On this episode of The Data Storytellers Podcast, we speak with Mikel Davis, VP of Strategic Analytics at Peacock. Mikel shares her journey from early analytics roles in sports and entertainment—including the Cleveland Cavaliers and Legendary Pictures—to leading customer and growth strategies at one of the world’s top streaming platforms.

We explore how data is transforming marketing, content, and customer experience across industries, and the leadership skills that help drive real cultural change in large organizations.

Connect With Us:• Website: https://thedatastorytellers.com/• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-data-storytellers• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-data-storytellers-podcast/id1493766476• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2N0vZtHZHgod4Tll2LX2xa• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz9e56lhYUfORiOHMiLlPmA

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction
00:36 – The rise of AI: déjà vu from the early data days
02:15 – From data literacy to AI fluency: is it just rebranding?
04:52 – Laszlo’s path from military intel to analytics through marketing
06:21 – Mikel’s current role at Peacock and team’s mandate
07:33 – How Mikel accidentally discovered analytics in college
09:30 – Economics + statistics = the original analytics degree
11:03 – From Accenture to the Cleveland Cavaliers
13:15 – Selling tickets with data: pre-LeBron vs. post-LeBron
15:02 – Pandora’s predictive personalization and data obsession
17:35 – Streaming disruption: what seemed crazy is now normal
18:24 – How LeBron changed Mikel’s job and career path
21:43 – Moving to film: data innovation at Legendary Entertainment
23:55 – F1 Movie example: modernizing film marketing with data
27:56 – Using data to greenlight and cast films more strategically
29:52 – Balancing art and science in content creation
31:29 – Transition to AT&T: data for customer retention
33:33 – The big challenge: keeping cable customers in the streaming era
34:02 – The streaming boom and Netflix as a data pioneer
35:33 – Joining NBCUniversal: centralizing customer data
36:59 – Launching Peacock and driving strategic growth
37:46 – Mikel’s career playbook: building data-driven cultures
38:15 – Adapting insights to executives vs. operations
40:24 – Building trust through stakeholder empathy and flexibility
42:24 – The power of asking good questions and connecting people
43:46 – The #1 blocker: when success without data breeds resistance
44:56 – AI parallels: augmenting, not replacing, human judgment
46:02 – Closing thoughts