Driven by Data: The Podcast

In Episode 1, of Season 5 of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Orlando Machado, Chief Data Officer | Vice President at the LEGO Group, where they discuss the hype around new D&A trends, which includes;

• How LEGO became the to describe data storytelling across LinkedIn
• Reflecting on the evolution of Data Science and AI.
• Addressing the allure of shiny new technologies
• How organisations can cut through the noise to uncover real value.
• The rise of GenAI and its implications for Data Science and traditional AI practices.
• The evolving role of the CDO amidst technological advancements and shifting priorities.
• Challenges organisations face in realising value from Data Science and AI initiatives.
• Discovering the biggest opportunities that organisations can leverage today.
• Exploring how LEGO has harnessed Data and AI to drive innovation and create tangible value.
• The trend and speed of the hype cycles and buzzwords and their effect on the industry.
• The future of digital and data roles based on new technologies and demands
• The impact the lack of standardisation has on the D&A industry.
• The difficulty of knowing which hype cycles to adopt.
• Prioritising opportunities in use cases.
• Tackling AI ethics.
• How LEGO are tackling data literacy fluency.
• The effect the size of the organisation can have when implementing data strategies.

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.

In Episode 50, the season finale of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast. Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Marion Shaw, Head of Data & Analytics at Chaucer Group, where they discuss how success with data and analytics is a giant marketing exercise and how to use it build visibility and curiosity, which includes;

• Having a career that allowed an understanding of what it takes to get something to market and grow profits
• Why technology and data can’t be treated the same way
• How curiosity around data impacts business decision making
• Getting your business stakeholders to ask the right questions
• Building new revenue streams be leveraging data that was previously unavailable to harness
• How she created a gamified data exercise to market and educate business stakeholders
• How that has benefited the data team with their engagements with their business stakeholders
• Using competition and FOMO to battle cynicism and scepticism
• Accepting that you’ll never know win over everybody
• Utilizing traditional marketing techniques to tell the story
• Why they brought the former receptionist into the team as a data champion
• Using your success stories to drive positive PR
• The importance of being visible to your stakeholders to build interest and curiosity
• Why D&A teams can’t be successful without business stakeholders
• Guiding your business stakeholders to meet you in the middle
• Measuring the effectiveness of your marketing efforts
• The importance of tracking your results beyond the initial use case
• Agreeing an attributable figure that data can claim for the returns
• Identifying your biggest champions and squeakiest wheel
• Why you should never use “data speak”
• Advice on how to drive curiosity, interest and buy-in

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.

In Episode 49, of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Maddie Armitage, Director of Data & AI Solutions at BT, where they discuss how to build data products that get used to drive commercial benefit, which includes;

• Getting business stakeholders to adopt a product led mindset
• Why everyone has to be focused on outcomes and benefits
• Prioritisation based on speed and value
• Why AI should allow organisations to use data in a more effective way
• Why good data product management is all about relationship building and good communication
• The differences in building data products for internal use versus external use  
• Why better relationships equals better outcomes
• The capabilities required to build successful data products
• Why clear direction of travel and clear strategic thinking are critical
• How a product mindset drives a focus on commercial outcomes
• The importance of understanding how you contribute towards your business making money
• How to ensure effective collaboration between data teams and business functions.
• How you can get your organisation to use data is the crown jewels
• If a data product approach helps with the measurement of value
• Why you need to create shared outcomes, goals and responsibility with your business stakeholders
• The future of the CDO role and can some become CEOs

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.

In Episode 48, of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Rachel Purchase, Director of Data & Analytics at Admiral Group Plc, where they discuss some of the challenges associated with having an organisation that has such an appetite for data, which includes;

• Taking responsibility for an enterprise D&A capability after several unsuccessful external attempts
• The mandate being to fix the issue that the business and IT aren’t working effectively together
• Why being data-driven doesn’t necessarily mean you are data mature
• The challenges of moving from being product centric to customer centric
• Why having a centralised team structure doesn’t work in such a data “hungry” organisation
• Tackling how to standardise best practice and excellence across 27 different business units
• The challenges of having such a ”data hungry” organisation
• Building a data academy that supports 900 people
• Identifying where the biggest value creation opportunities are
• The different levels of maturity across different business units
• Challenging the status quo of how prioritisation happens
• Why entrepreneurial spirt is advantageous but can create challenges
• Whether the appetite for data impacts the expectations of what it should be delivering
• Upskilling data professionals with non-data related skills
• Reskilling business users to take on data roles
• Getting the communication strategy right
• Why they created individual data brands across business functions
• Why the aim should be to get “Data” and “the business” indistinguishable from each other

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.

