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Karthik Sriram Chandrashekar, Director, Growth Data Science and Engineering, Netflix

Describe your career to date

Since 2015, I have been involved in several critical business initiatives that have led to membership growth from around 60 million members to over 220 million members today. I have led initiatives around new business models – like introducing the Netflix mobile plan in Asia and Africa, and more recently Netflix’s password sharing monetisation experiments.

 

I have also led several initiatives around improving the Netflix app and product experience to ensure that Netflix remains the world’s largest streaming entertainment provider.

 

Prior to joining Netflix, I held technology leadership roles in high growth Silicon Valley start-ups, and healthcare tech and international start-ups in India, where I leveraged this expertise in data infrastructure and machine learning to drive revenue growth.

 

I have strong interdisciplinary expertise across software engineering and data science, and believe in ensuring data and evidence based thinking has a seat at all executive decision making tables. My software engineering expertise especially is a competitive advantage when it comes to execution of data intensive initiatives, ensuring that data proposals don’t just stay as ideas, but are executed efficiently.

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

Netflix has a strong culture of data-informed decision making and leveraging experimentation for all levels of decisions.

 

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

A key challenge in the coming years is going to be the ability to effectively manage data governance and compliance policies, especially in light of increasing government driven regulations on fair and appropriate data use. Organisations that can get ahead of this by developing an effective and forward looking data strategy will ensure a smooth evolution into the future.

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

Our vision is to enable decision makers across the organisation to make data informed decisions through seamless access to trustworthy insights.

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

Maintaining data quality is a continuous effort for all organisations, as it is essential for ensuring trustworthiness of data-driven insights. However, implementing clear data governance policies, utilising tools that facilitate consistent and standardised data quality checks, and educating staff on the importance of data quality can help significantly.

Karthik Sriram Chandrashekar
has been included in:
  • 100 Brands 2023 (EMEA)
  • 100 Brands 2023 (USA)

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