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?
BA has sat still technically for many years, something that was not helped by the pandemic. Since joining, I have put our plans to modernise our data to the BA Executive, who have approved my overall vision and strategy and funded the first phase of the journey. Technically this is not easy, as we have numerous systems holding data, and some challenging issues of obsolescence; especially since we have had the same data warehouse in Teradata for 20 years. It is a complex plan and one that will take numerous years to deliver.
My vision is to create the next era in data and analytics. To modernise, decentralise, unlock the benefits of the cloud, remove obsolescence, to upskill the team, and to reduce the time it takes to deliver value from data.
I have been passionate about delivering value simultaneously; data programmes need to do more than enable other value streams. A key early deliverable was to host the data from our aircraft flight data recorders. This data unlocks the understanding of what our planes are doing, second-by-second, and therefore underpins our aims to use less fuel and to become more sustainable. This has already demonstrated early savings in fuel by equipping pilots with data they have never had access to before – though the details are confidential. It has also meant senior stakeholders are championing data unlike ever before.
As we have now delivered a cloud platform and are migrating users, my strategy is now to enable more federated ownership and thus take BA into another stage in our data journey: that of a data mesh. It is early days, but I am passionate and focused on ensuring that we can create valuable data at scale, something which our centralised model simply would not support.
As our technical vision evolves, so too does our operating model. In our centralised team we have coalesced into product teams where blended squads of data engineers and data scientists collaborate to solve problems and unlock value for BA.
Though we are better organised to meet new challenges, our skills need improving. This year I secured funding for a six-week cloud academy, which aims to equip the entire team of data engineers with the skills they need to work in our modern platform. This journey has been helped by some important hires into my leadership team – such as a Chief Data Engineer and a Head of Data Strategy – along with our first ever graduate cohort.
This is consequently kicking off change in other areas of BA and we have created some spokes emanating from the central hub. Here, new data products are created on our platform and under our guidance, but fundamentally it means that accountability and ownership sit even closer to where the value is generated. My vision spans beyond the data team into teams where maturity is highest. We are kicking off a central comms programme to raise general awareness of data and, more specifically, on our modernisation programme.
Change can be unsettling to established teams, but despite this I achieved a 16-point increase in my OHI score from May 2022 to May 2023, which took my score into McKinsey’s top decile for leadership. Irrespective of the amount of change, the team are coming with me, remain motivated, and rate my leadership highly.
