This is a profile from the 2022 version of the DataIQ 100.
The latest list is available here.
Dr Aishah Selamat, digital product owner – customer data and personalisation, TUI Group
What has been your career path to date?
Before relocating to the UK, I had close to ten years of industrial experience, managing projects and IT operations in Asia. Although I was a “late bloomer” in terms of academic achievement, I decided to pursue my postgraduate studies at the University of Bedfordshire where I achieved a distinction and also a honorary mention at the University’s convocation. I then received a full PhD scholarship in Creative Technology at Bournemouth University.
For my PhD, I developed an enhanced CRISP-DM analytical model for private coach operators in the UK. For contributing to the UK technology scene, I was given the Tier 1 global talent visa, endorsed by UK Tech Nation. After my PhD, I returned to the industrial field taking on the role as global data product manager with Dyson at its Malmesbury campus, where I worked with commercial stakeholders to assess and refine data for each commercial domain.
Due to a need to relocate for marriage, I transitioned to a new role with TUI Group as a digital product owner in customer data and personalisation. In my role in TUI, I work with cross-functional teams to deliver personalisation features in TUI’s various customer engagement platforms.
What made you choose data as your career focus?
During my postgraduate studies in IT, I chanced upon the topic of big data in one of the emerging technologies classes that I attended. Learning how data can be an asset and shape business decisions, I fell in love with the subject. For my postgraduate research thesis, I studied the impact of predictive analytics on organisations, igniting my passion to help organisations exploit the potential of their data assets. I chose data as my career focus because it fits my scientific curiosity and inquisitive personality. Also, I chose to be in the data product management field as I enjoyed overseeing the end-to-end delivery of projects and being the bridge between business stakeholders and IT.
How aware were you of data as a career opportunity during your education or early work experience? Does this need to be heightened
I had little awareness of data as a career during my educational and early work experience years. For me, it felt like the field of data was still emerging, even only seven to ten years ago. Living in this day and age, where technological advancement and the usage of data is inevitable across all domains, I believe that the immense potential and variation of a career in data needs to be better promoted.
I had an early misconception that a career in data is mostly technically-driven. But having been exposed to different organisations and networking with several groups from different sectors, I now realise that a career in data is not just technically-driven.
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