and Privacy (09:17): SharkNinja places a high priority on data ethics and privacy, emphasizing the importance of earning customer trust. Elpida shares how the company is committed to using customer data responsibly and has implemented strong controls to protect privacy. AI and the Future of Work (20:31): Elpida discusses the transformative impact of AI on the future of work, characterizing it as a revolution. She emphasizes the importance of proactively addressing the changes by reskilling and upskilling the workforce to adapt to new roles and technologies. Key Quotes: "Value gets created at the time of consumption. We create value for the business when data gets consumed, not when it gets connected, not when it gets processed, not when it gets synthesized, only when it's being used to drive decisions that create value for the company." - Elpida Ormanidou "Think of a company as a chain, where everything is interlinked to level up. Today's struggle is that while we have good AI applications, it's an art to connect them to create the next level of experience, particularly for customers. What works in a lab doesn't work the same in real life; there are so many different factors.” -Elpida Ormanidou "Where others have fear, I have hope and optimism that the more we automate and we remove mundane tasks from our day-to-day life or even our work life, the more we would be able to use our beautiful brains to reimagine and create new things that as a race will drive us forward for another 3,000 years." -Elpida Ormanidou Mentions: SharkNinja Coolar: FrostVault Technology SharkNinja Hydrovac Surat: 100 Resilient Cities of the World Madam Curie: A Biography, By Eve Curie Guest Bio Elpida Ormanidou Elpida Ormanidou is the Vice President of Analytics & Insights at SharkNinja. She has extensive experience in data and analytics, having worked at companies like Walmart and Starbucks. At SharkNinja, she leads the data strategy and is passionate about fostering a data-driven culture. Elpida is a strong advocate for ethical data practices and responsible AI implementation. She is a recognized voice in the data and analytics community, frequently speaking at industry events and mentoring young professionals. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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Data-Driven Personalization: Sephora's Winning Strategy 38:57

21 weeks ago38:57

38:57

How is Sephora using data to create personalized experiences that customers love? Join Cindi Howson and Manbir Paul, VP of Engineering, Data Insights & MarTech at Sephora, as they explore the role of data and AI in understanding customer needs, predicting preferences, and delivering impactful moments. Key Moments: Micro-Moments that Matter (3:30): Sephora leverages data to create impactful moments for customers, like sending a timely reminder to a traveler about their moisturizer. Modern Data & AI Stack (5:00): Manbir discusses Sephora’s best-of-breed data and AI stack, spanning cloud data platform, BI solution, cataloging, and machine learning democratization. The Power of the Semantic Layer (7:30): The semantic layer is crucial for enabling meaningful data discovery and governance. Sephora's investment in ThoughtSpot was driven by the need to enhance their semantic layer and drive intelligence in their BI space. Collaborative Data Governance (10:00): Sephora fosters a collaborative approach to data governance, with data stewards playing a key role. They identify individuals who are subject matter experts in their areas and are passionate about data to help drive governance and enrichment. Unlearning and Relearning (16:30): The challenge of keeping up with the evolving data landscape requires unlearning old practices and embracing new ones. Manbir highlights the importance of giving individuals the opportunity to look at the changing landscape from a new lens and empowering them to drive transformation. The Importance of Continuous Learning (20:30): Manbir acknowledges the challenge of balancing learning with delivering results, but stresses the importance of continuous learning in a rapidly evolving field. She notes that individuals are often willing to go above and beyond if there is a learning opportunity. Building High-Performing Teams (22:30): Manbir discusses the nuances of creating a high-performing, nimble team that can adapt to change and drive innovation. He mentions the importance of understanding the nuances that are important in transforming a team into a high-performing one. Key Quotes: "The intimate details, we always talk about getting closer to our clients. We want to experience our clients. I feel the intimate details that data gives you, getting your clients so close to you, is a very different lens to look at data from. It is a gift of feedback that the clients give to you or your consumers give to you in terms of data.” - Manbir Paul "Democratizing these technologies is key to our tech stack. We have a multi-cloud strategy to capture the best tools. Tools, plus our BI investment, help us. ThoughtSpot was chosen for meaningful data insights, reaching clients where they interact with data and enhancing our BI intelligence." - Manbir Paul "We want to make sure that there are tools that help us enable scaled implementations in driving personalization, and that's where our Databricks platform enables us doing that." - Manbir Paul Mentions Farmacy: Honey Halo Ultra-Hydrating Ceramide Moisturizer The Geek Way by Andrew McAfee Guest Bio Manbir Paul Manbir Paul is VP of Engineering, Data Insights & MarTech at Sephora. Prior to this, he served as global head of ML engineering at Levi Strauss & Co. As a proactive, results-driven technology leader specializing in the retail industry, Manbir's expertise lies not just in understanding the industry's complexities, but also in harnessing the transformative power of Data and AI. With a passion deeply rooted in technological innovation, his most recent endeavors have involved leading in the realms of Data and AI to develop, scale, and implement solutions that amplify business growth Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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Bridging the Gender Gap in Data & AI with Databricks & Women in Data UK 54:17

23 weeks ago54:17

54:17

Join host Cindi Howson as she dives into the critical topic of diversity and inclusion in the data and AI space with Roisin McCarthy, founder of Women in Data UK, and Robin Sutara, Field CDO at Databricks. They discuss the challenges of recruiting and retaining diverse talent, the importance of male allies, and the role of AI in creating a more inclusive workforce Key Moments: The Power of Community: Building a Network for Women in Data: Roisin McCarthy shares the story behind founding Women in Data, inspired by her mother's advice to "put up or shut up." She highlights the organization's growth to 80,000 members in 120 countries and emphasizes the importance of male allies in achieving gender representation. (2:41) From Apache Helicopters to Chief Data Officer: A Non-Traditional Journey: Robin Sutara shares her unique career path, starting with repairing Apache helicopters in the US Army and eventually becoming a CDO. She discusses the challenges she faced as a woman in tech and the importance of fixing systemic issues to achieve equity. (6:19) The Talent Crunch: Addressing the Data Skills Gap: The conversation shifts to the shortage of qualified individuals in data and technology. Roisin McCarthy highlights the need for organizations to rethink their recruitment strategies and remove unnecessary barriers to entry. (11:31) Closing the Pay Gap: A Shared Responsibility: Roisin and Robin discuss the persistent pay gap in the data industry and the risk of it widening further. They emphasize the importance of both individual and systemic action to achieve pay parity. (20:46) Generative AI: A Double-Edged Sword for Recruiting: Roisin McCarthy shares a cautionary tale about the potential for bias in AI-generated job descriptions. She stresses the importance of human oversight and highlights Women in Data's work to develop technology that removes bias from job descriptions. (46:30) The Future of Data and AI: Embracing Innovation and Inclusion: Robin Sutara expresses excitement about the potential of AI to simplify complex tasks and unlock the power of data. She emphasizes the importance of leveraging technology to innovate and create a more equitable and inclusive data workforce. (49:22) Key Quotes: "We simply do not have enough people coming into the industry. Regardless of gender, let's take that away. We do not have enough qualified individuals coming into the workplace in data and technology." - Roisin McCarthy "We can't affect the change that this mission is so focused on reaching if we don't have everybody at the table." - Roisin McCarthy "Hire talent that's not currently in the ecosystem, bring in people with a different perspective or a different experience or a different capability. You can teach them technology, right?" - Robin Sutara "If I start 20% behind my male cohorts, doesn't matter how much you reward on meritocracy, I will never catch up." - Robin Sutara "GenAI tech is there for so many things as to Robin's point to really take some of the heavy lifting out. But when we're looking to build inclusive teams, diverse, inclusive teams, I think that we just need a bit of a sense check and ensuring that we've got the human in the loop. " - Roisin McCarthy Mentions Women in Data Podcast Databricks Blog Guest Bios Roisin McCarthy As a result of her own efforts, over two thousand people have moved into more satisfying roles and dozens of teams put together. Furthermore, she has managed a successful team of professional recruiters which, over the years, has placed thousands more. Today, she runs the successful recruitment firm, Datatech Analytics, and is the co-founder of the ground-breaking initiative, Women in Data UK. Over the past 19 years, McCarthy has been responsible for building some of the UK’s most cutting-edge data teams and has facilitated some of the most influential and successful careers in this sector, building relationships, influence and firm friendships along the way. McCarthy is seen as a thought-leader and an authority on careers, team development and talent acquisition in the field. Her unrivalled network of contacts, commitment to the data and analytics community and her unwavering passion for building strong, skilled teams is what makes her so unique. Robin Sutara From repairing Apache helicopters near the Korean DMZ to the corporate battlefield, Robin has demonstrated success in navigating the high stress, and sometimes combative, complexities of data-led transformations. She has consulted with hundreds of organisations on data strategy, data culture, and building diverse data teams. Robin has had an eclectic career path in technical and business functions with more than two decades in tech companies, including Microsoft and Databricks. She also has achieved multiple academic accomplishments from her juris doctorate to a masters in law to engineering leadership. From her first technical role as an entry-level consumer support engineer to her current role in the C-Suite, Robin supports creating an inclusive workplace and is the current chair of Women in Data North America Committee. She was also recognized in 2023 as a Top 20 Women in Data and Tech, as well as DataIQ 100 Most Influential. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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Why a Federated Data Team is Crucial for Business Value, with Dow 51:14

