Does data now have a seat at the table during strategic discussions? If not, what will it take to get it there?
Staying true to its early start-up days, data and analytics has been an integral part of the decision-making process at eBay. The influence of data consistently increased over the years, with strong partnership between analytics teams and the business formed through powerful storytelling with data.
This collaboration enabled analytics teams to help our business to focus on the right priorities and help make data-driven decisions. At eBay, analytics has a seat in key strategic forums across all levels, from the senior leadership team to management teams. Analytics is also part of eBay’s global strategy, positioned as an integral part of long-term strategy as well as short-term tactical decisions.
What are your key areas of focus for data and analytics in 2022?
With eBay’s clear, long-term strategy, as well as a detailed execution plan, analytics will be central to our 2022 ambition of becoming the partner of choice for our sellers and cultivating life-long trusted relationships with our buyers. We will continue to use data and analytics to offer the best possible experience to our buyers by tailoring the products and deals that spark unexpected joy. Providing our business partners with more self-service tools to help them make better decisions will continue to be one of our focus areas through 2022.
Tell us what leadership means to you in the context of your role as a senior data leader.
Data and analytics has the power to provide a holistic view of a company and its customers, irrespective of how the business is organised. As data leaders, we are in a perfect position to remove organisational silos in providing data-driven insights to help stakeholders make better decisions. The key element is to be able to understand the context, business and customer needs as well as any limitations through data, and, crucially, being able to translate this understanding into a clear direction of travel for the wider teams.
As data leaders, it is also crucial to keep growing and nurturing high-performing teams and mentoring upcoming talent. My key focus areas are providing clear direction of priorities, helping the team to develop their skills, providing opportunities to grow and giving individuals exposure to key decision-makers so that they can build a voice of their own in strategic conversations.