In this episode, I dive into the world of AI leadership with Andreas Welsh, a renowned AI expert and author of 'The AI Leadership Handbook'. We explore Andreas's impressive career at SAP, his new venture as an AI advisor and expert, his impactful journey on LinkedIn, and his insights into successful AI implementation. Topics we cover: Discover Andreas’s background and his remarkable 23-year career at SAP. He shares pivotal moments and lessons learned from working at one of the world’s largest te...
Oct 02, 2024•55 min
My guest in this episode is Evan Shellshear, an expert in artificial intelligence and co-author of the eye-opening book "Why Data Science Projects Fail: The Harsh Realities of Implementing AI and Analytics, without the Hype." With nearly two decades of experience in developing AI tools, Evan shares his insights into the real challenges and pitfalls of data science projects, and how organizations can overcome these hurdles. About Evan Shellshear: Evan is a renowned AI expert with a Ph.D. in Game ...
Sep 19, 2024•49 min
Brian Ferris is a seasoned expert with over two decades of experience in technology and advanced analytics. Brian has an impressive track record, having worked in IT consulting for 9 years and client-side roles for 13 years with major organisations like the European Central Bank, BAT, Heineken, Nike and Loyalty New Zealand. In this episode, we dive into Brian's journey from supply chain operations to becoming Chief Data, Analytics and Technology Officer at Loyalty New Zealand. We explore the piv...
Jul 08, 2024•50 min
In this episode, I’m joined by the remarkably versatile Akshay Swaminathan, a polyglot who speaks 11 languages and has carved a unique path from medicine to data science. Currently an MD-PhD candidate at Stanford, Akshay's work has taken him from building clinics in Bolivia to pushing the boundaries of healthcare through data science. Akshay's journey is not just about his professional achievements but also his personal commitment to continuous learning and making a global impact. His transition...
Apr 04, 2024•53 min
My guest in this episode is Coert du Plessis, an impressive data and analytics executive, entrepreneur and general lover of life. Coert shares his wealth of knowledge and experience gained through a career and life full of interesting twists and turns. In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about: Coert’s journey from South African farmland to Australian board rooms How Coert became the CEO of MaxMine Why our ability to tackle climate change depends on the mining industry How to build and se...
Mar 11, 2024•1 hr 8 min
My guest on this episode is Nikolaj van Omme, CEO and co-founder of Funartech. Funartech is a Canadian company specializing in AI-driven solutions to complex industrial optimisation problems. The company’s secret sauce is combining the two disciplines of Operations Research and Machine Learning. Operations Research is about making the best decisions and solving problems in a structured way, using maths to optimize outcomes. Machine learning on the other hand, is really good at spotting patterns ...
Feb 13, 2024•55 min
Sandy Iyer has been General Manager of Data Science at Sportsbet since the beginning of 2023, leading a dynamic team that leverages data in innovative ways. But what does it take to lead in such a data-driven environment? How does one balance the promotion of betting products with social responsibility? And how does data shape the strategy of a betting giant like Sportsbet? These are just a few of the questions we'll explore today. I’ve watched Sandy's career trajectory skyrocket in the last few...
Jan 15, 2024•45 min
In this digital age, data is the lifeblood of business. Just as computer literacy became a non-negotiable skill in the 21st century, data literacy is now an essential competency in our increasingly data-driven world. Yet, despite its critical importance, it's an area where many individuals and businesses stumble. Understanding, interpreting, and effectively using data can be challenging, even daunting. The lack of data literacy skills can lead to misinterpretation, misuse, and missed opportuniti...
Nov 23, 2023•48 min
Many large organisations have the data to pull off sophisticated marketing strategies, but only if they avoid the common pitfalls that limit the potential. In this episode I interview Tejas Manohar on the huge – and typically unexploited – potential for data-driven marketing and personalisation. Tejas is co-founder and co-CEO of Hightouch. Hightouch is a reverse ETL platform that helps organisations synch their data warehouses with business facing tools and technology. Their products are used by...
Sep 21, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Every day, like invisible breadcrumbs, we leave trails of personal data scattered across the digital landscape. Each click, every search, every purchase - they all tell a story about us. But do we know where these breadcrumbs lead? Who's picking them up? And most importantly, what are they doing with them? In an era where data is documenting our lives across a host of platforms, understanding these trails and their implications is no longer a luxury but rather, a necessity. It's about our privac...