25 weeks ago51:14

51:14

Join host Cindi Howson alongside Chris Bruman, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Dow, and Dan Futter, Chief Commercial Officer at Dow, as they explore how data-driven innovation is reshaping business and customer experiences. From the hub-and-spoke model for data management to the power of real-time insights, they discuss the role of data literacy, leadership, and AI-driven decision-making in driving success. Don’t miss this conversation on the future of AI, data strategy, and innovation. Discover the innovations that inspire Chris Bruman and Dan Futter, how data has shaped their careers, and which tech leaders they admire most. Key Moments: Revolutionizing Data: The Hub-and-Spoke Model: The Dow team highlights the shift to digital, while Cindi Howson reflects on IT’s evolution. They explain Dow’s decentralized hub-and-spoke model, balancing governance with agility for faster insights, accuracy, and career growth. (9:04) Why Data & Business Literacy Matter: Our guests stress understanding business needs, defining clear roles within the hub-and-spoke model, and supporting skill development. This approach simplifies processes, builds confidence in analytics, and drives value for Dow. (18:02) The Integrated Data Hub: A Game-Changer: Dow’s data hub slashes data science time from months to a day. Prioritizing quality over speed prevents tech debt, ensuring strong governance. Now the go-to source for innovation, it plays a crucial role in Dow’s data strategy. (28:03) Balancing Competing Demands in Industry: Our knowledgeable leaders in the industry underscore the importance of prioritizing data projects for impact. Decentralization eases bottlenecks, but demand remains high. Dow now requires senior sponsorship to ensure measurable value and optimize resources. (36:06) Key Quotes: "Too often, we wait until the project's done to figure out how to get the value and who’s going to sponsor it. We have to flip that around and secure senior sponsorship before we even start." – Chris Bruman "If I talk data mesh to my business clients, there’s going to be a blank stare, right? So we use hub and spoke—it’s more visual and makes a lot more sense. At the end of the day, it's really about decentralization." – Chris Bruman "Instead of just showing a data sheet or marketing collateral and making the customer hunt for insights, we now surface specific text, data, and even language customization—getting them straight to the front door, not just the right street." – Dan Futter "It’s not just about finding data—it’s about ensuring its integrity. Where is that data? How does it get created? Which processes generate it? How do we train people so that, from the start, it stays high-integrity?" – Dan Futter Mentions What is a data mesh? SpaceX In Our Time Podcast Walking the Dog Podcast Guest Bios: Chris Bruman Chris Bruman is the Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Dow, a multinational company with operations in 31 countries that serves customers in a wide range of markets. Dan Futter Dan Futter is the Chief Commercial Officer for Dow. Through his leadership in Customer Experience and Marketing/Sales disciplines, Dow is on track to become the most customer-centric material science company in the world. He was the program lead for the design, development, and launch of the company’s groundbreaking Dow.com e-commerce platform and is passionate about the role digital technology plays in transforming customer journeys. Dan serves on the Executive Committee and is Chair of the Medals Committee of the Society of Chemical Industry America. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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Data Trends Shaping AI’s Future with NVIDIA’s Agentic AI CTO 49:43

27 weeks ago49:43

49:43

Your host, Cindi Howson, and CTO of NVIDIA AI agentic software, Bartley Richardson, discuss the transformative potential of generative and agentic AI in business, focusing on customer service, HR, and workplace innovation. They explore real-world use cases, the challenges of managing diverse data sources, and the tools and technologies shaping the future of AI which lead to…. Data Challenges : Cindi and Bartley discuss the complexities of managing structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data in the context of generative AI. They explore the challenges and opportunities presented by different data formats. Tools and Technologies : Bartley provides guidance for AI and tech leaders on evaluating and building AI agents, emphasizing the importance of listening to employee needs and selecting the right tools for specific use cases. Real-World Use Cases : The conversation digs into practical applications of agentic AI, with a focus on customer service and software development. Bartley highlights examples of how companies are using AI agents to improve efficiency and productivity. The Future of AI : The episode concludes with a look ahead at the future of AI, with Bartley sharing his optimism for the transformative potential of agentic AI and offering advice for data and AI leaders Discover the creative facets that inspire Bartley and how data has been a driving force in his life since earning his PhD. Key Moments: Understand agentic AI : Bartley explains how agentic AI is one of the most exciting and transformative developments in the AI space, evolving from generative AI and LLMs (large language models) to create systems capable of taking actions on behalf of users. (2:20) Use Case Summary - AI-Powered Agentic Workflows at NVIDIA : NVIDIA has embraced agentic AI workflows to enhance both employee efficiency and customer experience. A prime example is their implementation of Agent Morpheus, a system designed to streamline software delivery and security processes. (13:16) AI is the new HR : Bartley highlights how generative AI has been effectively applied in HR, particularly in employee handbooks and onboarding documents. HR documents, often buried in PDFs, contain a wealth of structured data, making them a rich source for AI applications. (15:26) Data ingestion within the future of data processing : Bartley hones in on the primary concern of how data is ingested and how structured queries are executed in ways that align with business needs. The technology is progressing rapidly, but refinement is still needed for impactful data usage. (37:43) Key Quotes: "Generative AI and agentic AI are really exciting because we're finally at the point where the experience of using AI meets our expectations. It's no longer just a label or something that might be statistics; it's something meaningful in our day-to-day life." -Bartley Richardson "If I had to pick the time to be alive and in this industry, it would be right now. The amount of progress just leaps every day, with new breakthroughs, announcements, or capabilities that didn't exist the day before." -Bartley Richardson "AI does not absolve you of critical thinking and this data literacy thing. If anything, it amplifies the need for this." -Bartley Richardson Mentions: How to Create a Data and AI Literate Company with Bridgestone and The Data Lodge Ersilia Open Source AI CEO Gemma Turon Examines Ersilia’s Impact on Biomedical Research The Happiness Hypothesis: By Jonathan Haidt Setting the Table: By Danny Meyer Guest Bio: Bartley Richardson is CTO of NVIDIA AI agentic software and Director of Engineering for cybersecurity AI development and product engagement, including accelerated computing and generative AI. Previously, Bartley was a technical lead on multiple DARPA research projects. He was also the principal investigator of an Internet of Things research project which focused on applying machine and deep learning techniques to large amounts of IoT data to provide intelligence value relating to form function, and pattern-of-life. His primary research areas involve NLP and sequence-based methods applied to cyber network datasets as well as cross-domain applications of machine and deep learning solutions to tackle the growing number of cybersecurity threats. He holds a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering with a focus on AI. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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Data and AI Predictions for 2025 with Matt Turck, Steve Nouri, and Joe Reis 1:22:09

