David Hayes, Chief Data Officer, The Open University

I started on a graduate scheme with Anglian Water, where I qualified as an accountant and learned about management and leadership, before moving into finance roles in telecoms and into banking with Santander UK. Finance took me into analytics, which opened the door to data roles as controller, manager, and governance leader before being asked to take the role of the first CDO in response to the banking crisis. After creating an end-to-end CDO team at Santander I am now CDO at The Open University, where I am putting my skills into helping the OU help others to change their lives.