May 13, 2025

S5 | Ep 24 | Benefit Realisation: A Business Focused Approach to Data & Analytics Leadership with Angela Pearce, Chief Data Officer at Pension Insurance Corporation Plc

46 minutes

In Episode 24, of Season 5 of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Angela Pearce, Chief Data Officer at Pension Insurance Corporation Plc, where they discuss how a varied career background and business focused approach allowed her to deliver multi-million pound benefits, which includes;

Why working in hospitality early in her life shaped her approach.
Coming from an unconventional background.
Moving out of Data & Analytics to broaden her skillset.
Being the first CDO in an entrepreneurial organisation.
The differences of working in large versus smaller organisations.
The importance of selling what your team can do for stakeholders.
Differences in managing expectations and stakeholders in different environments.
Why you need more buy-in, in smaller organisations.
Being the top data person in an organisation three times and whether having the title matters.
Knowing when you’re ready for a CDO role.
Why sales skills are absolutely essential for success as a CDO.
Why commercial understanding of business processes is imperative.
Building strategy and foundations in a greenfield environment.
Why tackling people and culture should be your first port of call.
Why imagination and creativity is a super power for data teams.
Balancing short-term value added wins with long term strategy.
Why you have to promote the small stuff.
The signals that you’re reaching a point of data maturity.
Navigating resistance challenges to a data strategy.
Why a good data strategy will be controversial.
Planting seeds that you grow into addressing difficult conversations.
Why the ‘lack of value’ narrative is still so prevalent.
Having a business focused approach to realise benefits.
Why the CDO shouldn’t be measuring and articulating value.
Why business readiness is key to substantiating value.
Building a data culture that aligns to an organisational culture.
Why data literacy should be about removing obstacles for people to do what you need them to do.
Why you need 99% carrot and 1% stick.
Being a female CDO from outside of London.

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By Orbition Group

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