29 weeks ago1:22:09

1:22:09

In this season premiere of The Data Chief podcast, your host Cindi Howson sits down with three industry visionaries to explore the trends, predictions, and must-take actions for data leaders in 2025. Get ready for a deep dive into: The generative AI revolution with Matt Turck, Partner at FirstMark Capital The future of data science and genAI with Steve Nouri, Founder of GenAI Works and AI for Diversity Data Engineering in the Age of AI with Joe Reis, author of "Fundamentals of Data Engineering" and the upcoming "Mixed Model Arts." Plus: Hear their fun predictions for everything from sports to space travel! Key Moments: The generative AI revolution: Matt Turck, Partner at FirstMark Capital shares his insights on the evolving AI landscape, the rise of unstructured data, and why now is the time for enterprises to embrace AI. (1:40) The Future of Data Science: Steve Nouri, Founder of GenAI Works (an 8-million-strong community!) and AI for Diversity, discusses the impact of GenAI on data science roles, the ethical considerations of AI, and exciting trends like embodied AI and agentic AI. (29:36) Data Engineering in the Age of AI: Joe Reis, author of "Fundamentals of Data Engineering" and the upcoming "Mixed Model Arts," provides his expert perspective on the importance of data modeling, the need for upskilling in data teams, and the potential for a universal semantic layer. (1:00:00) Key Quotes: “I would predict that there's going to be a number of big acquisitions in our general space in 2025. This whole tension between the public markets doing very well, especially in tech, but the private markets still recovering - I think lends itself well to a wave of consolidation.” - Matt Turck “Anything that requires democratization, I'm a big fan of. And certainly, the ability to query natural language databases and all things, making that available to everyone is a very powerful idea. You guys at ThoughtSpot know this better than anyone.” - Matt Turck “We are seeing people doing less coding, more relying on their co-pilots. It's going to evolve to become more and more robust. So we will be relying more on AI to do the coding.” - Steve Nouri “Well, that's what, you know, the tagline is, AI will do everything for you. It'll even do your laundry, the jobs that we don't like. And so you're actually saying you see a future where that actually is not too far off.” - Steve Nouri “I think that there's definitely a FOMO and a bit of a prisoner's dilemma problem with adopting AI in the organization because they're getting a lot of pressure from the top down, especially to do AI. Understanding what that means to your organization should be table stakes.” - Joe Reis “Learning never stops, investment never stops. And the best investment you can make is always improving yourself, no matter what that looks like.” Joe Reis Mentions: FirstMark MAD Landscape 2024 The MAD Podcast with Matt Turck AI4Diversity GenAI.Works Fundamentals of Data Engineering Joe Reis Substack Guest Bios: Matt Turck is a Partner at FirstMark, where he focuses primarily on early-stage enterprise investing in the US and Europe. Matt is particularly active in the data, machine learning and AI space. For the last 10+ years, he has been organizing Data Driven NYC, the largest data/AI community in the US, and publishing the MAD Landscape, an annual analysis of the data/AI industry. He also hosts the weekly MAD (ML, AI, Data) Podcast. He can be followed on X/Twitter at @mattturck. Steve Nouri is the CEO and Co-founder of GenAI Works, the largest AI community. He is a renowned AI leader and Australia's ICT Professional of the Year, has revolutionized AI perspectives while championing Responsible and inclusive AI, founding a global non-profit initiative. Joe Reis , a "recovering data scientist" with 20 years in the data industry, is the co-author of the best-selling O'Reilly book, " Fundamentals of Data Engineering ." He’s also the instructor for the wildly popular Data Engineering Professional Certificate on Coursera, in partnership with DeepLearning.ai and AWS. Joe’s extensive experience encompasses data engineering, data architecture, machine learning, and more. He regularly keynotes major data conferences globally, advises and invests in innovative data product companies, writes at Practical Data Modeling and his personal blog , and hosts the popular data podcasts "The Monday Morning Data Chat" and "The Joe Reis Show." In his free time, Joe is dedicated to writing new books and articles, and thinking of ways to advance the data industry. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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Five Best Practices to Succeed with Data and GenAI: Lessons from Leaders 31:15

39 weeks ago31:15

31:15

Key Moments: Focusing on Value with Bill Schmarzo 1:48 Unlocking the Collective Genius with Walid Mehanna 4:07 Building a Data-Literate Workforce with Valerie Logan 5:58 Creating a Human-Centric AI Strategy with Sadie St. Lawrence 7:40 Selecting the Right Tools with Katie Russell 11:23 Implementing tools responsibly with Robert Garnett 16:00 Why Clean Data Matters with Barr Moses 19:36 Ensuring Responsible AI for the Long-Term with Dr. Gary Marcus 25:45 Key Quotes: “Data-driven is not important. Value-driven—that’s what’s important. We should focus on value.” — Bill Schmarzo, Head of Customer Data Innovation at Dell Technologies “Our role was rather to activate the organizational muscle… to try things out and tell us what has the highest opportunity and possibility.” — Walid Mehanna, Chief Data and AI Officer at Merck Group “It’s really a mindset and a muscle… we need to foster this kind of lasting change.” — Valerie Logan, CEO of the Datalodge “Teaching people to ask better questions is more about critical thinking than technology.” — Sadie St. Lawrence, Founder of the Human Machine Collaboration Institute “We wanted to make analytics accessible to everyone, combining real-time data and intuitive tools so every team member can gain insights and contribute to our mission to decarbonize.” — Katie Russell, Head of Data and Analytics at OVO Energy As we are looking at applications of AI within our environment, we are focused first on responsibility, making sure that we have a broad enough data set when we're building machine learning models, for instance. And so that's at the heart of anything that we do.” – Robert Garnett, Vice President for Government Analytics and Health Benefits Cost of Care at Elevance Health “Our world is moving towards a place where data is the product—and in that world, directionally accurate just doesn’t cut it anymore.” — Barr Moses, CEO and Co-Founder of Monte Carlo “The tech policy that we set right now is going to really affect the rest of our lives.” — Dr. Gary Marcus, Scientist, Advisor to Governments and Corporations, and Author of Taming Silicon Valley Guest Bios Bill Schmarzo Bill Schmarzo has extensive hands-on experience in the areas of big data, data science, design thinking, data monetization, and data economics. Bill is currently part of Dell Technology’s core data management leadership team, where he is responsible for spearheading customer co-creation engagement to identify and prioritize the key data management, data science, and data monetization requirements. Walid Mehanna Walid Mehanna is Chief Data & AI Officer at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, where he leads the company’s Data & AI organization, delivering value, governance, architecture, engineering, and operations across the company globally. With many years experience in startups, IT, and consulting major corporations, Walid encompasses a strong understanding of the intersection between business and technology. Katie Russell 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. Rob Garnett Robert Garnett serves as Vice President for Government Analytics and Health Benefits Cost of Care at Elevance Health. In this role, he leads a data-driven organization supporting analytics and insights for Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial and enterprise customers in the areas of population health, cost of care, performance management, operational excellence, and quality improvement. Valerie Logan Founding The Data Lodge in 2019, Valerie is as committed to data literacy as it gets. With train-the-trainer bootcamps, and a peer community, she’s certifying the world’s first Data Literacy Program Leads. In 2023, The Data Lodge was acquired as the basis of a newly formed venture, Data Society Group (DSG), aimed at fostering data and AI literacy and cultural change at scale. Valerie is excited to also serve as the Chief Strategy Officer of DSG. Previously, Valerie was a Gartner Research VP in the CDO team where she pioneered Data Literacy research and was awarded Gartner’s Top Thought Leadership Award. Sadie St. Lawrence Sadie St. Lawrence is on a personal mission to create a more compassionate and connected world through technology. Having grown up on a farm in Iowa she witnessed first-hand how advancements in technology rapidly changed how we work and earn a living, which in turn affected the overall success of a community. Through her work, she noticed that while many organizations and individuals have good intentions when it comes to D&I in data careers, there was a lack of progress. Dr. Gary Marcus Gary Marcus is a leading voice in artificial intelligence. He is a scientist, best-selling author, and serial entrepreneur (Founder of Robust.AI and Geometric.AI, acquired by Uber). He is well-known for his challenges to contemporary AI, anticipating many of the current limitations decades in advance, and for his research in human language development and cognitive neuroscience. An Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at NYU, he is the author of six books. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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How to Master the Future of Work and AI Upskilling, with Marni Baker Stein at Coursera 35:43

41 weeks ago35:43

35:43

Description: Marni Baker Stein, Chief Content Officer at Coursera, joins host, Cindi Howson, and dives into the impact of Generative AI on skills, diversity in tech, and the future of upskilling. Key Moments: The impact GenAI and the surge of learning demand (05:45) Why employers must prioritize AI literacy (10.32) The gender gap in AI learning and why it matters (19:40) Leveraging data to drive personalization and learner success (24:00) Predictions for the future of AI in the labor market (29.53) Key Quotes: “Generative AI is going to require us to all be a lot more emotionally intelligent because it's going to create such disruption and change. And we're all going to have to navigate the complexities of this change. We're going to have to bring our organizations through this change. That's going to take emotional intelligence as the one thing this technology isn't, is human. Understanding and human empathy is going to remain paramount.” “In terms of data and AI skills, what is extraordinary is that the demand for these skills in the last year has grown over a thousand percent. We now have seven individuals a minute enroll in GenAI content.” “Millions of people globally are deciding that it's time to upskill and reskill in these AI, regardless of whether their employer is telling them to or not. People see it happening. They're reading about it. They're hearing about it. And they're actively going out and chasing down those skills.” Mentions: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson From Academia to EdTech: The Path to an Equitable Education in the Digital Age Girls Who Code Marni Baker Stein Bio: Marni Baker Stein is Coursera’s Chief Content Officer, where she oversees the company’s content and credential strategy and partner relationships. Marni has more than 25 years of experience in producing and scaling online and hybrid education programs. Prior to joining Coursera, she was Chief Academic Officer and Provost at Western Governors University, where she led its four colleges serving more than 135,000 students with programs that improved access and affordability without compromising academic quality. Before that, Marni held several leadership positions focused on access, student success, and program design at institutions such as the University of Texas, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania. She earned her PhD in Educational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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How Can Data Leaders Shift from Data-First to Business-First Mindset? With Deepak Jose, Global Data, Analytics and AI leader 46:16

