James Morgan, senior director data, Asda

Describe your career to date 

I had an early and brilliant induction to leadership as an officer in the RAF which was a superb starter for 10. However, my career in data began as an analyst, learning the basics of how to manage, query and interrogate data while being business, customer and outcomes focused. I then started to lead analytics, BI, insights, CRM and reporting teams for the likes of Sky, Hutchison 3G in Australia and during my initial years at O2 Telefonica.

Part way through my time at O2, I shifted focus to setting and implementing information strategies to deliver value through data, re-building companies’ data foundations and began leading end to end data transformations. I was lucky enough also to lead data and transformation teams and deliver new data ecosystems at the likes of British Gas and Sainsbury’s before setting out on my own consulting.

I’ve spent the last couple of years at Asda, defining and implementing the information strategy at Asda. This has involved leading our business as usual, strategic and future data teams, while transforming our data capabilities as a part of Asda’s separation from Walmart. The work includes delivering a whole new data ecosystem, data management and governance capabilities, partnerships and data operating model.

I have also had the privilege of being involved with and holding several positions in great industry bodies over the years, such as the IDM Data Council, DMA Customer Data Council and Women in Data.