Dive With Data

In this first season finale of Dive With Data, Asha Saxena discusses the exciting new technologies and possibilities powering data analytics. Asha recaps what we’ve learned through season one of the podcast and shares her thoughts on how data is being used by corporate and industry leaders to drive a modern business revolution.

• Why Dive With Data is an important platform for Asha to explore the power and potential of data
• How today’s top businesses are using data as the fuel to drive their explosive growth
• Why artificial intelligence, deep learning, and blockchain technologies are creating exciting new potential for the future
• How blockchain is benefiting businesses, consumers, and governments by securing data
• What questions you should be asking about the data your business has access to
• Why your organization’s leadership needs to be committed to the appropriate utilization of data

• Website: www.ashasaxena.com
• Twitter: @asha_saxena
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/asha-saxena-22b8746

Asha Saxena talks with Adam Kiefer, Director of TEAM VR (Training Enhancement and Analysis of Movement Virtual Reality) Laboratory at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, about the emerging use of Artificial Intelligence in sports medicine.

Deep learning is rapidly becoming an indispensable data tool in the world of sports. Deep Learning, a subset of AI focused on recognition and reinforcement learning, is being used in athletics to gather valuable information that can be used by medical experts to better understand sport-related injuries and develop new therapies. Deep Learning applications are being trained on large sets of data and then used to derive strategic insights into areas such as player capability, team tactics and injury management.

AI can be used in sports medicine for treating injuries, but more importantly it is an emerging technology in the effort to predict and prevent injuries altogether. Learn more on today’s podcast.

• Why Adam Kiefer is the “go-to” person to speak with about AI and machine learning in medicine
• Why concussions are difficult injuries for physicians to understand, predict, and personalize treatment
• Why analyzing real-time data sets is challenging for physicians and how machine learning and virtual reality can help
• How machine learning and VR overlap to assist in treatment and rehabilitation of injured athletes
• How Adam’s hospital has made strides in developing their AI and machine learning program in the past 18-24 months
• How the Virtual Reality Laboratory has worked to assist Cincinnati Children’s hospital improve the treatment and prevention of injury
• How Augmented Reality has become a crucial tool in simulations that allow very detailed data to be collected
• What lessons Adam and his team have learned from integrating machine learning and VR into their research work
• Why Adam is excited about the potential that Augmented Reality and machine learning have to advance the personalization of care
• Adam’s advice for people who are interested in the role of machine learning and VR in data analytics

• Twitter: @awkiefer
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/adamwkiefer

Asha Saxena explores data and analytics governance with Isaac Wagner, Director of the Strategic Analytics group at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, a state-of-the-art cancer treatment facility using cutting-edge innovations to treat all kinds of cancer.

In this episode, Isaac Wagner discusses the importance of having a solid governance structure, the difference between data groups and analytics groups, and how data can be utilized to inform decision-making and problem-solving within a business.

Governance is all about behavior. Workforce skills, technology, and organizational models are aligning to ensure that the data available to a business is factual and consistent. Learn more on today’s podcast.

• How data groups are responsible for collecting facts and statistics and organizing the data for use and review
• How analytic groups review data and use it to answer questions and make business decisions
• Why the Strategic Analytics group falls under the strategy heading instead of IT at Sloan Kettering and the advantages that arrangement offers
• What unconventional methods Isaac uses to mentor and train his team to better serve the business
• Why analytics governance is as important as data governance and why governance is crucial for ensuring consistency
• Which best practices are key to analytics and the effective utilization of resources
• How Sloan Kettering has transformed data analytics by incorporating programming code
• What challenges Isaac faces in the implementation of unified analytics standards throughout his organization
• Why it’s important to understand, define, and clearly state the impact of a project’s outcome
• Why the role of analytics is understanding the problems of a business and how they impact its long-term objectives

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/isaac-wagner-4502663

Asha Saxena speaks with Boris Kerzhner, the Chief Data Scientist at BookXchange, a business specializing in purchasing and sales of textbooks to students and wholesalers worldwide. Boris was tapped to run the retail arm of the business, and he uses game theory and data to help make buying and selling decisions to dramatically increase the profitability of BookXchange.

Game theory deals with the understanding of strategic situations. Its purpose is to find an optimal solution to a given situation. Game theory can be used for investing, customer engagement, product placement, and many other varied business applications across many industries.

Big data analytics is one of the core technologies used by businesses in today’s ever-evolving marketplace for decision making and game theory application. Learn more on today’s episode.

