S4 | Ep 19 | Data Governance by Design: Building for the Future with Phillip Dale, Head of Data Governance at Marks & Spencer

S4 | Ep 31 | Data Evangelism; Selling the North Star with Justin Windle, Head of Data Oversight at First Citizens Bank

In Episode 31, of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Justin Windle, Head of Data Oversight at First Citizens Bank, where they discuss the purpose of data evangelism and how to set the north-star and sell the value, which includes;

• Setting your north star
• Operating in a buzzword-heavy industry
• Understanding your purpose and where you’re heading
• Setting a North star in the absence of a data strategy
• Why too many D&A journeys purely tactical  
• Why your D&A strategy may change but your north star shouldn’t
• Why value is the “why”?
• Why your communication around the north-star should be different for different audiences
• Why you should brand your data organisation internally
• The progression of the Data Leader
• Moving from reactive to value-driven
• Building to deliver value quickly but also towards your vision
• The disparity between average tenure and average roadmap
• The need for having different CDOs at different stages of the journey
• Tying value to your north-star
• Creating advocates across your organisation
• How 99% of organisations are not sold on the value of data
• Why the primary role of the CDO is to be evangelist
• The importance of learning to craft the D&A message to the different business functions
• Why you have to sell the benefits and get people excited
• Why the last thing you should do is talk about data
• Why you should give people bragging rights
• Why you should never build your North Star on a business case
• Why value and valuable are 2 different things
• The relationship between culture and evangelism
• Why you may be struggling to build a data culture
• Getting the business stakeholders to help define the north-star
• Why people are the major roadblock to reaching a north-star
• Why it’s easier to sell D&A to executives
• Evangelism will help change the incorrect perception of the industry
• Why most companies don’t understand what the role of the Data Leader is

Thanks to our sponsor, Data Literacy Academy.

Data Literacy Academy is leading the way in transforming enterprise workforces with data literacy across the organisation, through a combination of change management and education. In today's data-centric world, being data literate is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity.

If you want successful data product adoption, and to keep driving innovation within your business, you need to start with data literacy first.

At Data Literacy Academy, we don't just teach data skills. We empower individuals and teams to think critically, analyse effectively, and make decisions confidently based on data. We're bridging the gap between business and data teams, so they can all work towards aligned outcomes.

From those taking their first steps in data literacy to seasoned experts looking to fine-tune their skills, our data experts provide tailored classes for every stage. But it's not just learning tracks that we offer. We embed a deep data culture shift through a transformative change management programme.

We take a people-first approach, working closely with your executive team to win the hearts and minds. We know this will drive the company-wide impact that data teams want to achieve.

Get in touch and find out how you can unlock the full potential of data in your organisation. Learn more at www.dl-academy.com.

S4 | Ep 30 | Managing Perceptions; from Real World Experiences with Sol Rashidi, Former Chief Data, Analytics & AI Officer at Various Fortune 100 Organisations

In Episode 30, of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Sol Rashidi, Former Chief Data, Analytics & AI Officer at various Fortune 100 organisations and now advisor, where they discuss what really causes many of the Data & Analytics industry's challenges and the importance of perception, which includes;

• Starting out as a Data Engineer
• Being a translator before the translator skillset was recognised
• Being a techno-functional Data Executive
• Helping to launch IBM Watson
• Why you’re never brought in as a CDO when things are going well
• Why your value has nothing to do with what you can build
• Why success has nothing to do with your competence in the data space
• Why you’ve only got 6 months to build the perception of value as a Data Leader
• The framework of understanding what are common, core and local data challenges
• Putting wins on the board amongst conflicting agendas
• Over 70% of organisations don’t understand the value of a CDO yet
• The importance of asking your stakeholders what they think your job is
• Understanding who and what you should prioritise
• What we actually mean when we talk about 'good communication' and ‘getting out in the business’
• Why you need to create function-specific strategy documents for each key stakeholder
• The importance of talking in the language of your stakeholders
• Why you should always talk about their needs and requests
• Creating brand equity by ensuring your stakeholders feel heard and understood
• The catalyst for writing her best-selling book
• Having 40 AI deployments in production at in enterprise organisations
• The 3 key reasons why organisations change tact and don’t follow through
• Why data analytics work is the hardest to quantify in business
• The three measurements of value and ROI; financial, cultural and relevancy
• Landing different messages for different personas
• Why 60% of the day is committed to communication
• Why you presume that people know what you’re doing but they never do
• Why data and analytics people don’t get the correct training to be successful at the executive level
• Why it’s less about IQ and more about EQ, BQ and SQ
• Why you need to report to ‘the business’ if you want to be respected, but, why it’s easier to do the work under IT
• Why you’ll always be starting from a deficit in perception if you sit within IT  
• Why having responsibility is different to having the authority
• What the future of AI will look like
• Why they’ll be a decrease in the amount of AI-based projects over the next 12-24 months  

