DataIQ 100 Discussion
Attendees could take part in three different roundtables during the DataIQ 100 Discussion event, meaning they could network with a variety of different peers and uncover key tips and pointers to address their own business needs.
Those involved with the roundtable discussions included numerous data leaders listed in the 2024 DataIQ 100. The DataIQ 100 is the data industry’s only curated list of influential data leaders and to be included demonstrates peer-reviewed organisational and individual achievements that provide a legacy for future talent to follow. The list identifies data’s who’s who, following the rise of Chief Data Officers, Chief Analytics Officers, senior data leaders, and key service providers.
The roundtable discussions gave each attendee the chance to examine issues and concerns that they are interested in or facing in their own organisations, while being able to hear from others in similar situations. Topics for the roundtables included delegating different forms of accountability, addressing the technical skills shortage for AI, imbedding sustainability into AI operations, examining the different ways that the data team should work with marketing departments, debating the importance of data culture versus data quality, and more.
Technical skills shortage
During one discussion, the focus was on addressing the issues surrounding recruiting and retaining tech talent specific to new AI and generative AI (genAI) tools. As has been an ongoing issue for data leaders over the last few years, data-specific talent has been in short supply – and the drastic uptick AI tools over the last 18 months has exacerbated the problem with new skills being needed by organisations to be able to optimise the use of new tech investments.
One participant explained how they feel a different mindset is needed to address the skills shortage as they are playing catch-up and need to be cautious of the next bottleneck with talent that will likely arise. They explained they can foresee a big swing to the ethical and governance side of data becoming the next problem as governments and industries steadily catch up with the glut of new AI tools. They warned that “regulators could well start demanding independent-style roles which must be prominent” and said this type of flexibility is necessary when hiring technical roles.
A second participant stated that they truly believe “you do not need to be a coder or a data scientist to understand the job,” and that recruits just need a drive, passion, and willingness to learn. This will help add more diversity – including thought diversity – to the talent pool and improve the ways in which businesses can develop new approaches and tools.
When it came to examining the way in which these technical roles are managed and integrated, numerous roundtable participants agreed that there needs to be a softer approach to the ways in which rules and regulations are implemented. As one roundtable participant noted: “Do not be heavy-handed with guardrails and rules – they need to be implemented, but not done in a way that puts people off. We want to encourage people to get closer to the data.”
It was then expanded upon that strong governance should be worked on and implemented by people that actively have opinions and this will be heightened with thought diversity. Data leaders hoped that this would then provide them with a rigorous set of guidelines, governance, and regulations for those involved with the new era of technical roles.
Finally, one member said how they try to find candidates that have what they described as a “spidey-sense” for finding the proof of value. They stated this is a hard skill to grow and develop, but there are candidates that have an innate understanding of the importance of highlighting proof of value, and this can outweigh certain technical skill proficiencies when it comes to finding talent.
Data and marketing
One roundtable was examining how data teams should work with their respective marketing teams and how this relationship can flourish.
The first place that participants started was assessing the value in marketing. One member of the roundtable explained that their niche means that cycles can take multiple years to complete due to the nature of the product they provide, which adds huge complexities to assessing the value of marketing. This is further exacerbated by sweeping audience types. This member was trying to heighten their connections with the marketing department to make sure they fully understood and appreciated the viewpoints of the data team to create a new symbiotic relationship.
Another member explained how sentiment is a key data tool for their product offerings, and they have been working closely with the marketing team to develop new sentiment tools for social media and other public arenas of expression. They complemented what the previous member had said about making sure marketing understood the needs of the data team as the KPIs for marketing seldom overlapped with those of the data office.
The final discussion point for the roundtable was the common ground they had all found when it came to marketing professionals finally understanding the value of data. There were numerous examples of different marketing teams having to face a crisis to learn the true value and importance of the data office. Participants agreed they never want a crisis to actively happen, but they must realise and be prepared to pounce once a crisis strikes. This is a one-shot opportunity for the data team to demonstrate its capabilities and should not be squandered.
Data governance, democratisation, and self-service with AI
There is a fine balance to be found when it comes to ensuring data governance within an organisation, while also enabling self-service and democratisation when enabling AI workflows. Participants agreed that the starting blocks must begin with policies concerning responsible AI, where the data governance role is clearly laid out. This takes time and needs to be well established, which can be a difficulty when seeing how eager some business leaders are to get AI tools implemented.
There was a divide among the roundtable participants as to whether it would be more optimal to bring governance, self-service, and democratisation together, or to keep them separated. Pros and cons for both were raised, with one member explaining they use a federated approach as this works well for their size, level of maturity, and organisational objectives – they did not feel that full democratisation would benefit their ambitions in their current form.
One member pointed out that, often, governance is decided and put in place by the top level of the group, which sometimes leaves it detached from the realities of day-to-day data operations. The participant promoted the use of risk assessments to enforce the type of policy and strictness of its subsequent enforcement. Although using risk assessments does add time and resources to a project, it accurately defines the optimal level of policy and strictness without resorting to a blanket approach which can hinder operations.
Finally, another participant noted that defensive positions seem to be the standard approach when it comes to governance – which is understandable – but this lack of proactivity and willingness to embrace new things can be a hindrance. Their prime example was that data ownership seems to just be a problem that is shifted around time after time without being properly addressed, solved, and regulated. Again, the answer to this issue will be completely dependent on the size, scale, scope, and maturity of the organisation, but time and effort must be invested to ensure fundamental areas such as ownership are dealt with.
This was just a taster of the discussions that took place – with each roundtable having three sets of different data leaders getting involved and 15 different roundtable topics taking place. The best way to get involved and fully engaged with data leaders is to be a DataIQ member. The next opportunity for this scale of discussion is the DataIQ 100 Summit London in November.
To become a DataIQ member and be involved with upcoming roundtables, click here.
To register for the DataIQ 100 Summit London, click here.
