Driven by Data: The Podcast

In Episode 29 of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Edosa Odaro, Head of Data at AIG, where they discuss the role that speed plays when determining value, which includes:

• Understanding what we mean by "value"
• Why there are a least 4 ways to think about value
• How you should prioritise
• Who is responsible for providing value
• Why focusing solely on value from a commercial perspective can have detrimental consequences
• How value does not have to be a "zero-sum" game
• How speed ultimately underpins value
• The relationship between speed, impact and value
• Why organisational structures increase the time it takes to achieve change
• Why the cost of change isn’t always financial
• Why we need to think about speed from an internal and external perspective
• Why culture is imperative for success with AI
• Why we need to talk more about the resistance towards AI and not just the benefits

In Episode 28 of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Tom Spencer, Head of Customer Data Science at Aviva (and Data IQ 100 No.9) where they discuss the relationship between customer-centric and data-driven, which includes:

• His experience of working in different cultures in Asia
• Why he thinks he was listed at Number 9 in the Data IQ 100 2021
• Why your insights are only as good as the change you can drive
• Why he focuses on shifting from "Reactive Servants" to "Proactive Partners"
• How he lives by the quote; "You tell us what you want and we’ll tell you what you need”
• The importance of understanding the real question
• Why there is still a place for instinct despite being data-driven
• Why customer-centric and data-driven aren’t mutually exclusive
• Why being truly customer-centric only works if it’s ingrained into the company culture
• The danger of conflating customer-centric with doing anything for the customer
• Why it’s equally important to identify the customers you don’t want as it is understanding who your best customers are
• The importance of hiring in the quest to be customer-centric  
• The 3 phases by which to measure the success of the customer-centric approach  
• Why measuring the impact your work has on your customers is better than attempting to measure ROI  
• The difference between a customer-centric organisation versus a product/service-centric organisation
• The role of the board in being customer-centric
• Why connecting what’s important to the customers to what’s important to the stakeholders is critical

In Episode 27 of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Steen Rasmussen, Founder & Director at IIH Nordic, where they discuss how to activate data to drive business value, which includes:

• How he ended up as a keynote speaker in Silicon Valley
• Why dashboards don’t facilitate action
• How data activation correlates action and the bottom line
• Why reporting has become an alibi in analytics
• How many organisations calculate costs to the point of insight but fail to factor in the cost of change
• Why we often underestimate the value lifecycle in analytics
• How and why we should calculate the cost of inaction   
• Why customer lifetime value is one of the key metrics in business
• The importance of focusing on margins and not just value
• Why we are obsessed with revenue and not profit
• The importance of understanding the end to end cost structure to sell your products
• Why marketing agencies can’t add value to the bottom line, only the top line
• Why the notion of “sell more to earn more” is a fallacy
• Data isn’t the new oil because it doesn’t retain value, it’s more like meat because it spoils
• What companies need is a data-driven business developer but what they often hire is a “number accountant”

In Episode 26 of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Chris Bannocks, Chief Data Officer at Danone, where they discuss the trials and tribulations surrounding the current CDO role, which includes:

• Why the average tenure of the CDO is only 2 years
• That many boards haven’t realised this needs to be a strategic priority
• How the eagerness to obtain a CDO role is contributing to the tenure
• How most boards are dipping their toe into the water
• The type of questions you should be asking to gauge the readiness for the role in the organisation
• Why it’s important to recognise the difference in scale
• Why coming from a technical background is advantageous, but that alone isn’t enough
• Why the appointment of "Non-Exec Data Leaders" will be an indication of maturity
• How the consultancy organisations are playing their part in this
• Why some businesses won’t need a CDO
• How ROI can be seen within 6 months & it could cost up to 200m
• Why it’s essential to have an official communication strategy & budget to drive change
• What those type of comms strategies could consist of
• Why experimentation and innovation are essential but seen as the nemesis within the business
• What organisation should be considering to decide whether to appoint a CDO
• The key things Data Leaders should be thinking about before taking a CDO role

In Episode 25 of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Dan Raine, CEO & Founder at Unlocked Data where they discuss how to monetise data through building sellable products.

After being responsible for monetising data through sale at a large global brand, Dan decided to start his own business in that space.

We discuss:

• How he became responsible for commercialising data as an asset to be sold in the corporate world
• How they build data products and services which help organisations productise their data as a sellable asset
• How this is applicable to every type of organisation, not just data or tech businesses
• Why you should commercialise data both internally and externally, simultaneously
• The importance of changing how you think
• Why it's an easier conversation to have to obtain buy-in
• Why it’s hard to quantify commercialising data internally versus externally
• How it gives you the ability to win new customers for the business
• The importance of making the customers the hero in your data storytelling
• The barriers to entry
• Why you have to focus on "pain relievers" and "gain creators"
• Why most organisations aren't set-up to deliver this themselves

In Episode 24 of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Helen Brown, MD of ITK where they discuss how to make the most of your data assets by optimising data utility.