43 weeks ago46:16

46:16

Key Moments From Engineer to Data Leader (03:05) A Mindset Shift: Business Problem First, Data Second (9:31) Learning From Missteps (11:00) The Gazelle and the Lion Analogy (14:53) The Role of AI: Do Things, Do Things Better, and Do Better Things (25:58) Built to Last versus Built to Adapt (40:01) Key Quotes "Instead of a data-first mindset, you need to have a business problem-first and data-second mindset. That has helped me transform myself as a leader quite a bit." "It’s more important to define the problem right than solving the problem. How can we understand what you’re trying to solve, and how it impacts the stakeholder?" “The head of data analytics functions need to be business problem driven, empathy driven, and not technology-first minded or AI-first minded. Our objective is to solve the business problems of the organization. Data, AI, and tech are the enablers.” "In the past, we built capabilities to last. Now, the mindset has to be to build capabilities to adapt." Mentions Is Data Quality the Biggest Threat to Humanity? With Barr Moses and Olga Maydanchik Responsible AI Institute Two-Pizza Rule Girl Scouts STEM Classes From Cancerman to Ironman: A Police Officer's Journey of Arresting Illness Hans Zimmer Deepak Jose Biography Deepak Jose is Vice President, Head of Data Sciences & Business Intelligence at Niagara Bottling. He is a member of the Forbes Tech Council, AWS Retail and CPG Executive Advisory Forum, industry standards associations, Editorial Board for CDO Magazine, and an advisor for startups and AI analytics service companies. Before Niagara, Jose was part of global brands like Coca-Cola, Mars, ABB Group, Asurion and Mu Sigma in strategic roles driving business growth. He was named to the 2023 Consumer Good Visionaries by Consumer Goods Technology and Retail Info Systems News, the 2023 40 under 40 by CDO Magazine, the 2022 and 2023 Top 100 Innovators in Data & Analytics by Corinium Global Intelligence, the 2023 100 Most Influential AI Leaders in USA by AIM Research, the 2023 Direct 60 List by The Lead, and the 2023 DataIQ 100 lists. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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Can We Tame AI Before It’s Too Late? With Dr. Gary Marcus 44:38

45 weeks ago44:38

44:38

Key Moments: Disappointment With Today’s AI Systems (4:00) Congressional Inaction And The Need for AI Regulation (9:00) The Seduction of AI Propaganda (15:00) The Misguided Hypothesis of "Scale is All You Need" (23:00) Don’t Be Fooled by the Masters of AI Hype (27:00) The Global AI Race and the Need for International Cooperation (33:00) Key Quotes: “This matters. It matters as much as immigration policy or financial policy. The tech policy that we set right now is going to really affect the rest of our lives.” “We should want to have AI that can be like an oracle that can answer any question. There is value in trying to build such a technology. But, we don't actually have that technology. A lot of people are seduced into thinking that we do. But it may be decades away.” “Nobody can look you in the eye and say, ‘I understand how human intelligence works’. If they say that, they're lying to you. It's still an unexplored domain.” Mentions: Taming Silicon Valley: How We Can Ensure AI Works for All Of Us Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind The Algebraic Mind: Integrating Connectionism and Cognitive Science (Learning, Development, and Conceptual Change) The EU AI Act AI Generates Covertly Racist Decisions About People Based On Their Dialect Dr. Gary Marcus Bio: Gary Marcus is a leading voice in artificial intelligence. He is a scientist, best-selling author, and serial entrepreneur (Founder of Robust.AI and Geometric.AI, acquired by Uber). He is well-known for his challenges to contemporary AI, anticipating many of the current limitations decades in advance, and for his research in human language development and cognitive neuroscience. An Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at NYU, he is the author of six books, including, The Algebraic Mind , Kluge , The Birth of the Mind , the New York Times Bestseller Guitar Zero , and most recently Taming Silicon Valley: How We Can Ensure AI Works for All of Us. He has often contributed to The New Yorker , Wired , and The New York Times. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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Three Must-Read 2024 AI and Analytics Books with Jeremy Kahn, Sol Rashidi, and Bernard Marr 1:23:54

47 weeks ago1:23:54

1:23:54

Key Moments: Jeremy Kahn The history of AI: the Turing Test and the Eliza Effect with Jeremy Khan (1:50) Jeremy’s view on how we can learn from lessons of the past (9:00) It starts with data and people: leveraging AI to increase productivity (16:00) Sol Rashidi Sol Rashidi on failing to succeed in AI (31:00) The need for rogue executives (37:00) Sol’s view on prioritizing GenAI use cases and measuring ROI (42:50) Bernard Marr Bernard Marr on demystifying AI (60:02) Is society ready for AI’s impact on augmenting jobs? (66:00) AI’s impact on personalization of medicine, treatment and drug discovery (72:00) Key Quotes: Jeremy Kahn “We're in a position where we can take action while this technology is still being shaped, to try to set some sensible guardrails. If we do that, we will see a lot of benefit from this technology. If we wait, we’re going to be in a situation like with social media. We will have a deskilling of essential human cognitive abilities.” We don’t talk enough about how to train people to use AI software. The organizations that think hardest about that are going to be very successful.” Sol Rashidi “Usually I start the conversations of how ROI shouldn't just be a financial measure. There's three ROI's in my opinion. There's a financial ROI, there's a cultural ROI, and there's a relevancy ROI.” “I am adamant that business value is not the number one marker. Everything needs to be scored and graded by criticality and complexity. And your criticality is a measure of ‘what is the impact if we don't do this?’” Bernard Marr “What we are seeing is we will see an augmentation of pretty much every single job. I can't think of many jobs that will not be augmented by GenAI. We need to really expect change as individuals.” “We must create a world where education is seen as something that never stops, that carries on. I believe that we are currently entering a hyper evolution cycle, with artificial intelligence right at the center of it.” Mentions: ' Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future ' by Jeremy Kahn ' Your AI Survival Guide: Scraped Knees, Bruised Elbows, and Lessons Learned from Real-World AI Deployments' by Sol Rashidi ' Generative AI in Practice: 100+ Amazing Ways Generative Artificial Intelligence is Changing Business and Society ' by Bernard Marr Bios: About Jeremy Kahn Jeremy Kahn is an award-winning journalist for Fortune magazine, where he covers AI and other emerging technologies. Previously, he wrote about technology, including AI, for Bloomberg . His writing on a range of subjects has also appeared in The New York Times , Newsweek , The Atlantic , Smithsonian magazine , The Boston Globe , The New Republic , and Slate . An Ohio native, he now lives with his family in Oxford, England. About Sol Rashidi With 10 patents granted and winning numerous awards that include: 'Forbes AI Maverick & Visionary of the 21st Century', 'Top 100 People in AI', 'Global 100 Power List', 'Top 75 Innovators', 'CAO of the Year', 'Top 5 CDO's', 'Top 65 Most Influential Women', Sol Rashidi is an seasoned executive, leader, and influencer within the AI, data, and technology space. Sol’s experience comes from real-world deployments where she has had to roll up her sleeves and do the work, while keeping the strategic intent in mind. Sol is currently Head of Technology for Startups, North America, at AWS. About Bernard Marr Bernard Marr is a multi-award-winning and internationally best-selling author of over 20 books, who writes a regular column for Forbes and advises and works with many of the world’s best-known organizations. He has a combined following of 4 million people across his social media channels and newsletters and was ranked by LinkedIn as one of the top 5 business influencers in the world. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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How Mark Cuban Wins with Data for Affordable Drugs, Sports, and Developing AI Talent 39:52

49 weeks ago39:52

39:52

Key Moments: The road to entrepreneurship (1:00) Bringing transparency to the prescription drugs industry (4:30) Analyzing in-game sports data to shoot for new heights (20:00) Changing the world by making data and AI accessible to everyone (25:00) How LLMs can build curiosity for the next generation of tech talent (33:00) Key Quotes: “As with all things technology, everybody has access to the information, but few people take the time. But those who do tend to have an edge. If you're curious, if you love to learn, you're going to do pretty well. But how do you find those people when they're kids and how do you try to just capture their imagination and get them excited about the technology? That's why we started the bootcamp.” “I wanted to make technology accessible to people who otherwise couldn't get it. It doesn't matter what you look like, who you are, what your ethnicity is, what your background is. There are just going to be people who don't have access. I wanted to open that door for them. I'm a big believer in diversity, and that when you look at places where other people aren't, that's when you find brilliance that can change the world.” “The path to least resistance to learning AI is simple. All you’ve got to do is use it. You can use it in ways that you can’t possibly imagine. You can learn how to use large language models to start your own programming and teach yourself how to do it. The sky's the limit. Better way to put it, there is literally next to nothing you can't teach yourself using a large language model. You can even train and educate the model. It’s a virtuous cycle. It can surge curiosity with kids.” Mentions: Cost Plus Drugs The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine will Remake our World Mathletics: How Gamblers, Managers, and Sports Enthusiasts Use Mathematics in Baseball, Basketball, and Football Mark Cuban AI Bootcamps Mark Cuban Bio: Mark Cuban has been a natural businessman since age 12, when he sold garbage bags door to door. He went on to found MicroSolutions right out of college, selling it to H&R Block. From there he became an active stock trader, building a track record, starting a hedge fund and selling it a year later. In 1995, he and Todd Wagner started the first commercial streaming company, AudioNet, which became Broadcast.com . They later sold the company in 2000 for 5.7B dollars. Mark acquired the Dallas Mavericks in 2000. The Mavs competed in their first NBA Finals in 2006, won their first League title in 2011. Mark sold majority ownership in 2023, but still retains a significant stake. During his time as majority owner, the Mavs had the second best record in the NBA. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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Is Data Quality the Biggest Threat to Humanity? With Barr Moses and Olga Maydanchik 42:25

