This is a profile from the 2022 version of the DataIQ 100.
The latest list is available here.
Reda Kechouri, head of data science, Bumble
What has been your path to power?
While my education is rooted in computer science and engineering, the continuous concern throughout my career has been how best to use the data at hand to help organisations make the best decisions at the right time - at Transport for London, for instance, when building real-time traffic information systems for the London 2012 Olympics, or when designing software to help global retailers optimise their floor space and product allocation.
In parallel, I became increasingly interested in organisational design, team empowerment and how best to drive an outstanding culture that focuses on impact. In that sense, my experience at e-commerce fashion retailer ASOS.com was truly transformational for me as I had the autonomy to build the AI platform from the ground up, following these guiding principles: autonomous multi-disciplinary teams, iterative approach to model building, operational excellence and focus on impact and business value.
Today at Bumble, I aim to create the best environment for our incredible talents in statistics, machine learning and engineering to fulfil our mission to make all relationships healthy and equitable using the amazing datasets available to us.
What impact has the pandemic had on the role of data in your company/organisation?
Covid-19 radically changed the way our users find meaningful relationships and proved to be instrumental in Bumble becoming even more data-driven. For instance, when the pandemic hit, we explored and leveraged external data sources (Oxford Stringency index, Google mobility reports) that would improve our in-house developed forecasting framework and anomaly detection processes to help us navigate these uncertain times.
The business obviously needed quick access to these insights to make swift decisions, while working from home became a norm. This exceptional context proved to be a catalyst for improving how data is disseminated across the organisation. We successfully delivered a bunch of self-serve dashboards in close collaboration with all business units.
DataIQ is a trading name of IQ Data Group Limited
10 York Road, London, SE1 7ND
Phone: +44 020 3821 5665
Registered in England: 9900834
Copyright © IQ Data Group Limited 2024