Hub & Spoken: Data | Analytics | Chief Data Officer | CDO | Data Strategy

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Guy Lehman, who worked as Chief Data Officer and Data Strategist in multiple organisations before joining the Cynozure team as a consultant. Together they discuss data value from a business perspective, how to identify and deliver it, and the role of CDOs in creating the value story. Guy also shares his brilliant journey in data and remarkable experience working across different organisations and leading teams of up to 700 members.

In this episode, Jennifer Agnes, U.S. Managing Director of Cynozure, talks to two inspiring women about ongoing challenges that women face in achieving gender equality and what each of us can do to help to create a more inclusive and diverse world for women: Sadiqah Musa, Founder of Black in Data and Sathya Bala, Founder of True Change. They share their experience and professional journey in data, talk about mentorship, how it impacted their life and the importance of building supportive communities for creating a more inclusive and equitable data industry.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Benny Clive Benford, Disruptive Data Leader and former Chief Data Officer of the Jaguar-LandRover (JLR) group. They discuss implementing change within an organisation with data, how to facilitate transformational change, key stakeholders involved in the process and crucial factors to leverage data effectively and drive organisational success.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Marcus Grazette, Public Policy Leader at Holistic AI, about the societal impact of technology and how to put guardrails in place to protect consumers and promote innovation. They discuss policies and standards in data-driven technologies, key players, challenges, and the impact on consumers, business growth and citizens.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Ben Steele, Head of Data and Analytics at BMS Group, a fast-growing, global insurance and reinsurance broker. They discuss the importance of predicting value and the key factors organisations should focus on to become more agile, better equipped to respond to new challenges and opportunities, and ultimately deliver more value to their stakeholders.

In this episode, Jason talks to Lisa Allen, the Director of Data and Services at Open Data Institute about how data assurance and trust can create a world where data is used to create a greater impact outside an individual organisation. Lisa also shares her background in data, explains what data trust is, why data should be transparent and how a lack of data trust affects an organisation.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Kyle Winterbottom, Founder & CEO of Orbition Group and host of the Driven by Data Podcast. They discuss the different challenges organisations face when hiring for data-specific roles and the best way to improve your job advert to attract the right candidates. An enlightening conversation to better understand how to find individuals with the right skills and expertise, the best hiring structure, and the process to recruit and retain data talents.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Anna Hannem, Head of Data Ethics and Use at the Canadian multinational banking and financial services company Scotiabank. Together, they explore the importance of data ethics in organisations and how it can be implemented, the increased value it can provide customers and how to operationalise across an organisation.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Bill Inmon, a long-standing industry expert in the field of data, Founder and CEO of Forest Rim Technology, Best-Selling Author and recognised by many as the father of the data warehouse. Jason Foster and Bill discuss how to achieve business value from text, why using text is so important in decision-making, the challenges of using text in data and how organisations can effectively leverage data from text.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Graeme McDermott, a long-standing authority in Data Leadership who is currently Chief Data Officer at TempCover, a leading provider of temporary insurance cover. They discuss the importance of having data available for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity while also considering other factors of an M&A, the due diligence process, the role of the data team and the key metrics to consider to make informed strategic decisions and improve performance over time.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Marco Lau, Director of Data Science and Analytics at Penguin Random House, the international publishing business. They discuss how data science can help create value in the publishing industry and the use of data to predict market trends and make informed business decisions. Marco also talks about his background and role and explains how different teams at Penguin Random House collaborate to blend data science, art and traditional methods to drive business growth.

In this episode, Jason Foster shares his thoughts on the new technology from OpenAI, ChatGPT, what it is, its origin and the variety of its fascinating applications. Jason also explores its limitations and the impact it can have on the world. Spoiler alert: a special guest might pop up during this episode!

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Julia Bardmesser, a Digital Transformation Executive, Board Member and Advisor with over 20 years of experience in the financial sector. They discuss the important role of data in mergers and acquisitions and how to successfully examine data capabilities to ensure a smooth transition. Julia explains the difference between good and bad data capabilities, the 3 factors stakeholders need to consider when acquiring data as part of a merger or acquisition, and how to unlock significant value and gain a competitive advantage in the industry during the process.

In this episode, Jason talks to Diana Goenaga, a strategist focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI), about AI's impact in every industry and how it is a game changer for many challenges the world faces today. They discuss the evolution of Artificial Intelligence, the role AI and humans play in enabling a sustainable future and explore the challenges and benefits of using AI to solve global problems.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to his fitness mentor and personal trainer, Geoff Foden, about the correlation between physical and mental health, the emotional benefits of exercising and the impressive impact on your entire life. An inspiring conversation uncovering how fitness lessons boost motivation, improve resilience, helps stress management and change your outlook on life. Last but not least, they explore the use of data to look at the bigger picture and help with your fitness goals.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Roberto Maranca, the VP of Data Excellence at Schneider Electric. They discuss the captivating data personal trainer concept, how organisations can improve data agility and capabilities, and the parallels between a data team and a high-performance sports team.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Allison Sagraves, Portfolio Chief Data Officer, Board Advisor, Adjunct Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University and former Chief Data Officer of M&T Bank. They talk about providing value with data, strategic prioritisation in data, how to align success criteria with business objectives, data culture and building well-rounded data teams.