51 weeks ago42:25

42:25

Key Moments: Why is the data wrong? (6:00) Our products are our data (11:00) The true size of the data quality problem (14:00) Clean your data before you prioritize shiny new tools (26:00) The next frontier: GenAI and unstructured data (31:00) Key Quotes: “The data estate has changed significantly. But the way in which we manage data and data quality specifically has not adapted.” – Barr Moses “I tracked every single change in the data that I made, and could calculate how much money a company saved after a data cleanup. For a mid-size company, the difference was approximately a quarter of a billion dollars. For a large company, it could be several billion dollars. 45% of the data I cleaned had errors.” – Olga Maydanchik “The competitive advantage is really the access to your proprietary data that you have as an enterprise. So you need to make sure that that data is accurate, reliable, and on time. Now, how do you do that? That's something that people are still figuring out.” – Barr Moses Mentions: Information Quality Applied: Best Practices for Improving Business Information, Outcomes and Systems: Book by Larry English The Rest is History Podcast Freakonomics Podcast The Matrix Film Series The Play That Goes Wrong Bio: Barr Moses: Barr Moses is the CEO and Co-Founder of Monte Carlo, the data reliability company. Monte Carlo is the creator of the industry's first end-to-end Data Observability platform. She is also co-author of O'Reilly's Data Quality Fundamentals: Building Reliable Data Pipelines. Previously, she was VP Customer Operations at Gainsight, a management consultant at Bain & Company and served in the Israeli Air Force as a commander of an intelligence data analyst unit. Olga Maydanchik: Olga Maydanchik is a data governance, data quality, and data architecture thought leader and practitioner. She is an expert in design and implementation of enterprise-wide data management programs, who has led data quality efforts at Deutsche Bank, AIG, and at Citi. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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What Boards Care About Most When It Comes to AI with Dr. Cindy Gordon 43:02

1 year ago43:02

43:02

Key Moments: Leveraging data for good (2:00) Every leader is responsible for data management (13:00) New metrics to validate AI’s sustainability (21:00) Mitigating AI’s risks to society (23:00) The current shape of global AI regulation (28:00) The importance of diversity in mitigating data bias (37:00) Key Quotes: “Every leader must understand that they have a responsibility for data management. It’s an underlying skill that we really have to harness in all of our college, university, and high school programs. It's fundamental. We seem to teach people how to problem solve, but this is table stakes. In order to ever get AI right, we've got to solve the data challenges.” “There's no question on whether business value and how to measure AI’s return on investment (ROI) is always top of mind in my discussions with executives. But what they really want to know is if their existing ROI methods are sufficient or not. What are the new metrics that they need to put in place to validate AI and its sustainability?” “We’re not at the high-growth stage of AI innovation. We’re in the early experimentation stage. We don’t have international guardrails. All of these systems are going to take around 20-years to put in place. It takes six years to put a new university curriculum in place. People have to take responsibility to learn. This is a fundamental shift and it's one that's happening at break lightning speed.” Mentions: Mood Insights Gallup Research: 1 in 5 Employees Feel Lonely Worldwide KFF Loneliness and Support Networks Survey United States Artificial Intelligence Institute Dr. Cindy Gordon’s AI Insights Newsletter Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement and SalesChoice Whitepaper: Why Diversity Equity and Inclusion Leaders Must Lead in AI Bio: Dr. Cindy Gordon ICD.D. is the CEO of SalesChoice, a SaaS AI company focused on Ending Growth Uncertainty for Human Advantage, and has been recognized by Onalytica as one of the top AI global influencers. Prior, she has held senior executive and partner roles at Accenture, Xerox, and Citicorp. She has also been a venture capitalist and angel advancing B2B technology software companies. Internationally, she is recognized for her innovative thought leadership with over 14 books in the market. Cindy is also a board advisor, thought leader in SaaS, AI and AI education, market research companies at: The AI Forum, Corent Technology, Forbes, Kaji.AI, USAII. Her AI community track record is extensive, University of Arizona – Business and Technology AI Board Advisor, Adjunct Professor, George Brown College, Applied AI. She regularly speaks at international conferences to advance AI Ethics and AI Education to board directors and C-suite executives. Academically, Dr. Gordon has an honorary Applied AI Doctorate Certification from George Brown College, an MIT AI Strategy Certification, and a doctorate in Complexity Science and Social Networks. She is also a certified Board Director with an ICD.D. designation. Under Dr. Gordon’s leadership, the company has won over twenty international awards, most recently she was recognized as the CEO of the Year Award for Women in Digital Transformation. She has also received the Governor General Award for her Innovation and Community Leadership. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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Stack Overflow CEO on How Seizing The (GenAI) Moment Has Driven Effective Change 45:33

1 year ago45:33

45:33

Key Moments: A journey from intern to CEO (05:10) Encouraging a harmonized relationship between humans and AI (09:58) Why embracing stress can drive urgency and effective change (17:18) Generative AI’s impact on the skills landscape (30:39) Fostering a data-driven company culture (36:41) Embrace change, and quickly (40:25) Key Quotes: “AI does amazing things, like summarizations and semantic search. Humans do amazing things like curation of knowledge, making sure it's accurate, connecting the dots, and creating relationships. So bringing the power of humans-in-the loop, especially given a broader trust deficit, felt like the right thing to do at this point in time.” “I think ultimately what guides us is we want to be useful to our users and our customers. That's the guiding light. Because why do we exist as an organization or a community? We should all just go home. If we don't actually have a mission and purpose that adds value, then we don't have a purpose. So the question is, what is that? What is the highest purpose?” “When you think about the future of software development, there’s a lot of doomsdayers about job losses. I think it's going to be the opposite. I think AI reduces the barrier to entry. I think a lot of people will be “developers”, even though they may be doing very different things.” Mentions: WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2023 OverflowAI Overflow API Stack Overflow for Teams Amp It Up Book Bio: Prashanth Chandrasekar is Chief Executive Officer of Stack Overflow and is responsible for driving Stack Overflow’s overall strategic direction and results.Prashanth is a proven technology executive with extensive experience leading and scaling high-growth global organizations. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President & General Manager of Rackspace’s Cloud & Infrastructure Services portfolio of businesses, including the Managed Public Clouds, Private Clouds, Colocation and Managed Security businesses. Before that, Prashanth held a range of senior leadership roles at Rackspace including Senior Vice President & General Manager of Rackspace’s high growth, global business focused on the world’s leading Public Clouds including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Alibaba Cloud, which became the fastest growing business in Rackspace’s history. Prior to joining Rackspace, Prashanth was a Vice President at Barclays Investment Bank, focused on providing Strategic and Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) advice for clients in the Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) industries. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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JPMorgan Chase on How to Succeed in Data and Analytics in the GenAI Era 41:39

1 year ago41:39

41:39

Key Moments: The emotional temperature for change in analytics (5:06) There’s no playbook for change management (7:53) Why Generative AI success requires a melding of expertise (17:20) Measuring the success of LLMs (18:58) How do you embrace the new when you’re facing technical debt? (33:27) How to fine-tune your career in today’s data and AI landscape (37:30) Key Quotes: “Business intelligence tends to have this notion of looking backwards. It's not thinking about prescriptive or predictive analytics, or live analytics, powered by the new capabilities that we're seeing. I do think we're going to evolve to a new name.” (03:42) “You’ll find companies that were and are ahead of the curve will be able to take advantage of these new technologies, GenAI, LLMs, et cetera, much more quickly than other companies. So companies that have not invested the time, resources, money, attention, and prioritization into data governance, data use, and data literacy are at a serious disadvantage. And companies that have done the opposite, that have proactively invested, will be able to make significant gains.” “I think there's three pillars of success. One is understanding your data from end to end. What is it used for? What domain is it in? Understand it as much as possible. What is the product? What is the data product that you have in all aspects of it? Then, understand your business, right? How does data relate to your business? These people are going to be the ones that leverage the technology the most efficiently.” “Don't hesitate to take a lateral mobility move. I know people are always interested in going up, up, up, up, and up. However, you know, sometimes consider going sideways.” (40:46) Mentions: Jamie Dimon Annual Shareholder Letter Data Literacy Data Storytelling Unfrosted Film Hacks TV Show Abraham Lincoln Bio: Scott Stevens is responsible for Intelligent Solutions, which empowers JPMorgan Chase employees through innovative data, Business Intelligence and low-code capabilities. Scott has been with JPMorgan Chase since 2011 and has worked in Financial Services his entire 32-year career, with prior roles at MBNA, Bank of America and Sallie Mae. Scott has been in data and analytics roles since 1997. Scott enjoys working with local universities on modernizing data science curriculum, guest lectures and coaching student teams on analytics projects. While at work, Scott enjoys mentoring and likes to help people advance their careers and skills. Scott serves on multiple non-profit boards, and Scott is the executive sponsor for the JPMorgan Chase Delaware Volunteer Leadership Group. Scott lives in Delaware with his family. Scott’s personal interests include travel, wine-making, photography and rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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How to bridge the gap between humans and AI, with Sadie St. Lawrence 51:11