Thanks to our sponsor, Data Literacy Academy.

Data Literacy Academy is leading the way in transforming enterprise workforces with data literacy across the organisation, through a combination of change management and education. In today's data-centric world, being data literate is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity.

If you want successful data product adoption, and to keep driving innovation within your business, you need to start with data literacy first.

At Data Literacy Academy, we don't just teach data skills. We empower individuals and teams to think critically, analyse effectively, and make decisions confidently based on data. We're bridging the gap between business and data teams, so they can all work towards aligned outcomes.

From those taking their first steps in data literacy to seasoned experts looking to fine-tune their skills, our data experts provide tailored classes for every stage. But it's not just learning tracks that we offer. We embed a deep data culture shift through a transformative change management programme.

We take a people-first...

S4 | Ep 29 | Balancing Commercial Value with Responsible and Ethical Data & AI Products with Evie Dineva, Group Head of Data Engineering & Data Science at Gymshark

In Episode 29, of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Evie Dineva, Group Head of Data Engineering & Data Science at Gymshark, where they discuss how to balance delivering commercial value through data, analytics and AI products responsibly and ethically, which includes;

• Being driven by the purpose of improving business performance
• Articulating the commercial value of what Data & Analytics teams do
• The importance of supporting people to be better at what they do
• Working for a brand as big and prominent as Gymshark
• The importance of being in an environment where company values are visible
• Common pitfalls as to why organisations fail to deliver commercial value with data
• Focusing on the why and not the how
• The importance of understanding your vision
• Why success is largely down to building strong relationships
• What good business partnering looks like
• The differences between tactical versus commercial business partnering
• Being advocated for and championed without having to be in the room
• Why the strategic initiatives often hold the bigger commercial gains
• Defining the measure of success before you define the solution
• The rise of Data & AI products and the difference it’s created
• Balancing the pursuit of commercial value with building responsible and ethical data & AI products
• The risks of neglecting ethical considerations
• Where accountability lies with humans and artificial intelligence
• The importance of humans in the loop
• The relationship between risk and literacy
• The relationship between authentic leadership and ethics

Thanks to our sponsor, Data Literacy Academy.

Data Literacy Academy is leading the way in transforming enterprise workforces with data literacy across the organisation, through a combination of change management and education. In today's data-centric world, being data literate is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity.

If you want successful data product adoption, and to keep driving innovation within your business, you need to start with data literacy first.

At Data Literacy Academy, we don't just teach data skills. We empower individuals and teams to think critically, analyse effectively, and make decisions confidently based on data. We're bridging the gap between business and data teams, so they can all work towards aligned outcomes.

From those taking their first steps in data literacy to seasoned experts looking to fine-tune their skills, our data experts provide tailored classes for every stage. But it's not just learning tracks that we offer. We embed a deep data culture shift through a transformative change management programme.

We take a people-first approach, working closely with your executive team to win the hearts and minds. We know this will drive the company-wide impact that data teams want to achieve.

Get in touch and find out how you can unlock the full potential of data in your organisation. Learn more at www.dl-academy.com.

