Mark Briers, chief data and analytics officer, Royal Mail

What impact has the pandemic had on the role of data in your company/organisation?

I have held several roles during the pandemic, the highest profile being my time as the lead scientist for the NHS Covid-19 app. The app acted as a non-pharmaceutical intervention, using Bluetooth signal strength data (and statistical inference) to estimate distance between a Covid-positive individual and their close contacts, providing statistical insights to government policy-makers and local health officials, and proving the (causal) efficacy of this digital intervention as being positive for public health. The app was, in a sense, a data science project, using privacy-preserving techniques. It showed that it is possible to use data science to drive positive societal benefit in an ethically responsible manner.

Does data now have a seat at the table during strategic discussions? If not, what will it take to get it there?

Royal Mail has recognised the strategic importance of data, analytics and innovation in transforming its business. As such, Royal Mail recently created a new executive function under my leadership with the goal of transforming its use of data for the benefit of our customers, shareholders, and employees. Application of data-related technologies to drive optimal decision-making at the tactical and strategic level is being threaded throughout the organisation, at pace. We are expanding beyond traditional business intelligence to drive new value streams, using the most appropriate (and advanced) engineering, data science and visualisation techniques. As a result, I believe that Royal Mail is one of the leading FTSE 100 organisations in its use of data-oriented, strategic decision-making.

What are your key areas of focus for data and analytics in 2022?

Over the next 12 months, I intend to focus on several areas: democratisation of data and analytics across my organisation, with appropriate governance, tooling and education to underpin the initiative; producing high-performing multi-disciplinary teams to deliver business outcomes; producing scientifically-valid analyses to underpin and drive organisational strategic decisions. From a technical perspective, my academic/research focus will remain on probabilistic programming and the use of Bayesian inference at unprecedented scales. I am also committed to continuing my teaching role at Imperial College London to ensure the next generation of statisticians have advanced knowledge of big data technologies.

Tell us what leadership means to you in the context of your role as a senior data leader.

Leadership, in the context of a data-driven world, is all about creating the right environment where diversity (in every sense) is valued, empowered, and promoted. It is the power of multiple perspectives – from the real-world, with representation across the communities we serve, to technical, with multi-disciplinary thinking at the heart of what we do – that drives strategic change, innovation and real-world impact. A senior data leader needs to enable collaboration, to remove silos, to promote business and technical interaction, to democratise data, information and knowledge, all in a privacy-preserving and ethically-responsible manner.