In Episode 47, of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Anna Wang, Head of AI at Multiverse, where they discuss current AI landscape and the key considerations to bridge the AI skills gap, which includes;

• Studying AI at Stanford
• Having her company acquired by Multiverse
• The combination of AI and behavioural science to evaluate skills
• If you’re serious about AI you have to be serious about data
• Building AI models than are 4x more accurate than interview processes
• Why there is no point in investing in AI if you’re not investing in the people that will use it
• The importance of investing in your people to make them effective at using AI as a tool
• Why LLMs are in a generalised state
• Why AI is lightyears ahead of where it was even 5 years ago
• The most common misconceptions about AI
• Why it’s unlikely that you can use AI out of the box
• Why people are leaning in too much to demo’s we see online
• How no one has yet been left behind yet, despite what people may believe
• What is preventing organisations in taking action with AI
• Why business leaders need to embrace an investment in learning
• The security and ethical fairness concerns that prevent action
• Why most businesses will be AI native in the future
• The consequences of inaction
• Why understanding the data that is powering your organisation is a good place to start
• The significance of the skills shortage in AI
• Why AI skills gaps is a multi-layered problem
• Why the speed of technological advancement is a challenge  
• Why critical thinking and questioning skills are essential to get the most out of AI
• How team structures and operating models play a significant role
• Why AI infrastructure should be shared between data and tech teams
• Why whoever has the final decision on how AI is used should be incredibly business minded
• The importance of growing your experimental AI muscle
• Why urgency will play a major role in success
• The MAGE approach to training and upskilling organisations and people
• Training 16,000 people across 1500 organisations to make more impact at work
• The 2 vector that AI will impact in the next couple of years
• Tackling the fear from non-data or technology professionals
• The relationship between data culture and AI
• The importance of both data and AI literacy

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.

In Episode 46, of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Katy Gooblar, Director of Education & Data at Data Literacy Academy, where they discuss how to ensure your people are AI ready, which includes;

• The key factors in ensuring an organisation is ready to truly harness the power of AI
• How AI adoption is related to trust in leadership
• Understanding which foundations you need to leverage AI
• The interconnectivity between data literacy and AI adoption
• Why you need to focus on the silent majority
• The departmental nuances that affect learning and adoption
• The link between usage, trust and understanding for adoption
• Why literacy progress requires a lot more than training
• How culture can be fluid across departments and how that impacts adoption
• Why data literacy must be more than a side of desk activity
• The importance of understanding the psychological of winnings hearts and minds
• The educational mechanisms used to drive effective change
• Why you have to create key messaging that is tied to business objectives
• How to assess people to develop the right curriculum for individuals
• Why you never want people starting in the wrong place
• Identifying your key strategic cohorts
• The nuances of top down versus bottom-up
• Getting the communications and marketing messages out into a business
• Why it’s not just about what people learn but how they learn and interact

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.

In Episode 45, of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Tony Zona, Chief Data Officer at Grant Thornton UK, where they discuss how to translate the language of data to create a unified language, which includes; 

• Operating for 25 years in the same organisation
• Being a translator in his personal family life
• Why coming from a non-traditional background has been a huge benefit for his career
• The unusual situation of having Data Leaders within its advisory business
• The benefits and downsides of being in the same organisation for so long
• Why translation is the key to success in both the business and technical settings
• How to avoid the business coming to you with pre-defined solutions
• Creating the muscle memory to establish the ‘why’
• The misconception that all businesses require the same thing from a CDO
• Why semantics are part of the translation challenge
• Why the data literacy challenge is a cultural one and not a training one
• Business Leaders don’t want to talk about Data
• The importance of articulating not just what the benefits are, but what that means
• Creating a team that is focused on the business objectives and benefits
• Why data can and should become a unified language of business
• Why the language we use internally as an industry we shouldn’t use within our organisations
• Ensuring you can articulate the risks of not having a unified language as well as the benefits
• Why it’s your job as a Data Leader to understand what is important in relation to terminology inside an organisation
• Why the immaturity of the industry still causes many of our challenges
• Why organisations are still figuring out what they want and need from their data investments
• Articulating messages differently for different audiences  

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.

