Matt Lovell, global director of data and insight, Pret a Manger

What has been your path to power?

Although I didn’t realise it at the time, I’ve always found myself drawn to data. Whether that was constantly asking “why?” in school lessons or pointing out to my dad that the bill at a supermarket was wrong after watching each item track on the till screen.

As a result, while I did a degree in Chemistry and then landed at a digital media agency straight out of university, it was only a matter of time before I gravitated toward more and more complex data sets. Everything from exploring customer data to look at behavioural trends, fixing digital analytics setups to track performance more effectively or helping to build an early media attribution solution to help our clients understand customer behaviours.

Having moved client side ten years ago, I’ve worked on a wide range of brands including Thomas Cook, Eurostar, Jack Wills and Pret, with the breadth of the role continuing to grow. I’ve been incredibly lucky that I’ve worked for some really well-loved brands. As such, the challenge has not only been around how data can make a difference to a business commercially or operationally, but also looking at how we can use this to drive customer experience and brand love.

The great thing about data is how it helps you to tell a story and connect the dots to solve things, where often you didn’t even realise there was a problem in the first place, enabling you to make a real difference.