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  • Satya Choudary, Vice President – Head of Cloud Platform, Data Analytics, Data Science and ML/AI, Credit Suisse

Satya Choudary, Vice President – Head of Cloud Platform, Data Analytics, Data Science and ML/AI, Credit Suisse

Describe your career to date

Over a decade-long career, I have led diverse global teams and transformed businesses across five industries. This journey evolved my growth mindset, transforming me into an executive and thought leader who bridges people, product, process, technology, with overarching strategy, with a particular focus on digital transformation and data monetization.  

Currently, as Head of Cloud Platform, Data Engineering, and ML/AI at Credit Suisse, I manage a global workforce overseeing cloud journey strategy and implementation, data engineering frameworks, machine learning and AI (including generative AI adoption), ESG programs, and data monetization initiatives leveraging alternative data.  

Prior to this, I held impactful roles at Fortune 500 companies, leading cloud and master data management strategy at Clorox, enhancing omnichannel initiatives at GAP, driving Analytics modernization at Genworth Insurance, and monetizing data at Railinc. I also honed my entrepreneurial skills by providing fractional CTO services to large corporations.  

My leadership philosophy centers on simplicity, scalability, adaptability, sustainability, efficiency, and ownership. I execute by thinking big, delivering small incrementally, and building consensus for initiatives that positively impact individuals and the organization. I believe technology empowers business success. Apart from a robust vision, achievement of collective business and technology goals requires clear mandates, effective controls, robust structures, talented teams, and a collaborative culture. 

How are you developing the data literacy of your organization, including the skills of your data teams and of your business stakeholders?  

am taking a holistic approach to developing data literacy in our organization. Providing data literacy training and resources to provide employees with the training and resources they need to learn how to access, understand, and use data. This includes things like data visualization tools, self-service analytics tools, and data dictionaries.  

Training content is driven by the roles and skills required in the respective data management and stewardship areas. I am creating a culture of data-driven decision-making by encouraging our employees to use data to inform their decisions and to be critical of the data they use. This is being done through things like executive sponsorship, data governance, and a focus on data literacy. My approach to data literacy is grounded in the following principles:  

  1. Technology simplicity, scalability, and adaptability: Use technologies that are easy to use, scalable to meet the needs of our organization, and adaptable to change.  

  1. Executive sponsorship, and agility: Work with executives to ensure that data literacy is a priority and implement data literacy initiatives in a timely and agile manner.  

  1. Think big, start small: Take a long-term view of data literacy, and start with small, achievable goals.  

  1. Strong mandate, robust governance, agile structure, and culture of innovation: Have a strong mandate from executives to promote data literacy and establish robust governance and an agile structure to support these efforts.  

Fostering a culture of innovation is essential for driving data literacy forward. 

What role do you play in building and delivering conventional AI solutions, including machine learning models? Are you involved in your organization’s adoptions of generative AI? 

In my capacity as a data and AI leader, my role is multifaceted, encompassing the development and delivery of conventional AI solutions, including machine learning models. One of my primary responsibilities is the identification of use cases aligned with our business strategy. This involves closely aligning AI initiatives with overarching business objectives to ensure that our efforts contribute meaningfully to organizational goals. I drive the creation and management of our big data and advanced analytics platform, serving as the backbone for our AI endeavors. This entails building a robust infrastructure capable of handling large datasets and facilitating advanced analytics.  

Additionally, I establish engineering practices that validate and enhance data quality. The implementation of an agile culture is crucial in ensuring our adaptability to rapidly changing market priorities, creating a dynamic and responsive environment.  

My further responsibilities include driving use cases from conceptualization to implementation. This includes implementation of various AI models, anomaly detection, and predictive analytics, leveraging both machine learning and deep learning techniques. The potential of generative AI for data observability solutions is something I am actively investigating. 

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

Data is a critical asset for any organization, and everyone must use data to make better decisions. This means that data literacy needs to be a priority for the entire organization, from the CEO to the front-line employees.  

My vision for data is to create a data-driven organization where everyone has the skills and knowledge they need to use data effectively. This vision embraces the whole organization, not just the data function. I believe that this vision is essential for the long-term success of the organization. By creating a data-driven organization, we can make better decisions, improve our products and services, innovate faster, and monetize data, ultimately adding value to the stakeholders.  

To achieve this vision, I am focusing on the following four areas:  

  1. Attacking and defensive data strategy: I am working with the data function to develop a data strategy that is aligned with the organization’s overall business strategy. This data strategy will identify how data can be used to attack new markets, develop new products and services, and improve customer engagement. The strategy will identify how data can be used to defend the organization against risks, fraud, and data breaches.  

  1. Centralized data platform: I am working with the IT function to develop a centralized data platform that will be based on open-source technologies and designed to be scalable and adaptable to the changing needs of the organization.  

  1. Data democratization: I am working with the data function to develop a data literacy program that will teach all employees how to access, understand, and use data. This program will be tailored to different roles’ needs and covers topics like data collection, cleaning, analysis, and visualization.  

  1. Data culture: I am working with the executive and other senior leaders to create a data culture within the organization. This involves communicating the importance of data, setting clear expectations for data-driven decision-making, and rewarding employees for using data to improve their work.  

I believe that by focusing on these four areas, we can create a data-driven organization that is well-positioned for success in the digital age. 

Satya Choudary
has been included in:
  • 100 Brands 2024 (USA)

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