In this episode, Jason Foster is joined by Antje Bustamante, the Director of Data and Analytics at Zoopla. They talk about data transformation at Zoopla, the role data plays in the real estate industry, how to combine data and business goals and data literacy. Antje also shares her professional journey, interesting data use cases in the property industry and how the attitude towards data has changed at Zoopla over the past couple of years.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Antony Marlow, data strategist and Director of Data Management at Cynozure Group. They discuss change and its impact on organisations. A fascinating conversation about the scale of change (small changes vs transformational changes), implications on the business, processes required, the role of technology and how it impacts people and business outcomes.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks about data literacy, the misconceptions around the term and which role it plays across the whole data value chain. Data literacy doesn't merely refer to the ability to read, write, and interpret data, and it is swiftly becoming a must-have skill across an organisation to solve business problems, identify trends, optimise processes, and make better decisions in day-to-day operations.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks about building teams and companies that put people first, what a people-first business looks like and why this is a win-win approach that benefits employees and companies by boosting engagement, productivity, trust, well-being, creativity and retention. Jason also shares his hands-on experience leading teams and reveals the three main components of building a people-first culture and practical examples of how to implement it.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks about how to align your data strategy around the goals of a business through a top-down pyramid approach. Data is an incredibly valuable asset, but sometimes data experts get carried away implementing systems and models that are not necessarily the best fit. Jason guides us step by step through the top-down pyramid approach and explains how to identify business goals, benefits, use cases and business questions to ensure that the data strategy you put in place is aligned with the larger business objectives.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to George McCrea, Chief of Staff at Royal Engineers Geographic. They explore the fascinating role of geospatial data soldiers in the military, how the military's experience with data collection and analysis has developed over centuries and how it's used to improve the lives of civilians in a variety of ways and to support government bodies to make strategic decisions.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to David Bader, Distinguished Professor of the Department of Data Science at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. They talk about building massive scale analytics, how to use a large amount of data to gain insights, the complexity of the data set and how to bridge the gap between architecture and algorithms. David also shares his notable experience, talks about capabilities and skills data departments require to run large-scale data projects and explores some use cases in diverse industries.

In this episode, Jason talks to Natalia Connolly, the Vice President of Data Science at Infinite Acres, about Agricultural Tech (AgTech) and how it is helping the agriculture industry keep up with increasing demand. With the assistance of technology and data, the agricultural industry's not just been improved but completely overhauled over time with more sustainable methods and tech.

In this episode, Jason talks to Dr. Tiffany Perkins-Munn, the Head of Marketing, Data, and Analytics for JP Morgan Chase. They discuss the role of critical thinking in data and analytics, how to use critical thinking to move from vision to outcome and if critical thinking is a skill that can be learned. Tiffany shares her brilliant experience and Ph.D. expertise, the importance of finding a balance between critical thinking and quick progression, and why being willing to question everything through critical thinking can open up to great new ideas and possibilities.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Stephen Galsworthy, Head of Data at TomTom, a leading provider of mapping and location technology. They discuss the gradual integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into data products to create a better user experience, how TomTom navigated the shift from hardware to software and AI, and the challenges associated with integrating AI with data. Stephen also shares his brilliant journey in data & analytics, his extensive experience leading data science teams since 2011 and how to align a data team depending on the maturity of the business.

In this episode, Jason Foster, considers the challenging economic environment we are all living through, with inflation increasing, looming recession, and ongoing conflict in Europe and how data leaders can best prepare and get ahead. Using, BIRTH, a set of measures that will help you not only survive but thrive through these times, Jason lays out what you can be doing now to recession-proof your work and the value you add.

In this episode, Jason Foster talks to Sid Shah, the Executive Director for Data and Analytics at Condé Nast, a global media company home to iconic brands including Vogue, The New Yorker, GQ and Vanity Fair. They discuss building data products at Condé Nast and how data is utilised to drive efficiency and optimise advertising campaigns and conversions at scale across multiple brands and data teams. Sid shares his long-lasting journey in data & analytics, how his role has developed over the years, the challenges of creating specific data products for different stakeholders and how to build and manage multiple data teams.

 In this episode, Jason speaks to Yasmeen Moseley, Vice President of Consumer Insights and Analytics at Swift, a creative agency within the Wunderman Thompson network. They discuss data visualisation and storytelling in analytics, how to use social media insights to understand the audience, craft tailored stories, analyse performance and track the success. Yasmeen also highlights crucial points in selecting and presenting insights and talks about the psychology of colours, types of charts, metrics and challenges in the field.