1 year ago51:11

51:11

Key Moments: Leveraging Generative AI for work? Start by asking the right questions (04:13) What’s in store for the future world of work (18:18) How Generative AI can expand humans’ divergent thinking (26:16) Taking people and culture along the Generative AI journey (31:20) The value of diversity in data (42:00) A tale of mentorship (44:20) Key Quotes: “With Generative AI, now we have a command line interface that’s allowed us to converse, which is so core and essential to who we are as humans. The ability to be able to talk to one another. That's allowed us to survive for thousands and thousands of years and evolve.” “I think that there's a lot of greater potential in terms of expanding our own creativity and strategic thinking. So while humans have flexible and moldable brains and we have neuroplasticity that allows us to learn new things, we have to put ourselves in those environments. AI is really good at divergent thinking. So when we think about creativity, a core aspect of that is divergent thinking. What comes to mind when you think of a tree? Maybe leaves and fruit. Divergent thinking is thinking of all the outside things, like sunshine and soil, that may be associated with the tree or that tree growth. There's a lot more potential that we've yet to unlock in terms of updating our own thinking to expand our own divergent and creative thinking” “We know that when we have more diverse teams where everyone feels that they can speak up, and you get better ideas. You get more collaboration. So having that core vision of what is that culture and environment that you want to have is really key” Mentions : Women in Data Human Machine Collaboration Institute Beyond AI Exposure: Which Tasks are Cost-Effective to Automate with Computer Vision? Dialect Prejudice Predicts AI Decisions About People’s Character, Employability, and Criminality AWS: What Are AI Agents? Women in Data Climate Sustainability Datathon 2023 The Creative Way: A Way of Being Bio: Sadie St. Lawrence is on a personal mission to create a more compassionate and connected world through technology. Having grown up on a farm in Iowa she witnessed first-hand how advancements in technology rapidly changed how we work and earn a living, which in turn affected the overall success of a community. In addition, Sadie was homeschooled her entire childhood which led to a unique perspective in self-directed learning approaches and out of the box thinking. Sadie holds a diverse education having degrees in piano performance, psychology, and data science, but at her core she has always been a teacher. In 2014 she transitioned from working in a neuroscience lab studying emotional learning and memory, to working in data science. During her time as a data scientist, she went on to lead data science teams and consult for Fortune 500 companies in AI. Through her work, she noticed that while many organizations and individuals have good intentions when it comes to D&I in data careers, there was a lack of progress. Today, Sadie’s work is focused on educating individuals in technology, increasing access and pathways for all people and creating a more equal future for all. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

1
Commander’s Business: How the U.S. Coast Guard Serves with Data and AI 50:19

1 year ago50:19

50:19

Key Moments: The voyage to a data-driven US Coast Guard (5:21) Navigating data-driven approaches to US Coast Guard operations (20:28) Balancing experience-based decision making with data-informed decision making (25:34) In whose data do you trust? (30:10) Measuring the value of data (33:80) Should an AI ethicist be part of the team or should everyone really be an ethicist? (45:00) Key Quotes: “Up until three years ago when we started this, some people – and really our entire organization – just thought data as IT. They didn't think much past that, because no one had ever really challenged them to think about it. So it wasn't really thought of as, ‘this is the data that we have, and this is the commander's business. This is how the business is going to run. It's not just letting IT figure it out.’” “I think that technology has helped us along the way to visualize data that otherwise would be difficult and time consuming to conceptualize and understand. And as we continue to find ways to make humans understand better what it is that they're looking at – especially in extremely dynamic and complex data situations – I think you'll start to see a shift of trust and that's really experience. It's experience in using data informed decision making activities.” “Would an ethics, an AI ethics advisor to the CDAO be a great thing? Absolutely. Are we all just ethicists? Yes, but I would say that there is a lot of understanding needed. There's a huge area where you could be an expert in the ethics of artificial intelligence and provide sound guidance day after day. I would think that this particular type of employee would be extremely valuable.” Mentions: U.S. Coast Guard 11 Missions AI U.S. Executive Orders White House Orders Federal Agencies to Name Chief AI Officers America’s Cyber Defense Agency Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life… And Maybe the World Bio: Captain Brian Erickson currently serves as the United States Coast Guard’s first Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer and is principally responsible for the coordination of data and artificial intelligence activities across the organization. His previous assignments focused primarily on engineering and operations, serving at five operational assignments piloting rotary and fixed wing aircraft performing search and rescue, law enforcement and other military mission profiles. Brian is a licensed Professional Engineer specializing in aerospace and also served in the Office of Budget and Programs working directly for the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). In 2020, he was selected as the Coast Guard’s MIT Sloan Fellow following service as Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Air Station Savannah, GA. Brian is a 1998 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and holds a Master of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue University as well as a Master of Business Administration from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a 2022 DataIQ Top 100 most influential persons in data and the 2023 MachineCon AI Leader of the Year. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

1
How to activate the collective genius with data and AI, with Walid Mehanna, Merck KGaA 46:37

1 year ago46:37

46:37

Tune in to learn: Make your business strategy a data strategy (3:10) ‘Cover my back’ approaches (09:00) Straddling risks in data and business (11:28) Learnings from implementing myGPT (16:18) Activating your organization’s collective genius (24:05) Creating the right processes and culture to breed AI success (31:00) The current state of AI regulation (38:35) Key Quotes: “You can have an AI strategy without a data strategy or without a business strategy, but it will not help you much. So your data strategy is your business strategy and vice versa. (04:42). “I would say we started with the collective genius or activating the collective genius. What we wanted to do is enable everybody to try things out and tell us what has the highest opportunity and possibility” (25:46) “We're now slowly going into a paradigm shift where we go away from more reports, from more dashboards, and into what's important for me to know today. I don't want to go through 200 dashboards in three different technologies. The one thing that I want is an intelligent model that has access to all of my data and tells me, well, there's five KPIs you should have a look at. Maybe it's a data quality problem. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's just a deferred invoice or whatever. But maybe it's something that needs your attention and you should now get active on it.” (30:26) “I think AI is a wonderful technology. I think it has a lot of potential upside. It has the high risk of being misunderstood and overestimated. But honestly, you can't blame it on technology. Often, that's part of the history of large organizations. It's not always the technology, it's the adoption of the technology. And this has a lot to do with maturity of the workforce, maturity of the organization, processes, culture. So you can bring the best technology in the world, but if you don't have fertile ground, if you don't have the right people on the ground that make sure that your workforce understands it and also that your processes are adjusted accordingly, then the technology will fail” (34:05) “My dream is that you don't need me anymore because I'm a transformational leader. And when everybody in this organization breathes data, breathes AI and applies it every single day, then my task is done, then you don't need me anymore. I still have a few days.” (38:00) Mentions: Bring Your Own Documents Langdock Snowflake Gary Marcus Koshari Recipe Bio: Walid is Chief Data & AI Officer at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, where he leads the company’s Data & AI organization, delivering value, governance, architecture, engineering, and operations across the company globally. With many years experience in startups, IT, and consulting major corporations, Walid encompasses a strong understanding of the intersection between business and technology. Born in Egypt and raised in three different states in Germany, Walid celebrates his multicultural background and leverages it to inform his commitment to DE&I. As a father of two amazing daughters, he advocates for a more equal workplace to ensure a better future for the next generation. Walid strives to be the best ally he can be, making these values the cornerstone of his leadership approach. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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How analytics teams can earn their seat at the table with Elevance Health 49:22