Aug 30, 2023•41 min
We’re definitely in AI hype mode at the moment largely driven by the evolution in generative AI. However, it seems like this progress is not necessarily driving lots of data-related innovation inside organisations that are not AI-first tech companies. A recent survey published by Randy Bean’s company, NewVantage Partners, confirms this. Here are the main findings compared to when the survey was last run 4 years ago: 59.5% of executives say their companies use data for business innovation – the s...
Aug 23, 2023•56 min
In a world where data is the new oil, being able to understand, analyse and interpret it is a vital skill. As the saying goes, "knowledge is power," and in this case, data literacy is the key to unlocking that power. I argue that data literacy is as important to individual and organisational success as computer literacy, but unfortunately that is not a consensus view. For many organisations and their leaders, low data literacy is hampering their ability to make effective, data-driven decisions. ...
Jun 23, 2023•49 min•Ep. 49
This episode of Leaders of Analytics features Dhiraj Rajaram, the Founder of global decision sciences company Mu Sigma. Mu Sigma serves more than 140 of the Fortune 500 and the company’s mission is to simplify complex problems through the science of decisions. Dhiraj shares his views on problem-solving in business, and how Mu Sigma's three core beliefs have been instrumental in the company's success. At Mu Sigma, they believe in "Learning over Knowing", "Extreme Experimentation", and "The New IP...
May 22, 2023•50 min•Ep. 48
In this episode of Leaders of Analytics, I am joined by Ada Guan who is one of the most innovative minds in the field of credit decisioning. Ada is CEO and co-founder of Rich Data Co, a company that helps lenders make informed and accurate credit decisions by leveraging AI and machine learning. Listen in as Ada sheds light on the role that AI and machine learning can play in transforming the lending industry and what the future may hold for credit decisioning. In this episode, we'll discuss: Ada...
May 06, 2023•49 min•Ep. 47
Data is revolutionising our world, yet many companies fail to harness its value. What needs to be done for CEOs to see the value of having analytics as part of the executive inner circle? Unfortunately, many analytics teams struggle to move past the common challenges of fostering analytics literacy, getting executive buy-in for more investment in data and analytics and showcasing the value delivered into the business. How can analytics leaders make their discipline an indispensable superpower in...
Apr 11, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 46
“Being an entrepreneur is basically like going from one crisis to the next”. Those are the words of Michael Kingston, co-founder and CEO of Seeda. At a point in his career when Michael was thriving, he took the daunting plunge from successful executive to entrepreneur and start-up founder. Most people would be too scared to take such an enormous risk; however, this step has been Michael's key toward work-life satisfaction. Three years later, Michael and his co-founders have built Seeda, an AI-as...
Apr 03, 2023•56 min•Ep. 45
Digital transformation is rapidly changing the way we live and work, and governments should be leading the way forward, according to Victor Dominello MP. As the Minister for Digital and Minister for Customer Service in the State Government of New South Wales in Australia, Victor believes government should be playing a central role in fostering a digitally-enabled economy across government, private enterprise and individual consumers. Victor is a true servant leader and an inspirational figure in...
Feb 14, 2023•43 min•Ep. 44
As the digital landscape evolves, privacy concerns and regulations are becoming increasingly important for advertisers. With the decline of third-party cookies and the rise of individual data usage consent, measuring advertising attention is more crucial than ever. One of the biggest challenges for advertisers in a cookie-less world is being able to accurately measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. Without cookies, it's harder to track user behaviour and understand how their ads are perfo...
Feb 07, 2023•55 min•Ep. 43
Inflation is rising, interest rates are up across the globe and cash is king again. How will this impact the flow of venture investments in start-ups and emerging technologies? While traditional investments may suffer during a recession, the venture capital industry has historically been able to weather the storm and even thrive. One reason for this is that venture capital firms typically invest in early-stage companies that are not yet generating significant revenue. In fact, some of the most s...
Jan 24, 2023•49 min•Ep. 42
30 years of “corporate social responsibility” has left our planet in dire straits. Biodiversity loss, climate change, water pollution, micro-plastic pollution, air pollution, species collapse, ecosystem collapse…the list goes on. What can we all do individually and collectively as business leaders and responsible humans to turn the situation around? According to Simon Schillebeeckx from Handprint.tech it is possible to create incremental financial value while regenerating the ecosystems we rely ...
