August 09, 2023

Frank Mendoza: From Data Analytics to Responsible AI

44 minutes

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Frank Mendoza, a revered figure in data analytics and AI strategy.

His contributions to Fortune 500 companies such as Nike, Kellogg's, Keurig Dr Pepper, and Jim Beam, as the founder of Catalytics, have revolutionised how these organisations leverage big data, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics.

Frank offers practical recommendations for implementing AI, making this seemingly daunting technology accessible and actionable, demystifying AI, shares his strategic insights, and helps us scout for growth in this exciting field.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Over the last 8 years, I’ve worked with some of the top brands to introduce analytics concepts such as machine learning and chatbots. The hype has really gotten big in the last few months around what’s called generative AI, which is a little bit different from what we’ve historically called AI or machine learning, but in a nutshell, it’s got people really excited, and companies really want to take advantage and be able to demonstrate a competitive advantage to some of their competitors. It’s a really exciting time to be in this space.

One of the challenges/constraints all companies face, large or small, is time. Big companies can throw money at it; small companies don’t have that luxury, but they really need to focus their attention. When I approach a company to discuss leveraging AI, I want to focus on where they’ll use it and ensure there’s a direct tie to business value. There are so many tools thrown onto the market that it’s causing a lot of analysis paralysis, and businesses are struggling to figure out which tools they should use, where, why, and who should use them. You really need a strategic approach to leveraging these technologies to ensure you’re getting the biggest bang for the buck.

Customers have given you the privilege of providing you with information about themselves that’s very important to them, but for you as well to grow your business. How you use that information, where you provide that information to models, all those things are very vital to ensure that you’re doing the things necessary to protect that information. OpenAI and ChatGPT can retrain on the questions you’re asking – that's when you really want to provide guardrails/guidelines to your organisation about what you’re allowing them to put in there.

Generative AI solutions have been trained on publicly available data, such as images. Our society is moving - I believe – in a positive direction, but it has not moved all the way to where it needs to move. The net result of that is that there is a lot of information out there that’s still filled with biases, hate, etc. You want to make sure that when you’re leveraging these tools, you take into account these biases and the inherent challenges of using these models, and ensure you have a level of human judgment in the loop.

BEST MOMENTS

‘We’re now shifting the paradigm from inventing with tools to tools inventing. There are things the tools are doing that are creating something that hasn’t existed before.’

‘One thing that no organisation can waste is resources and time.’

‘Every organisation is unique, and the applications of AI are going to be unique to those as well.’

‘The ability for you to execute AI is predicated upon the quality of your information. I encourage organisations to start looking at that and take advantage of “data enablement” to enable businesses to move forward. It’s a daunting task but you don’t want to boil the ocean, that’s where I help organisations understand where exactly they should put their focus, energy and effort.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Frank Mendoza is a highly respected and award-winning analytics leader with over 20 years of experience in Strategy, Customer Experience, and Data Science. He is the founder of Catalytics, a service company that helps Fortune 500 companies like Nike, Kellogg's, Keurig Dr Pepper, and Jim Beam to execute actionable AI and Data Analytics strategies to solve their toughest business challenges. Frank shares that 2023 is the year of AI and that it is becoming more prevalent across industries. However, many companies are still intimidated or confused by its use and capabilities. Frank is there to help implement AI across any business and identify the best approaches to do so, offering practical recommendations, as AI should be a tool that augments and empowers companies to grow and innovate.

Frank can be found here.

And you can also reach him at Improving

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.

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