1 year ago49:22

49:22

People are only as healthy as the communities they live in. In this episode, discover how Elevance Health is reimagining the healthcare system, and strengthening our communities in the process with a data-driven strategy. Learn how Elevance Health leverages community data to paint a more complete picture of an individual’s health, making healthcare journeys more personalized and equitable. You’ll also hear why analytics must have a seat at the business table, the importance of extending data democratization beyond the organization, and the need for change management along the journey. Tune in to learn: How Elevance Health forms holistic views of patients’ heath by connecting community data (03.55) Why analytics should sit at the business table (13:08) How to understand your customers as individuals, learn their business problems, and meet them where they are (19:10) Why data democratization should go beyond the organization (21:16) How to engage in a new relationship with data with natural language (35:35) Key Quotes: “Once you're sitting across from a community-based organization and you're helping them with where to focus efforts, having data in that conversation and being able to show, well, here are where our members are located and here are the members that have a chronic need for food or for transportation. Using data in that conversation is a game changer.” “Analytics should be at the table, not a takeaway from the table. So I think analytics, when they’re sitting around the table with the business when they're making decisions or they're working through a problem, is a very different construct than traditional models where the business convenes, works through a problem, then decides well we need more data, or we need data to drive a decision here, go ahead and put in a ticket or seek additional data and bring it back." “I think training is critical. I've seen far too many dashboard wastelands where you have dashboards sitting out there that are accessed very little, but have really, really good information. What that tells me is there wasn't a good amount of training. There is not a strong communication plan. There's not a robustness of really ensuring that the solution is oriented to the problem that it was created to solve.” Mentions: The Data Chief: How Healthcare Data Can Save Lives with Truveta CEO, Terry Myerson Doula Care Found to Improve Maternal Health Outcomes Study Advancing Health Together 2023 Report Radical Candor by Kim Scott Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Graham McCown Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman Bio: Robert Garnett serves as Vice President for Government Analytics and Health Benefits Cost of Care at Elevance Health. In this role, he leads a data-driven organization supporting analytics and insights for Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial and enterprise customers in the areas of population health, cost of care, performance management, operational excellence, and quality improvement. Prior to his current role, Robert served as President and CEO, Amerigroup Tennessee, where he was responsible for the strategic, fiscal, regulatory, and operational leadership of the health plan. In his role, he was also responsible for building and managing state and local relationships and fostering new growth and strategic opportunities within Tennessee’s TennCare Medicaid program. Prior to his promotion to President in 2018, Robert served as the Chief Operating Officer and previously the Director of Medicaid State Operations, leading all day-to-day health plan operations and execution, customer service, quality management, and regulatory oversight from 2014 to 2018. He served in a similar operational leadership capacity for Amerigroup Georgia from 2011 to 2014. In addition to these roles, Robert supported South Region Medicaid with business development & implementation, and strategic operations. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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How RedCloud levels the playing field for fair trade using data 50:17

1 year ago50:17

50:17

In developed nations, corporations often rollup and eat independent mom and pop shops into big box retail or big .coms that centralize supply chains and logistics. Meanwhile, independent sellers are the backbone of emerging markets. But a collision is starting to occur and it’s happening fast. Big corporations want to bring the same strategy to these emerging markets, so how can the independent seller maintain their independence? To do that, they need technology partners like RedCloud. In this conversation, we learn how RedCloud sits at the forefront of the 3 key disruptions inside of emerging markets: employment, technology, and sustainability. Learn how Soumaya Hamzaoui, Co-Founder and COO and JD de Jong, SVP of Product combine data, technology and deep knowledge of emerging economies to help independent sellers. Key Moments : A personal mission: Born in Algeria, Africa, Soumaya discusses how her childhood shaped her understanding of emerging markets. Unlike Amazon: Commerce has existed in emerging markets since the beginning of civilization. Yet independent sellers face existential challenges if big corporations are allowed to enter their markets and gobble up all of the opportunities. Learn how RedCloud hopes to not be like Amazon, and would rather focus on keeping independent sellers independent. Data for emerging market independent sellers: discover how the team developed the right products for these markets and how they overcame challenges unique to their customers. Challenges in emerging markets: Gain unique perspectives into how international marketplaces work. Key Quotes : “We are not only here to develop the technology, but we are also here to educate these businesses on the value of digitization, on the value of data. [According to a World Bank Report] 90% of these businesses need training and upskilling to keep up with the pace of the evolution of how the economical world and technological world is evolving. 88% need support in digitization on how to take their business from traditional businesses to fully digital business. And another 80% need mentorship and support on how to transform their business. - Soumaya “It is one thing to give a user access to create their own visualization. It's an entirely different thing to create not just the visualization, but an interpretation of what that visualization means. - JD “When companies look at emerging markets and the lack of digitization, they think there's a reluctance to digitize and there really isn't. It's not about the adoption of technology, but the simplification of and the cost of that technology.” - JD Mentions : World Bank Reports M-Pesa in Kenya Large Language Models (LLMS) with Dialects Marketplace Counterfeit Challenges Book: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life Bios : Soumaya Hamzaoui describes herself as an Entrepreneur and Product Strategist. She has a strong track record of developing products across Enterprises focused on the fintech and commerce global industries. She has deep sector expertise built over the last 15 years across Africa, Asia, and EMEA in mobile money, digital financial services, and FinTech launches. She attended prestigious universities in France and Algeria. Juandre (JD) de Jong is a seasoned Product professional and Chartered Management Accountant, currently serving as the Senior Vice President of Product at RedCloud. Juandre combines his financial acumen with a deep understanding of customer needs to drive product strategy and innovation. He has a proven track record of successfully launching and scaling innovative products that meet market demands. He was born in South Africa and currently resides in the UK. Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot . Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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How to Create a Data and AI Literate Company with Bridgestone and The Data Lodge 42:45

1 year ago42:45

42:45

Description: Cindi Howson is joined by Valerie A. Logan, CEO and founder of the DataLodge and Chief Strategy Officer at DATA SOCIETY GROUP, and Jason Beyer, Vice President of Data and Analytics at Bridgestone Americas. They delve into the vital concepts of data literacy and AI literacy, sharing their insights and experiences in fostering a data-driven culture within organizations. Valerie, widely regarded as the "godmother of data literacy," sheds light on the three key pillars of her approach: mindset, language, and skills. Jason provides a behind-the-scenes look at how Bridgestone is cultivating data literacy, including partnerships with HR, creating a data marketplace, and fostering a community of data enthusiasts. Key Moments: Valerie Logan explains the three pillars of data literacy: mindset, language, and skills (06:16) Jason Beyer shares Bridgestone's approach to scaling data literacy, including partnering with HR and creating a data marketplace (22:10) Valerie highlights the importance of leadership in modeling the right mindset for data literacy (29:28) Cindi, Valerie, and Jason discuss the evolution of data literacy to AI literacy (33:48) Lightning round with fun questions for Valerie and Jason (38:26) Key Quotes: ISL (Information as a second language) is really a foundational methodology for how we look at the enablement of people, the empowerment of people with this capability. And when I talk about data literacy in ISL, I look at it really as three things, mindset, language, and skills. - Valerie A. Logan Terms, Techniques, then Tools. If you're trying to drive a different behavior, a tool is part of that. But how somebody thinks, how someone engages is also part of it. - Valerie A. Logan Leaders need to think about data fluency different from those that may be using data in their role or may have data as a role and recognize that there's different levels of fluency, proficiency, and the core literacy that go along with that. - Jason Beyer Even before we called it a data literacy program, we had this mindset and approach as a COE team and our value contribution to the organization is we need to raise the water for the entire organization in how we use and make the most of our data assets. - Jason Beyer Mentions: Data Literacy Movement Information as a Second Language (ISL) methodology The Data Lodge and Bridgestone Data Literacy Webinar Generative AI and prompt engineering classes Bios Valerie A. Logan Founding The Data Lodge in 2019, Valerie is as committed to data literacy as it gets. With train-the-trainer bootcamps, and a peer community, she’s certifying the world’s first Data Literacy Program Leads. Valerie is excited to also serve as the Chief Strategy Officer of DSG. Valerie has more than 30 years of experience in consulting leadership and telecommunications. She lives between the Adirondacks in Upstate NY, and Sarasota, FL with her husband Brian, and their yellow lab, Cooper, the Lodge mascot. Jason Beyer A Data, Analytics, & Technology pioneer with a proven ability to lead transformational change. Jason brings global experiences from automotive, retail, industrial manufacturing, construction, medical, and government industries. He believes what’s good for society is good for business. Jason serves on multiple boards for his community of Nashville, and for the data industry Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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Data, AI, Action: Navigating GenAI with Chris Stephens, Field CTO at Appen 45:19