In Episode 44, of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is re-joined by Daniel Hulme, Chief AI Officer at WPP and one of the world's leading AI authorities, where they discuss how the AI landscape has shifted since his first appearance on the show over 3 years ago, which includes; 

• Selling Satalia to WPP
• Why it’s become a successful acquisition
• Launching a research organisation to understand ‘machine consciousness’
• Why machine consciousness will be a very important question we’ll face as a species over the coming years  
• Why we should be looking at AI through applications not technologies
• How GenAI has given artificial intelligence a UI
• Why GenAI isn’t the panacea of AI
• The 3 things that you need to unlock value with GenAI
• Why you need differentiated talent to succeed with AI
• How optimisation algorithms will still give you the biggest bang for your buck
• Why the most popular definition of AI is the weakest
• Why using human beings as the pinnacle of intelligence is not a good idea
• The 6 categories of applications of AI that resolve any business friction
• Why we should be tracking neuromorphic computing
• How GenAI has disrupted the media, advertising and marketing sectors
• Why LLMs are like intoxicated graduates
• Figuring out which problems to tackle that will truly disrupt your business
• Why the capability of the technology will outrun the speed of adoption
• The questions to ask to spot the genuine ‘AI Experts’
• A controversial view on AI ethics surrounding intent
• The 3 type of AI risks
• The 3 questions you need to ask yourself to deploy AI safely
• Why we may only be 10-20 years away from a superintelligence
• Why a superintelligence could be the biggest existential threat to humans if we don’t focus on safety
• Why we have a duty of care to build conscious AI

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.

In Episode 43, of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Stijn (Stan) Christiaens, Co-Founder and Chief Data Citizen at Collibra, where they discuss the framework to create financial value through data, which includes; 

• The catalyst for launching Collibra
• What the title Chief Data Citizen means
• Setting up the chief data office inside Collibra
• Why people confuse Collibra for a data management software company
• Defining value and data monetisation
• Why selling data is the least common way of monetising data
• How to use data to turn it into money
• How the immaturity of the CDO role affects the ability to monetise data
• The 5 enterprise capabilities of the MIT data monetisation framework
• Why putting the data product in the middle is what makes the money 
• The evolution of the data product and what it is or isn’t
• While monetizing data is difficult that’s not an excuse
• Why the ‘data as an asset’ trend will be unstoppable
• But, why most companies don’t treat data as an asset
• The Databricks V Snowflake debate
• Why most data vendors are like ants in comparison to the ‘hyperscaler’ titans
• Why those titans are benefitting Collibra
• Why organisations will never succeed in putting all of their data in one place
• Why the data vendor ecosystem still has a long way to grow

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.

In Episode 42, of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is re-joined by Davin Crowley-Sweet, Chief Data Officer at National Highways.

After Davin's first appearance almost 2 years ago (still the most listened-to episode of all time) they discuss what’s unfolded since valuing their data as an asset and the failings of the D&A industry, which includes; 

• Why CDOs are playing musical chairs
• The language of business is finance and what that means for data
• Making data an asset class in its own right
• Why your job is to create clarity from ambiguity
• Recognising the difference between conflict and tension
• Why data professionals hide too much behind technical skills
• Putting a valuation on your data asset and the benefits of doing so
• Why the valuation is merely a means to an end
• The difference between valuation, value, benefits and monetisation
• Why being an enabler may provide good benefits but won’t capitalise on the value of the data
• The relationship between valuing your data asset and capital allocation
• How valuing the data asset has changed the business model
• How data people create new meanings from words that already exist and wonder why they’re being misunderstood
• Why it’s easier to make a data team business literate than it is to make an entire business data literate
• Why you don’t need a ‘data culture’
• Why there’s a fear of speaking about failure in the D&A industry
• Why creating a strategy was the biggest failure of his career
• Why earning trust and emotional commitment of the organisation is critical to success
• Data is hard because the job exists to challenge senior leaders' belief systems
• Why “you’re mental” if you think technology will fix that problem
• Why the future skillset of the CDO is more aligned to psychologists and philosophers
• What you should do today as a D&A professional if you want to make a difference

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.