Home
>
Mike O’Donohue, Chief Data Officer, Saga

Mike O’Donohue, Chief Data Officer, Saga

Describe your career to date

I have worked at the intersection of strategy, marketing, and analytics and data for the past 30 years. After completing a PhD in psychology at Queen’s University in Belfast I started my career working in market research in Northern Ireland before relocating to Hong Kong.

I spent the formative part of my career at consulting firm McKinsey & Co. I left in 2007 to join Tesco where I was director of customer insight and latterly also director of pricing and promotions.

Following a spell at Centrica, I joined National Lottery operator Camelot, where I was the CDO and part of the management team that delivered six years of consecutive sales growth and record returns to good causes. I joined Saga in October 2022 as the organisation’s first CDO.

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

Saga was one of the original pioneers of data-driven marketing. It understands the value of data and has well established capabilities for it. The opportunity is to adapt and evolve these to compete in a more digitally driven operating environment.

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

I report to the CEO, and a member of the executive team. Our team comprises 36 people working in data governance, engineering, analytics, modelling, and marketing effectiveness. We have recently completed a major project to re-platform our data and build a single customer view, which has meant adding a lot of engineering capacity. Over the next few years, we are planning to strengthen our capabilities in analytics, modelling and data science.

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?

One of the biggest challenges is consumer understanding of how their data is being used in profiling. In this regard, the outcome of the case between the Information Commissioner’s Office and Experian could have significant ramifications on all businesses. In particular, I am watching closely what will be said in relation to a company’s ability to use open data sources – such as Electoral Register – and combine this with other data sources and whether this requires the data controller to notify data subjects about the processing.

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?

Yes. The vision is rooted in our strategy to become a superbrand for older customers. It is centered on driving commercial performance through a data-driven approach to marketing and customer lifetime management.

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

We invest a lot of time and effort into addressing data quality, particularly where it impacts on customer experience. However, like many established businesses with a lot of legacy tech, I think “fixing” is probably some way in the future. Instead, what we are focused on is progress.

Mike O’Donohue
has been included in:

100 Brands 2023 (EMEA)

Join our membership network of over 250
global senior data and AI leaders.

The trusted global collaboration and intelligence platform for data leaders.

DataIQ is a trading name of IQ Data Group Limited
Registered office: 6^th Floor Charlotte Building, 17 Gresse St. London, W1T 1QL

Mike O’Donohue, Chief Data Officer, Saga

Join our membership network of over 250 global senior data and AI leaders.

The trusted global collaboration and intelligence platform for data leaders.

Join our membership network of over 250
global senior data and AI leaders.