Does data now have a seat at the table during strategic discussions? If not, what will it take to get it there?
Absolutely. British Airways understands the value of its data right from the top down, and we are seeing more and more data-led strategic decision making. We understand the needs of the business and use insightful dashboards right across the organisation to explain performance, present forecasts and scenario plan to help drive strategic outcomes. The skills of our teams have never been in so much demand!
The airline is putting data at the heart of all new transformational activity. We are investing in cloud architecture to store and compute data even faster, enabling greater business agility and faster decision making.
What are your key areas of focus for data and analytics in 2022?
One of my key focus areas is enabling teams to drive a culture of rapid prototyping and agile development to showcase early value. In one example, within a week my team were presenting an early version of a machine learning model to senior stakeholders and receiving valuable feedback for future iterations. This rapid development has set a good benchmark for others in the team to follow.
Other areas include transitioning from insight-only dashboards to developing connected data visualisations which interlink with tech, enabling faster interventions. It really is an exciting time in the industry due to the speed of change in technology, increased data literacy and the types of business challenges to solve.
Tell us what leadership means to you in the context of your role as a senior data leader.
Within the organisation, data leadership should always be about creating impact. Understanding the business, data architecture, processes and enabling the business to make smarter decisions is at the heart of it all. My team and colleagues know how much I love having conversations about business value, both estimated and actual. It’s where, as a data leader, you can easily demonstrate how much value your team is adding to the business.
In addition, as a data leader its crucial for the team to have an external benchmark. I often have conversations with our partners, suppliers and other data leaders to discuss data and analytics best practices. It’s a great way to continually drive innovation within the team.