After spending many years working for the NHS where she took a national role to advance data, governance and intelligence capabilities, Helen decided to start a training business focused on helping organisations improve data utility.

We discuss:

• Why organisations tend to fall into one of three categories
• How to find the middle ground
• Why many organisations are diluting the effectiveness of their data without even knowing
• The importance of understanding what you need to use your data for
• Why you need to do a Data Protection Impact Assessment
• The importance of choosing the correct controls for specific situations
• Why there needs to be more collaboration between governance and analytics teams
• Why it's easy to create unintended bias
• The relationship between data privacy and data accuracy
• Why skill-sets need to merge to better understand utility constraints
• The importance of minimisation
• How you can use training as a control measure
• How the application of privacy controls can affect the utility of your data
• The importance of minimising data the right way, at the right stage of the lifecycle

In Episode 23 of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by fellow podcaster and CEO of Datazuum, Samir Sharma where they discuss the need to be communicating about decisions and not data.

In this episode, Samir highlights some of the challenges he sees within the industry and how we communicate is halting our progress, which includes:

• How the relationship between technology and data prompted him to start a business focusing on Data Strategy
• Why he decided 2020 was the right time to launch his own podcast ‘The Data Strategy Show’
• The importance of starting with the outcome in mind
• Why we need to create a decision culture and not data-culture
• Why “data” is the wrong conversation
• Where the decision intelligence framework came from and why
• How Data & Analytics is nothing more than evidence-based management
• Why we need to change the narrative to stop data & analytics projects from failing
• Why businesspeople are starting to question the validity of Data & Analytics
• The critical elements missing from many Data & Analytics teams 
• Why "Data Leaders" no longer have the budgets which they once had
• How Tech will help but it will only get you so far
• Real-life use cases including £1m savings

**NOTICE: when we recorded this episode the UK was hit by a storm and as such, the connection was a little slow in spells which has affected the audio in certain spots**

In Episode 22 of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Lauren Walker, Global COO and Head of Digital Transformation at Dentsu International where they discuss how the big-tech organisations are starting to play a huge part in digital transformation.

In this fascinating conversation, Lauren outlines some of the key points around the importance of understanding your customer to stay relevant and how the big-tech players are contributing to that, which includes:

• How she started her career in the White House
• Her presence in the Data IQ 100 every year since 2014
• Why the CDO role shouldn’t be the pinnacle for Data professionals
• Why Digitial Transformation is so much more than just having a website
• Why it is imperative that consumers have a unique experience
• Why everyone's eyeballs are no longer on individual brands
• How organisations will partner with big-tech to stay ahead of the competition
• Why all consumer data in the world ultimately exists in only a handful of companies
• Why organisational structures have been inhibiting digital transformation
• How to identify what data is available from big-tech and the associated costs
• How to understand whether this is worth considering
• Why Data can’t be in silo’s for successful digital transformation

In Episode 21 of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Hywel Benbow, VP Global Data & Analytics at GEMS Education where they discuss the journey of establishing a centralised Data & Analytics capability across a global, fragmented organisation from scratch.

Hywel provides fantastic advice and insights into the journey he has been on and the key points to consider, which includes:

• The challenge of consistency
• Where to start and why
• The importance of being ruthless with prioritisation
• Why you need to take the business on the journey to shift the culture
• Why communication is key
• Why you need to talk about outcomes rather than data
• The importance of quick wins
• Why you should think of yourself as an internal consultancy
• Why the role of a D&A capability is also a “sales role”
• Some of the commercial benefits GEMS have seen as a result
• The importance of setting the correct foundations
• The link between business priority and foundations
• Why managing expectations is critical
• The timescales to deliver genuine value to the business
• What you should be looking for in people who are joining your team
• Why problem-solving, communication & critical thinking skills trump technology skills

In Episode 20 of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Kat Holmes, Global Director of Data Governance at Travelex, where they discuss whether the end is near for Data Governance.

In this episode, Kat outlines her thoughts around the current landscape surrounding Data Governance, which includes:

• Why organisations often wrongly conflate Governance & Protection
• Why we've seen a resurgence in Data Governance
• How Data Governance doesn’t have an end point
• Why Data Governance should be as invisible as possible
• Why Data Governance doesn’t belong in a Risk function
• Why you need to remove humans as much as possible
• How an AI data catalogue is a fundamental piece for seamless Data Governance
• Why you need to integrate Data Governance into the data integration process
• Why she doesn’t believe in traditional Master Data Management
• Why we need to change the vocabulary
• Why it was the right time to “come out” in relation to an invisible disability she suffers with