James Morgan, senior director data, Asda

What has been your path to power?

I had an early and brilliant induction to leadership as an officer in the RAF, which was a superb starter for ten. 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 Telefónica.

Part-way through my time at O2, I shifted focus to setting and implementing information strategies to deliver value through data, getting the company’s data foundations in order, setting and implementing information strategies and began leading end-to-end data transformations. I was lucky enough to lead data and transformation teams and define data ecosystems at the likes of British Gas and Sainsbury’s before setting out on my own in consulting. It’s now great to be defining and implementing the information strategy at Asda, leading our BAU, strategic and future data teams, as well as delivering a new eco-system and data operating model.

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