James Morgan, Chief Data Officer, The Crown Estate

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 Telefonica. 

 
Part way through my time at O2 I shifted focus to setting and implementing Information Strategies to deliver value through data, re-building companies’ data foundations and began leading end-to-end data transformations. I was lucky enough also to lead data and transformation teams and deliver new data ecosystems at the likes of British Gas and Sainsbury’s before spending some time running my own data consultancy. 

 
On returning to work on the client side, I spent three years at Asda defining and implementing their Information Strategy. This involved leading their BAU, Strategic, and Future data teams while transforming data capabilities as a part of Asda’s separation from Walmart. The work included delivering a whole new Data Ecosystem, Data Management and Governance Capabilities, Partnerships, data literacy, and Data Operating Model. 

 
In July this year, I became the Chief Data Officer at The Crown Estate and have started work to take the company on a journey to data centricity and value creation. 

 
I have also had the privilege of being involved with and holding several positions in great industry bodies over the years, such as the IDM Data Council, DMA Customer Data Council, and Women in Data. I regularly attend industry events and this year have chaired roundtables, presented keynotes, and judged at the DataIQ Awards.