S4 | Ep 28 | Designing and Implementing the Correct Data Operating Model with Pete Youngs, Managing Partner at Ortecha

In Episode 28, of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Pete Youngs, Managing Partner at Ortecha, where they discuss the key considerations of designing and implementing the correct data operating model and its importance in data and analytics success, which includes;

• Why a data operating model is more important than your data strategy
• The day-to-day chaos of living without an operating model
• The relationship between D&A enablement and your operating model  
• Defining the MVP data operating model
• Data operating models in the absence of data strategies
• Why your operating model should be ever-evolving
• The confusion between operating models and team structures
• Why people are the most important part of your operating model
• Why your data operating model can’t conflict with the business operating model
• Trends around centralised versus decentralised structures
• The relationship between team structure cycles and the tenure of the CDO
• The importance of defining role profiles and managing with OKRs
• Why size and scale are important factors in defining the best data operating model
• Why many data operating models are created by data governance or strategy teams
• The relationship between data operating models and delivering value
• The importance of a value-driven mindset and having a value-case
• Balancing value realisation while building your data operating model
• Why not enough focus or time is put into successful implementation and adoption
• Why most CEOs would be shocked if they knew how much it actually costs to do it properly
• Why your data operating model needs to be rolled out iteratively across the organisation
• The symptoms of a successful data operating model and measuring success
• Why data products have changed the way data operating models work
• Why lack of adoption is often due to a lack of process
• The importance of selecting the right partners
• The top four pieces of advice to create the right data operating model
• The relationship between data operating model and data culture

S4 | Ep 27 | Building a Group Data Function to Support Multiple Operating Brands with Tom Betts, Group Data Director at Kingfisher Plc

In Episode 27, of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Tom Betts, Group Data Director at Kingfisher Plc , where they discuss the complexities, challenges and opportunities of building a centralised data function at a group level to support multiple operating brands, which includes;

• His journey from DJ to Travel Agent to CDO
• Studying Artificial Intelligence in the early 2000s
• Organising a centralised data domain to serve a multi-brand business
• Being the first data leader at group level
• The benefits and challenges of starting from a blank canvas
• The challenge of attracting talent as a group company that people haven't heard of
• Building a data-led customer experience as a pillar of a corporate strategy
• Deciding which capabilities sit within the operating companies versus what is centralised at the group level  
• Working out where the biggest opportunities lie across multiple brands
• Adopting different ways of working within different teams
• The importance of meeting each operating company where they are and not having a group approach to everything
• Dealing with different; cultures, literacy, adoption and maturity across the different brands
• The core use cases that are scalable and reusable across different operating companies  
• Building an orchestration framework for Generative AI tools
• Using gamification as a tool for education and upskilling
• The benefits of building working prototypes to drive buy-in and adoption
• Building a customer-facing generative AI solution
• Understanding and mitigating the risks of a customer-facing GenAi solution
• Considering the risks of inaction
• Why you’ll always learn more from just doing
• Why the role of Chief AI Officer is not needed in isolation
• Why it’s important to have teams that are delivering DS/AI solutions to go as end-to-end as possible in a cross-functional way
• Why it’s faster to build things than it is to leverage what has been built

Thanks to our sponsor, Data Literacy Academy.

Data Literacy Academy is leading the way in transforming enterprise workforces with data literacy across the organisation, through a combination of change management and education. In today's data-centric world, being data literate is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity.

If you want successful data product adoption, and to keep driving innovation within your business, you need to start with data literacy first.

At Data Literacy Academy, we don't just teach data skills. We empower individuals and teams to think critically, analyse effectively, and make decisions confidently based on data. We're bridging the gap between business and data teams, so they can all work towards aligned outcomes.

From those taking their first steps in data literacy to seasoned experts looking to fine-tune their skills, our data experts provide tailored classes for every stage. But it's not just learning tracks that we offer. We embed a deep data culture shift through a transformative change management programme.

We take a people-first approach, working closely with your executive team to win the hearts and minds. We know this will drive the company-wide impact that data teams want to achieve.

Get in touch and find out how you can unlock the full potential of data in your organisation. Learn more at www.dl-academy.com.