This is a profile from the 2020 version of the DataIQ 100.
The 2021 list is available here
As a career data professional, I have been fortunate to see years of change in the adoption, collection and use of data. Every day brings a new use case and I love being in the middle of those conversations and the mental stimulation of being able to participate in these conversations.
I have been fortunate to spend time with many of the data leaders in the world and to work for some of the top data and analytic companies. It’s fun, stimulating and challenging to be with people of all ages who are creative. Many are doing fantastic things with data that in some cases we collected years ago and were holding in anticipation we might find something useful to do with it.
For many years I was paid as a turnaround specialist and the proudest moment in each case was to see that we had turned something that was failing into something that was successful. Sometimes it was about the data but in most cases, it was about the people and their desire to be a part of something successful.
I am privileged to network with a number of data leaders and the thing that impresses me most is their openness to accepting that anything is possible while taking a pragmatic approach to what is achievable. The ability of these individuals to look at what a company is doing in data and access whether it is commercially viable, and something they should be investing in, makes them stand out.
2019 brought greater adoption of AI than I expected at the beginning of the year. But it also highlighted that, with the increased volumes of data, the challenges around storage and access to it still remain for most companies.
The introduction of new data use cases will continue to accelerate as we find more capability through technology, but it will bring challenges and opportunities in harnessing how Gen Z share their data.
The collective desire of the new generations to use data for social benefit versus the historical desire to use it for profit. The greater social awareness of Gen Z and their desire to rally behind a cause will place us in a position where we look at data differently; not replacing previous use cases but supplementing them. Combine this with emerging “business zebras” and we are seeing a corporate culture that wants to solve societal and economic issues with data, not just make a profit.
It is the need for companies to develop use cases for new technologies – AI, emotional intelligence and others – to meet the governance, compliance and risk management requirements.
DataIQ is a trading name of IQ Data Group Limited
10 York Road, London, SE1 7ND
Phone: +44 020 3821 5665
Registered in England: 9900834
Copyright © IQ Data Group Limited 2024