1 year ago45:19

45:19

Description : In this episode, Chris Stephens, Field CTO at Appen, dives into how CDO’s are navigating the world of generative AI. From setting clear expectations to driving adoption within organizations, Chris and Cindi explore the challenges and opportunities in this evolving landscape. Chris shares Appen's innovative approach to integrating humans into deep learning processes and discusses the potential of synthetic data. Plus, he shares how crucial human expertise is, in shaping ethical AI practices and touches on the impact of legislation and industry trends on AI's future. Key Moments: The Impact of generative AI on CDOs [06:19] Appen and the excitement of generative AI [10:34] The potential of synthetic data and content curation [12:13] The importance of CDOs embracing generative AI [17:40] The early stage of generative AI and funding innovation [26:39] The importance of human in the loop [34:09] The role of legislation and industry leadership [38:46] Key Quotes: As a CDO, I think you absolutely have to figure out how to grab onto that, take ownership of it, and provide the leadership that your company needs - if you don't, then of course someone else will. All of the challenges come on the non-technical side. Being successful in these programs is about more humanistic type skills than it is being a wizard in the technology space, in my opinion. The work that Appen does is working in support of all of these global organizations and the key is getting humans involved in these loops. Mentions : Deep learning Deep fake Synthetic data Gartner Generative AI Bio : Chris has been leading large-scale data transformations for over a decade, bringing advanced analytics capabilities to the world for 25 years. Most recently, he served in CDO roles at GEICO, Zendesk, and American Eagle Outfitters. Prior to that he helped lead the Data Science practice at Pivotal Software helping organizations around the world adopt modern data and software practices. He is Field CTO and Head of AI Solutions at Appen bringing AI systems to life for organizations around the world. He is an advisor to Insight Partners and Battery Ventures helping shape a new generation of technology and teams. He is Adjunct Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University teaching our next generation of data and AI leaders. He is passionate about the human side of data, transformation, and innovation. He hails from Pittsburgh with his wife and 5 young adult children. An avid music fan, he reminds us that, "you who choose to lead must follow." Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot . Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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How Procter and Gamble Pioneered Big Data 38:58

1 year ago38:58

38:58

Description: Michael Jordan once said that players win games, and teams win championships. In this episode, Cindi interviews Alfredo Colas, Senior Vice President of Data and Analytics at Procter & Gamble. Together, they explore the importance of fostering a data-driven culture and digital fluency, while delving into strategies for overcoming challenges in data culture. They also discuss the company's rich history of data innovation and the evolving impact of technology on data access and processing. From key insights on investing in data and AI fluency to discussing the role of the AI factory in accelerating machine learning processes, Alfredo and Cindi cover it all. Key Moments: Building a data-driven culture and data fluency [9:48] Overcoming challenges in data culture and adoption [10:16] Investing in data and AI fluency across the organization [19:55] The AI Factory and accelerating machine learning processes [20:16] Addressing fears and human oversight in AI [27:50] Key Quotes: As part of that also, we believe we need everyone in the organization to understand data, to understand analytics. So we are heavily investing in the digital fluency of the full organization and not just the IT function. Michael Jordan said that players win games and teams win championships, I agree with him. To me, it's not about one trait. It's about having a diverse team where everyone brings something different. If we want to be here another 100 years or another 183 years, we need to be training the new generations so that they can be successful in the future. Mentions: AI Factory chatPG Generative AI Bio: Alfredo Colas is the Senior Vice President of IT for Data & Analytics, and Digital Go-To-Market. He leads an organization of more than 850 P&G IT professionals and over a thousand partner resources. Data and Algorithmic solutions are a key engine of P&G’s Integrated Growth Strategy. Through a combination of Enterprise Data Lake platform, data pipelines and machine learning workbenches, this team is creating cutting-edge capabilities across all dimensions of the business. As part of his Digital Go-To-Market role, he is accountable for developing new capabilities to help P&G win by unlocking the full potential of P&G’s Sales organization. He oversees the digitization of the company’s sales processes and powering them with analytics. He also leads P&G’s Salesforce Platform Team. Alfredo joined Procter & Gamble in 1996 in Spain and, over the years, led various local, regional and global organizations across the U.S. and Europe, including Italy, Russia, Spain and Switzerland. In 2005-2006, Alfredo participated in a Manager-On-Loan program, where he worked in PC business operations at Hewlett-Packard. He has extensive experience in transforming and enabling the sales organization at P&G, and has led commercial and supply chain redesigns, e-commerce initiatives and the integration of multiple acquisitions. Most recently, he led IT & Shared Services for North America, P&G’s largest region. Alfredo thrives at the intersection of business and technology. He is motivated by applying technology to transform the business and create significant value. He also has long-standing experience working in external forums to identify opportunities and impulse efficiencies that improve the end-to-end value chain and ultimately benefit consumers. He started working with GS1 Spain (AECOC) more than 20 years ago. He has been in the board of GS1 US since 2016 and actively participates in key industry initiatives such as Verified by GS1 and the migration from product barcodes to 2D codes. Alfredo resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife and his two younger children. His eldest is a freshman in engineering at Purdue University. Get even more insights from data and analytics leaders like Alfredo Colas on The Data Chief . Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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Secrets of Success with Nisha Paliwal from Capital One 36:16

1 year ago36:16

36:16

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 IBM Hyperautomation Generative AI The 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 .…

The Data Chief

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AI for Good: Inside OVO's Mission to Decarbonize Homes and Empower Customers 37:45

2 years ago37:45

37:45

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 program Python program Google Cloud BigQuery Monte Carlo Generative AI ChatGPT Bio: 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 .…

The Data Chief

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From Reporting to Decision Science: Inside HP 42:38

2 years ago42:38

42:38

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 warehouse Data migration Data quality improvement Decision science Generative AI Bio: 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 .…

The Data Chief

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Data & AI Industry Predictions in 2024 with Sapphire Ventures, Unstoppable Domains, and Tata Consulting Services. 1:08:22

2 years ago1:08:22

1:08:22

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 Carter Generative 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 Das 90 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 Moments Jai 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 CoPilot Google Gemini Midjourney OpenAI Top 10 data and analytics trends 2024 The Year GenAI Comes to Fruition: 10 Enterprise Tech Trends Set to Define 2024 Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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The Data Chief Returns In 2024 2:09

2 years ago2:09

2:09

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.…

The Data Chief

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How to Organize Modern Data and Analytics Teams with Mode Analytics Co-Founder, Benn Stancil 1:00:01

2 years ago1:00:01

1:00:01

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 perspective Good 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. Mentions R Shadow IT Microsoft acquires Yammer Large Language Models (LLMs) Mode Bio Benn 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 .…

The Data Chief

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Democratizing Data with Colgate-Palmolive Chief Analytics & Insights Officer, Diana Schildhouse 40:47

2 years ago40:47

40:47

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 Moments Listening 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 Quotes The 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. Mentions DataIQ 100 Boston Consulting Group Mattel CDOIQ DataCamp Credly Revenue Growth Management Clean Rooms Bio Diana 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 Details Favorite activities outside of work: walking her golden doodle named Bagel, spending time with family, movies, reading Song that pumps her up: "Who Run the World (Girls)" by Beyonce Grateful for close friendships with "personal board of directors" from business school Seen the Barbie movie 3 times and loved it Hear more from Cindi Howson here . Sponsored by ThoughtSpot .…

The Data Chief

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How to create an ecosystem moat via data sharing with CDAO at retailer Carrefour 50:22

2 years ago50:22

50:22

Description As 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 : Paris Google Cloud MIT CDO Forum Wharton School Data Lakes Data Catalogs Carrefour Links Generative AI ChatGPT Bio Sebastien 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 .…

The Data Chief

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Three Must-Read Data and Analytics Books with Dr. Barb Wixom, Vin Vashishta, and Asha Saxena 1:06:49

2 years ago1:06:49

1:06:49

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 Profit Data is Everybody’s Business: The Fundamentals of Data Monetization The AI Factor: How to Apply Artificial Intelligence and Use Big Data to Grow Your Business Exponentially Rita McGrath, Professor at Columbia University Satya Nadal Google PaLM OpenAI Jack Rockart Capital One Bill Schmarzo (former guest on The Data Chief) Lyft BBVA Get 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 .…

The Data Chief

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Reimagining the banking experience with CDO of Singapore's GXS Bank 39:52

2 years ago39:52

39:52

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 Trustmark Syntel Grab Personal Data Protection Commission IMDA Certification Body Google PaLM 2 Get 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 .…

The Data Chief

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How to find and retain data team talent with the VP of Analytics at the Milwaukee Bucks 44:49

2 years ago44:49

44:49

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: Fiserv Marquette University Randy Bean Giannis Antetokounmpo Medical College of Wisconsin Deer District HBR podcasts Rakuten Get 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 .…

The Data Chief

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Balancing long-term vision with near-term action with Vercel’s VP of Data 44:01

2 years ago44:01

44:01

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 Institute Hubble Space Telescope Next.js React Postgres Anderson Horowitz Richard Hamming HealthJoy Camille Fournier - The Manager's Path Bio: 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 .…

The Data Chief

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How healthcare data can save lives with Truveta CEO Terry Myerson 38:13

2 years ago38:13