Jan 04, 2023•57 min•Ep. 41
How does a traditional bricks-and-mortar retailer transform itself into an omni-channel business with strong digital and data science capabilities? In this episode of Leaders of Analytics we learn from Bunnings General Manager, Data and Analytics, Genevieve Elliott, how the company is transforming its operations using data and analytics. As Australia and New Zealand’s largest retailer of home improvement products, Bunnings is a highly complex organisation with a large physical footprint, a wide ...
Dec 06, 2022•44 min•Ep. 40
Is your company good at customer success and retention? Chances are that you could be better. For most businesses with a recurring revenue model, customer churn is a very costly affair. Whenever a customer leaves, you lose out on recurring revenue, forgo the opportunity of expansion (cross sell) revenue and have to pay for another round of acquisition costs to cover the loss. In my personal experience, customer retention is both art and science. Machine learning and other data science techniques...
Nov 24, 2022•46 min•Ep. 39
Do you really need a data-driven culture? Maybe not. According to Bill Schmarzo, the CEO’s mandate is to become value-driven, not data-driven. For analytics teams that means one thing: no one cares about your data, they want results! In this episode of Leaders of Analytics, Bill and I explore the economics of data & analytics and how to drive powerful decisions with data. Decisions that turn into business value. Bill is the author of four text books and one comic book on generating value wit...
Oct 24, 2022•57 min•Ep. 38
Great analytics teams understand that they are responsible for two things concurrently: production and consumption. Most analytics teams master the production part well. After all, that’s why they exist, to produce analytics. However, analytics only matter if someone consumes them and makes valuable decisions as a result. “Decision + value” is what we’re after. To be able to make valuable decisions from analytics, consumers must be data and analytics literate, and that often comes down to educat...
Oct 17, 2022•41 min•Ep. 37
If you’re anything like me, you have a love/hate relationship with marketing. Marketing can be delightful, obnoxious or somewhere in-between, depending on content and context. Most of us remember an ad from our youth that has given us a life-long emotional connection to a brand or product. Most of us also remember that obnoxious sales call or email campaign that made us swear never to buy from the offending company again. In this episode of Leaders of Analytics, you will learn from Ikechi Okoron...
Oct 05, 2022•58 min•Ep. 36
Business leaders are changing. Today, it’s not enough to be a strategic thinker and good people leader to be successful in the corporate world. Why? Modern business leaders are customer-centric and understand how to create a personalised customer experience using customer data. Modern business leaders are data-driven and understand how to make decisions based on probabilistic outcomes, not just gut feel. Modern business leaders understand what it takes to develop and deploy artificial intelligen...
Sep 18, 2022•41 min•Ep. 35
Most of us take for granted that food is always available to us when we need it. Our local supermarkets have shelves stacked with produce from all corners of the world. Rarely do we stop to think that the items in our shopping carts have been on a long journey involving months of work by many people. How does all this food get produced in the first place, reliably, consistently and to a high standard? How do we combine and utilise scarce resources to feed billions of people around the world ever...
Aug 23, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 34
Professional sports have undergone a true data revolution over the last two decades. Today, all major sports teams, regardless of sports code, use analytics and data science to drive team performance, optimise game outcomes and scout young talent. Why has analytics become so popular in professional sports and how does it help drive a competitive edge? To answer these questions and many more relating to the sports analytics, I recently spoke to Ari Kaplan. Ari has spent more than three decades us...
Aug 02, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 33
It’s no secret that data and analytics can be used to create a competitive advantage for almost any modern business. In fact, the customer data you capture in the course of doing business is one of the strongest differentiators between you and the competition. So, how do we build an organisation that is capable of both producing and consuming truly differentiating data products? It’s not enough to just have a great analytics team that is capable of producing high quality work. We also need an or...
Jul 20, 2022•48 min•Ep. 32
Every company, regardless of size, is dealing with a barrage of data. In any typical organisation, there is more information on hand than we know how to use or manage. While every team in the organisation is screaming for analytics professionals to turn data into insight, a strong data and analytics tech stack is foundational to being able to make sense of it all. The need for a robust and efficient data and analytics tech stack has created a sprawling industry for new technology solutions that ...
Jun 29, 2022•48 min•Ep. 31