• How BookXchange differentiates itself from other companies in the college textbook space
• How Boris leveraged his background as a mathematician to convert the principles of game theory into his career as a data scientist
• How Boris uses game theory to identify his competitors’ prices for textbooks to maximize ROI and profitability on his own sales
• How machine learning and artificial intelligence are challenged by the unique properties of the textbook sales business
• What tools Boris finds most useful for pricing and selling textbooks on Amazon
• Boris’s advice for starting to learn and utilize game theory, AI, and machine learning tools
• How Boris obtains, analyzes, and uses the information he gathers from competitor product listings
• Boris’s advice, thoughts, and recommendations for people who are interested in using data in their own business

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/boris-kerzhner-67b85717

Asha Saxena speaks with Diwakar Goel, Chief Data Officer for GE Digital. Diwakar has been with GE for thirteen years, through eight different positions within the organization. Through all his varied roles at GE, he has experienced firsthand the power of data management in transforming his business to meet the challenges of the modern, information-driven technological era.

In this episode, Diwakar Goel discusses navigating and leveraging the immense amounts of data available to companies today and understanding how the data sets interact and overlap to drive profitability and solve problems.

Data management is one of the most integral skills businesses must learn to navigate the new challenges and opportunities promised by the technological advances of the new millennium. Learn more on today’s podcast.

• How Diwakar Goel moved through various tech positions within GE and became their Chief Data Officer
• The difference between using an outcome-based approach and a domain-based approach to solve problems
• How new advances in realtime data, AI and machine learning have altered the way businesses can use and disseminate data
• Why the finance sector has been one of the biggest historical drivers of data usage, and why the future of data goes beyond finance
• How Big Data is using automated algorithms to help customs personnel streamline their import categorization efforts
• How machine learning can be an amazing tool to assist the banking industry in their decision-making processes
• How entrepreneurs can get started in harnessing the power of data to grow their businesses
• Examples of how Big Data has most impacted his organization for the better, in both operations and management
• Why Diwakar believes we need to view governance in a different light to improve data management rules
• Why it’s important to be willing to take risks, have fun, and value the contributions of your team

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/diwakargoel

Asha Saxena discusses the importance of data in the rapidly changing healthcare industry with guest Vijay Venkatesan, Chief Analytics Officer of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

In this episode, Vijay Venkatesan discusses how consumer expectation of healthcare is shifting, why the relationship between providers, patients and payers needs to evolve, and how advances in technology have the potential to reshape healthcare to the benefit of everyone involved.

New technologies in computer science and data analytics can be powerful tools, but only if they are used to answer the right questions.

• How Vijay’s career journey has taught him lessons about the use of data and its application in healthcare
• How the healthcare industry is using data to adapt to today’s market and legal realities
• The challenges and opportunities of collecting and sharing data within the healthcare industry
• How new technologies such as AI and deep learning have the potential to change the way data can be gathered and utilized
• Why data technology needs to be used in the service of benefiting patients
• Which potential applications for decision automation present the greatest opportunities within the healthcare industry
• Steps you can take to best understand the role of data analytics in your own business
• Why the difficulty of predicting human behavior is the most challenging problem data analytics must solve
• Which changes and opportunities in healthcare data Vijay believes will take place in the next decade
• Why “listening to understand” is the key to solving problems and making an impact within your organization

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/vijaybvenkatesan

Asha Saxena explores the power of business transformation with Sandeep Katarnavre, CIO and VP of IT of Saint-Gobain, world leader in the habitat and construction markets, design, manufacture and distribution of building and high-performance materials.

In this episode, Sandeep Katarnavre discusses business transformation and how thinking big can help businesses unlock the value of transformation, find hidden opportunities, and generate new value.

Data is at the heart of business transformation, informing efforts to optimize customer engagement, achieve efficiencies and cost savings, and scale digital offerings. Learn more on today’s podcast.

• How Sandeep began his career as an electrical engineer and went on to become a business transformative leader
• Why Sandeep believes that humility is one of the cornerstones of success
• Lessons in business transformation that Sandeep has learned over his 25-year career
• Why it’s critical that CIOs fully understand the businesses they are serving, their competition, and their customers’ customers and suppliers’ suppliers
• What business transformation really means and how Sandeep has used technology as a core component of transformation in his work
• Some of the common pitfalls businesses experience during the transformation process and how to avoid them
• Case studies in successful business transformation from Sandeep’s career
• Sandeep’s thoughts on how robotics and other technological advancements will change the workplace of tomorrow
• Why Sandeep believes it’s important to continue to learn new technology, grow in your role, and be passionate about what you do
• Why Sandeep wants “paying it forward” to be a big part of the legacy he leaves in his career

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sandeep-katarnavre-2832485

Asha Saxena explores the vital role chief data officers play in businesses with CEO and founder of CDO Club and CDO Summit, the world’s first, largest, and most powerful community of C suite and digital leaders, David Mathison.

