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  • Bret Greenstein, Partner, Data, Analytics and AI, PwC

Bret Greenstein, Partner, Data, Analytics and AI, PwC

Describe your career to date

Throughout my career, my primary focus has been on leveraging technology to drive business transformation. I have applied this focus in a variety of roles, including technology incubation, CIO, strategy and implementation consulting and ecosystem development. I am grateful to have been involved in some of the most significant technological advancements of our time, including the internet, cloud computing, the internet of things, and artificial intelligence. In each of these areas, my attention has always been on the critical role of data and how it can empower transformative change. 

 

As a technology incubator, I have played a pivotal role in identifying and developing emerging data and analytics technologies and exploring their potential impact on businesses. As a CIO, I have led the implementation of data, analytics and cloud technologies to optimize operations and enhance customer experiences. In my consulting work, I have advised clients on strategies to leverage technology for competitive advantage and guided them through the implementation process. Through ecosystem development, I have brought together diverse stakeholders to create value with D&A to have wide reaching industry impact. 

 

Throughout all of this, my focus on data has remained constant. I recognize the vital role that data plays in driving business success and transformation. By harnessing the power of data, organizations can unlock new insights and opportunities, optimize their operations and create more meaningful experiences for customers. As technology continues to evolve and transform our world, I remain committed to helping businesses harness the full potential of data to achieve their goals and create a better future. 

What stage has your organization reached on its data maturity journey?

 

Our organization is highly mature. Not only are we fully modernized on cloud native data architectures, but we have robust data governance, integration of third party data, a comprehensive data catalog and marketplace and we are advanced in our use of analytics and AI on our data. 

 

Tell us about the data and analytics resources you are responsible for

I lead teams of hundreds of people doing data and analytics programs for clients. They are based all over the world with a large concentration in India and across the US. These teams all sit within our consulting line of business. The cover a range of skills from data engineer, data science, data governance, data visualization, data analytics and AI/ML. 

 

What challenges do you see for data in the year ahead that will have an impact on your organization and on the industry as a whole? 

Most companies are still very early in their transformation journey. The economic conditions are forcing companies to deliver shorter term, incremental value which sometimes limits the scope of modernization. And, new data sources and data types are putting a lot of stress on chief data officers. Unstructured data in particular is very challenging as companies work to incorporate generative AI more into their business. 

 

Have you set out a vision for data? If so, what is it aiming for and does it embrace the whole organization or just the data function?

Our vision is to ensure that the data that matters is accessible across our business to enable better, faster decisions. 

 

Have you been able to fix the data foundations of your organization, particularly with regard to data quality?

We continue to drive improvements on this. By assigning data product owners to the major data domains, we are able to drive continuous incremental improves in data quality, usage and trust. This is prioritized based on business areas where the impact of the data is high (like CRM data and finance data). 

Bret Greenstein
has been included in:
  • 100 Enablers 2022 (USA)
  • 100 Enablers 2023 (USA)

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