Ross Simson, Head of Data Factory, Thames Water

[…] are you most optimistic about and why? It’s a great time to be in data. It’s what businesses run on and the pace of change in technology is opening new frontiers every day. Using automation and machine learning, coupled with really insightful analysis based on trusted information, has to be the way forward […]

Roshan Awatar, Data and Analytics Strategy Director, Lloyds Banking Group

[…] a risk perspective. Data governance remains fundamental, but we are seeing the business take increased interest in exploiting the data and wanting to explore how advances in technology can enable or accelerate this. What is your view on how to develop a data culture in an organisation, building out data literacy and creating […]

Rob McGowan, Managing Director, Edit

[…] and entertainment were down, others such as professional services, finance and retail saw increases in demand for our services. We’ve won new clients consistently over the last 12 months, and some of the use cases for our expertise have been quite innovative, for example, using marketing technology to reduce student dropouts at a leading university.

Richard Harte, Director of Data and Analytics, Centaur Media

Path to power Armed with an Operational Research degree and very little clue, I was given an opportunity as an analyst in the Government OR Service. This role provided some fantastic training and the opportunity to learn from some really experienced practitioners.From there, I was fortunate enough to be offered a role as an […]

Remzil Jacob, Chief Data Officer, Barclays

[…] the rest are split across four business groups. Within consumer banking and payments, my team and I work alongside data engineering, data platforms, data privacy and our technology organization to deliver data product and solutions to the businesses we serve. My team is 35 members strong, spread out across the US, UK and India. […]

Ray Eitel-Porter, Managing Director UKI, Accenture Applied Intelligence

Path to power I’ve built my career on a passionate belief in the transformative power of digital technology and, in particular, witnessing the positive impact that data, analytics and AI can have on organisations and our lives. My experience spans working for a management consultancy firm, founding and running a software/internet business, leading […]

Ramneet Julka, Head of Big Data and AI, UK, Vodafone

[…] demand and increased the rigour around data and technical innovation within our organisation. The strategic imperative on data meant that we continued to progress with our key technology programmes in compliance, while increasing the onus to evidence benefits and plan more thoughtfully on investment for the future. During the pandemic, customers’ transactional behaviour […]

Raj Nimmagadda, Global Head R&D Data Office (CDO R&D), Sanofi

How are you developing the data literacy of your organization, including the skills of your data teams and of your business stakeholders? To enhance data literacy within our organization, we established the R&D Data Café, which serves as a platform for cultivating a data-driven culture and upskilling both data teams and business stakeholders. Our primary […]

Philipp Diesinger, Partner, Boston Consulting Group

[…] have a background in mathematics and theoretical physics. I hold a PhD from Heidelberg University and spent three years as a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where I developed convolutional neural network approaches to analyse large quantities of biological data. I have been leading data science teams in various capacities with […]

Phil Young, Area Vice President – Northern Europe, Sitecore

[…] a “customer first approach” is now at the heart of how most organisations go to market. Sitecore’s customers are advancing at a furious rate to ensure their technology platform is not only fit for purpose now, but that it will also future proof their business for years to come. Customers are now road mapping […]

Peter Jackson, Group Director – Data Sciences, L&G

[…] going to be interesting. Already commentators are talking about the ‘AI Winter’. What will be the new buzz phrase? We’ve already ditched big data. Data and technology are changing business, the economy and society – what do you see as the biggest opportunity emerging from this? Embedding data and analytics into the heart […]

Pedro Cosa-Fernandez, Data General Manager, News UK

[…] has been successfully using data to extract business value for a number of years. We have built and cemented our data foundations on an efficient and scalable technology stack and on a great pool of data talent across the organisation. Our next stage is to continue developing a strong data culture and help […]

Paul Davison, Head of Data, Royal Mail

[…] demand for innovation and therefore solutions from our industry to help support smaller businesses navigate the complexities of a rapidly evolving data driven world. Data and technology are changing business, the economy and society – what do you see as the biggest opportunity emerging from this? I think while GDPR has made clear […]

Papinder Dosanjh, Head of Data Science and Machine Learning, ASOS

[…] our strategic business transformation initiatives which has executive ownership. We will be accelerating our investments to support future growth ambitions and plan to scale our data operating model and evolve the data architecture over the coming year. To support this, we launched a new technology hub in Belfast focused on growing our data engineering capabilities.

Orlando Machado, Chief Data Officer, The LEGO Group

Data literacy is a key enabler of the value and impact from data. How are you approaching this within your organisation? We have a federated approach to data and analytics: most data teams do not sit in my area, though my team acts as a central hub for best practice, and provides the core data […]

Nondas Sourlas, Director, Bupa Healthcare Analytics, Bupa

[…] in early phases of digitisation, data collection and the methods of big data, I expect the demand for skilled resources to grow strongly. At the same time, technology continues to race ahead, creating great value, but at times also a lot of noise, requiring ever more skill in being able to select the right […]

Nikhil Asthana, Head of Data, Regtech and Digital, Grant Thornton UK

What challenges do you see for data in the year ahead that will have an impact on your clients and on the industry as a whole? There are two primary challenges I see in the coming year. The first is the increasing volume and diversity of data particularly unstructured data. Firms with fragmented or […]

Nicola Klein, Chief Data Officer, Direct Line Group

[…] use are you most optimistic about and why? I’m most optimistic about people living better, safer, healthier and happier lives through the insight data brings. We are still at the early stages, but smart technology and connected living will help us all make better choices for ourselves and the societies we are part of.

Neil McIvor, Chief Data Officer and Chief Statistician, Department for Education

[…] using data and analytics to support the corporate vision and purpose? The Department’s data function sits at the heart of the organisation, alongside the digital and technology function, reporting directly into the chief operation officer. Data is at the heart of everything we do, from integrating seamlessly between HR, finance and commercial systems […]

Megan Reutin, Global Head of Data Science and Strategy, Grunenthal

[…] that simplifies the emphasis the business will have each year. To complement our data and analytics strategy, I have drafted a training MESH on our current analytics technology stack that covers a range of topics from the value of data itself (eg the kind of benefits it can bring a company, what being data-driven […]