In this episode, David Mathison discusses the roles of chief data officers, what it takes to earn top marks as a CDO, and how ordinary people can affect huge technological advances through open-source technology and massive data sharing.

With great strides happening every day in the world of technology, there are abundant opportunities for people from all backgrounds to contribute. Learn more on today’s podcast.

• What the ideal candidate for the role of a CDO looks like
• Why a well-rounded background is essential for someone who steps into the role of a chief data officer
• Who the first chief data officer of the year was and why that person was selected
• The way real world people are banding together to create solutions for real world problems
• The role big data plays in communities, like Kaggle, and how it wouldn’t be possible without people posting and sharing their information in an effort to seek real solution to these huge, complex problems
• How tools like Watson, Siri, and Google Voice have the potential to evolve to a point where they can solve complex problems in the home and in the world
• Why it isn’t necessary to have a technical or engineering degree to accomplish things in technology thanks to all the open source technologies available
• Real world examples of Watson and similar technologies, for instance, diagnosing specific kinds of cancer or obscure diseases, because it remembers all the data from research papers, books, etc.
• How technology isn’t replacing people for certain roles but elevating them by assisting them in offering specific information faster and with greater accuracy
• Why David believes it is necessary to always be learning – and willing to share what you’ve learned with others

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/davidmathison

Asha Saxena explores trends and VC investments in healthcare with Harry Glorikian, who wears many hats including investor, entrepreneur, board member of many healthcare ventures, and author of MoneyBall Medicine: Thriving in the New Data-Driven Healthcare Market.

In this episode you will learn about the many ways data is driving healthcare technology and the money that funds it as well as how data impacts how medicine is practiced today.

Technology has certainly changed medicine, but data is changing the way medicine is being practiced by large and small healthcare providers throughout the country. This episode explores those changes.

• How data is transforming the way medicine is practiced today
• The various tools and data driven technologies that are available today to improve the patient care experience
• Why you can’t compare prices and services in modern healthcare and why this makes it unlike any other industry
• How common gadgets like a fitness band or Apple watch indicating an off-kilter heartbeat can be instrumental in saving lives and assisting with early detection of potentially serious health problems
• The staggering number of ways data analytics is being used in healthcare today to measure everything from the quality of care patients receive to the performance of equipment, equipment utilization, and even things like radiation exposure
• The various ways the massive collection of information effects changes in the way healthcare facilities and service providers operate
• How big data is changing the way drug trials are being conducted
• The ways technology is providing greater transparency in the field of medicine when it comes to trials, treatments, and even patient disclosures
• Various fields budding entrepreneurs with an interest in technology and data might pursue for potential profits
• What entrepreneurs need to make their marks in big data when it comes to healthcare

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/harryglorikian
• Book: MoneyBall Medicine: Thriving in the New Data-Driven Healthcare Market

Asha Saxena explores cognitive technologies and artificial intelligence with Deloitte Consulting cognitive analytics and RP alliance portfolio leader, Tracy Ring Cryder.

In this episode we explore how businesses are taking a second look at cognitive technologies thanks to wide advancements in these technologies in recent years and the type of impact we can expect from more businesses adopting these technologies.

Technology is evolving all the time and the better industry leaders, in all business sectors, understand the technology available to them, the wiser decisions they can make about investing in these technologies.

• The surprising ways most businesses begin the process of procuring new visualization tools and why that means that anyone in the organization now has the opportunity to influence the future or organizations
• Why Tracy believes it’s important for businesses to get accustomed to change – because technology is evolving so rapidly forcing change in many cases
• The reason Tracy’s organization shifted down from five-year roadmaps and strategies to only three and how she’d like to see it shift further down, to 12 or fewer months if possible
• Why Tracy believes it’s important to bridge the gap between business and technology and how businesses are becoming more tech savvy and tech companies are becoming more business savvy, creating better innovation and products
• How young professionals and interns are driving innovation in the workplace and why that’s a great thing for businesses
• The roles women play in driving technology and how it’s not only young women that are playing major roles in this push
• The huge gender gap in the technology industry and how the numbers of female executives in successful firms were more than double the number of female executives in unsuccessful firms
• How women are uniquely positioned to deal with the diverse challenges presented by technology in business
• Why diversity drives not only technology, but also business success as well, which is why it’s important to hear many voices in the process

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tracyring