Diana’s efforts have once again secured her a Top Ten seat in the North America listings. She has been a mainstay for the past four years and ranked as the Number One data and AI leader in North America in 2023. Diana is undoubtedly a defining voice, both within her organization and across the wider data and AI community as she brings a rare blend of business acumen and technical fluency that cuts through the noise. Diana is an active member of the DataIQ community and is a regular panelist at DataIQ events. Her consistent contributions reflect expertise and generosity, offering first-hand insights into what AI-driven transformation really takes to succeed in the real world. At Colgate-Palmolive, Diana has embedded data and AI, directly shaping how products are developed, marketed, and experienced by consumers across numerous geographies, taking the organization to the next level.
Diana Schildhouse is Executive Vice President and Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Colgate-Palmolive, where she leads the company’s global data, analytics, and AI organization and serves on the senior leadership team. With more than 25 years of experience across global consumer-facing companies, she has led large-scale transformations spanning data, insights, strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance. Her career has been shaped by close partnership with marketing and commercial teams worldwide, giving her a distinctly business-first lens on data and AI transformation.
At Colgate-Palmolive, Diana has embedded data and AI as a core business capability, directly influencing how products are designed, marketed, and brought to market globally. Her teams combine advanced technical expertise with deep business and consumer insight to drive measurable growth and innovation.
Prior to Colgate, she served as Senior Vice President of Global Strategy, Insights, and Analytics at Mattel, where she built the company’s first data science team, advanced its enterprise data strategy, and scaled analytics across marketing, media, product development, and retail. She also led enterprise-wide strategic planning to accelerate innovation and growth. Earlier in her career, she held senior strategy and market research roles at Westfield and began in corporate finance at The Walt Disney Company.
A recognized industry leader and frequent keynote speaker, Diana contributes regularly to DataIQ events and was ranked Number One on the DataIQ 100 for North America in 2023.
As a data and AI leader, which traits and skills do you think matter most, and which of those have been most influential for you in your current position?
“The most successful data and AI leaders are transformation leaders, viewed as not simply technical specialists but as strategic business leaders. The ability to lead, motivate, and inspire large technical teams is table stakes; deep business acumen and broad-based focus on creating business value are equally important. Driving transformation means clearly articulating a vision, developing a strategy, and communicating why it matters to bring the organization along.
“Me and my team spend as much time learning business context on the ground and building strong partnerships with commercial teams as we do on building technical skills, which has led to global adoption and actionability of our solutions, and measurable business value in terms of both growth and efficiency. My team’s work has been externally recognized in peer benchmarking surveys, with award-winning learning and upskilling programs, and as the Best Place to Work in Data and AI 2025 from DataIQ.”
Reflecting on your career, what is one non-traditional piece of advice (outside of technical skills) you would give to an aspiring data or AI leader aiming for the C-suite?
“Spend as much time honing your soft skills as you do keeping up to date with the latest technical advancements. Be curious, learn about your industry and the rhythm with which your business operates, and understand the pain points of your business partners in order to devise a solution that will delight them.
“Learn to read the room, understand cues, and identify business champions who can often advocate for the value you have delivered with them. Develop your communication skills, so that you can demystify the lingo, and be concise, compelling, and inspirational when evangelizing the power of data, analytics, and AI in your organizations.”