Headline Partner

Chandhu Nair, Senior Vice President – Data and AI, Innovation Labs and Marketing Technology, Lowe’s Inc

Describe your career to date

As Senior Vice President, Data and AI, Innovation Labs and Marketing Technology, I lead the team by driving data strategy and analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) products and platforms, and Lowe’s Innovation Labs. I am responsible for the marketing and customer technology capabilities enabling digital marketing and media networks, personalization, loyalty experiences, and customer relationship management products.

I have 20 years of experience in technology. Prior to Lowe’s, I was Vice President, Technology, Omnichannel Marketing, and Digital Customer Engagement, and spearheaded best-in-class technology product launches including customer-data re-platforming, MVPs Pro Rewards and Partnerships Program, and Lowe’s One Roof Media Network.

I also served as CEO and co-founder of Cognitive Retail, a retail technology company providing US-based retailers with advanced data analytics. I was also a managing partner and co-founder at Merkatus Partners, a strategy consulting firm focused on emerging technology investment services.

Before this, I held global e-commerce and technology leadership roles at Staples. 

For my education, I earned a master’s degree in general management and operations from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in engineering – information technology from Bharathiar University, India.

I volunteer as an adviser to multiple technology startups and venture capital firms in the US and globally. I serve on the advisory board for United Planet, a non-profit organization connecting volunteers in the areas of education, health, and environmental sustainability with opportunities in more than 30 countries and I also sit on the Consumer Goods Technology and Retail Info Systems (CGT/RIS) executive council.

How are you developing the data literacy of your organization, including the skills of your data teams and of your business stakeholders?

One of the key aspects of our data literacy program is ensuring that our data teams and business stakeholders understand the value and potential of data products and applied AI solutions. We want to foster a culture of data-driven decision making and innovation across the organization, where data teams can collaborate effectively with business users to identify needs, develop solutions, and measure impact.

To achieve this, we are implementing a two-tiered approach to data literacy. For data professionals, we are offering advanced training on the latest tools and techniques for data analysis, visualization, and machine learning. We are also creating opportunities for peer learning and knowledge sharing through internal seminars, hackathons, and communities of practice. Our goal is to enhance the technical skills and domain expertise of our data teams and help them communicate their insights and recommendations clearly and persuasively to the business stakeholders.

For business users, we are providing basic training on data concepts, terminology, and best practices. We are introducing them to the data products and applied AI solutions that are relevant to their functions and domains. Our goal is to increase their awareness and appreciation of the data assets and capabilities available to them and help them formulate clear and actionable questions and hypotheses that can be answered with data.

Our goal is to build trust and alignment between the data teams and the business stakeholders and ensure that the data products and applied AI solutions are aligned with the organizational goals and values.

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?

We envision data as the fuel that powers our digital transformation and our journey to become an AI native enterprise. Our data vision is to harness data to enhance our competitive edge, by delivering innovative, optimized, and personalized solutions and experiences to our customers and employees. Our data vision applies to the whole organization, as we strive to build a data and AI literate workforce and foster a data and AI driven culture.

Chandhu Nair
has been included in:

100 Brands 2023 (USA)
100 Brands 2024 (USA)

Enabling data and AI leaders to drive impact

Enabling the success of Data and AI leaders and their teams.

DataIQ is a trading name of IQ Data Group Limited

DataIQ INC is a wholly owned subsidiary of IQ Data Group Limited

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