Murtz Daud is Director of Data and AI at British Gas, where he leads the organisation’s data and AI agenda with a focus on turning data into a strategic asset.
His career spans multiple industries, including finance, insurance, investment, healthcare, and energy. Across both hands-on technical roles and senior leadership positions, Murtz has maintained a consistent mission: enabling organisations to use data to drive efficiency, foster innovation and create measurable impact.
As he progressed into senior leadership, Murtz recognised that technical capability alone is rarely sufficient to deliver lasting change. His focus shifted towards building teams with strong communication, curiosity and problem-solving skills, alongside deep technical expertise. He is a strong advocate for developing data talent from within organisations, believing that colleagues with existing business knowledge and relationships are often best placed to identify high-value opportunities and deliver solutions that gain traction.
Murtz describes his leadership style as combining the responsibilities of a Chief Data Officer with those of a Chief Adoption Officer. He places particular emphasis on culture, capability, and engagement, ensuring data and AI solutions are not only built, but embedded and actively used across the business. Completing an Executive MBA further strengthened his perspective on data and AI as catalysts for enterprise-wide transformation rather than standalone technical functions.
Alongside his executive role, Murtz is committed to thought leadership and peer engagement. He actively networks with senior data and AI leaders, using these communities to stay close to emerging trends and to continually refine his approach to data-driven transformation.
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?
“Effective data and AI leadership should be rooted in a relentless drive to deliver tangible outcomes. Leaders must be adept at translating strategy into actionable product portfolios, guided by clear business goals, so that value creation is always visible and continuous. In my experience, I’ve always gained momentum in any future investment decisions when I’ve made my achievements measurable.
“A key quality is the ability to effectively balance the demand for immediate value vs long-term sustainable products. To support this, we must create an environment that encourages rapid and scalable innovation which integrates governance and ethics from the start. In more recent years, I believe leaders must also have the discipline to ensure AI hype does not dictate the solution. We have placed strong focus to fully investigate and understand the business problem first, and only then devise an appropriate solution to address that problem which maximises value.
“A people-centric approach is equally important. Demonstrating emotional intelligence, strong communication, and storytelling skills has enabled me to inspire and guide teams and stakeholders through the data and AI transformation journey. This must be underpinned by ongoing investment in improving Data and AI Fluency across the organisation, building culture where data-driven change is embraced at every level.”
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?
“Focus on people and outcomes, not data! The hard truth is that nobody really cares about ‘data’ outside of data teams. Our stakeholders only really care about business outcomes and ensuring any data and AI products are effectively adopted by their teams to achieve those outcomes.
“The most valuable thing to start with is to build trust and relationships. Data and AI are powerful, but they only create impact when people believe in them and use them. Start by listening and understand what matters most to the business and the challenges teams face. Speak in their language, not in technical jargon. Show how data and AI can make their lives easier, help them make better decisions, and achieve their goals. Celebrate small wins early to build momentum and confidence.
“I’ve always believed my role isn’t just about analytics and dashboards, it’s about inspiring a culture where everyone sees data and AI as an asset, not a burden or takeover. When people feel included and empowered, they’ll champion our vision, and that’s when transformation truly happens.”