What’s a skill that’s vital to successful D&A leadership?
Getting stuff landed, so genuinely being able to realise value, not just identify it. And that requires a mix of a lot of different skills but the ones I’d highlight are influencing skills, storytelling, empathy, resilience, and perhaps most importantly the ability to build D&A strategy to align not just with business strategy but also business culture.
Looking Back on 2024, what’s the biggest change you’ve seen in D&A this year?
Gen AI and off the back of that AI more broadly have suddenly become a huge business and executive priority, which is great as Executive interest in D&A is always exciting, so now it’s a case of how we as D&A leverage that to benefit our business across the full spectrum of D&A and not just for AI. For me, it feels like an especially great way to step into the data governance, security, and ethics conversations.
Name a song you always include on your holiday playlist.
Well, given my daughter has taken over my Spotify, I’d say “I want an alien for Christmas” ?
Any professional or personal goals for 2025 you’d like to share?
I’ve been thinking a lot about Governance by design as we start to build out our D&A architecture and that’s something I’d like to continue to build on – learn, research, and share.
