A data-driven organization is imperative for the future. The smartphone and the ubiquitous computing have produced an exponential data explosion. From fueling the recent success of “artificial intelligence” (AI) and the rise of “digital transformation” to its accelerated growth due to Covid-19 to new approaches to its “monetization” to how it makes businesses and consumers both anxious and animated, data dominates our deeds, debates, and dreams. If the last decade was about “software eating the world, this decade is about “data eating the world”. Organizations are now faced with the huge challenge of managing, harnessing, and leveraging all of this data. We are still at the very beginning of the data revolution, and of understanding its second, third, and fourth-order effects. Organizations that are successfully transforming their business, technology, and operations strategy to align with their data strategy are the ones that will have a sustainable competitive advantage.

1. Data (Not Software) Is Eating
The World
Building a Data-Driven Organization
Uday Kumar
Chief Digital Officer
Akira Technologies
www.akira-tech.com

2. My Tech Roles My Product Roles

3. Agenda
● How did we get here?
● What is a data-driven org?
● What are blockers and challenges to build a data-driven org?
● What are the strategies for building a data-driven org?

4. How did we get here?

5. There was a time when software
was eating the world

6. Theory of Constraints | Remove the Largest Limiting Factor
Move data on
Internet
Get access to
Internet
Build software
for Internet
Search stuff
on Internet
Build software
on Internet
Add mobility to the
Internet
Internet + Software +
Mobility == Lots of Data

7. Data is growing at
an explosive rate

8. What is a data-driven org?

9. A data-driven organization focuses
on aligning its business, technology,
and operations strategy with its data
strategy in order to gain sustainable
competitive advantage.

10. Competitive advantage is gained by weaving
data strategy across all parts of the org
Technology Strategy
Infrastructure, Cloud, Security,
Reliability, Scalability, Performance,
Monitoring, Alerts, Production
Support, Disaster Recovery
3
Operations Strategy
Sales, Marketing, Recruitment,
Delivery, Merchandising, Logistics,
Customer Success, Properties,
Research & Development
2
Business Strategy
Products, Services, Customers,
Markets, Branding, Pricing, Channels,
Regulatory Compliance
1
Data Strategy
Data Strategy

11. What are the blockers and
challenges to building a
data-driven org?

12. Lack of data ownership
& stewardship
Lack of single source of
truth
Lack of data literacy
Lack of trust in data
quality
Lack of actionable
insights
Lack of a data culture
Blockers & challenges to building a data-driven org

13. Lack of data ownership
& stewardship
Lack of single source of
truth
Lack of data literacy
Lack of trust in data
quality
Lack of actionable
insights
Lack of a data culture
Blockers & challenges to building a data-centric org
● People don’t know
who owns what data
● Data owners are
unclear about their
responsibilities

14. Lack of data ownership
& stewardship
Lack of single source of
truth
Lack of data literacy
Lack of trust in data
quality
Lack of actionable
insights
Lack of a data culture
Blockers & challenges to building a data-centric org
● People don’t
understand the data
● People don’t know
how to work with the
data

15. Lack of data ownership
& stewardship
Lack of single source of
truth
Lack of data literacy
Lack of trust in data
quality
Lack of actionable
insights
Lack of a data culture
Blockers & challenges to building a data-centric org
● Many competing data
sources are available
● Too much time spent
identifying the
correct data source

16. Lack of data ownership
& stewardship
Lack of single source of
truth
Lack of data literacy
Lack of trust in data
quality
Lack of actionable
insights
Lack of a data culture
Blockers & challenges to building a data-centric org
● Data is obsolete,
malformed, missing
● Lack of adequate
data quality controls

17. Lack of data ownership
& stewardship
No single source of
truth
Lack of data literacy
Little trust in data
quality
Lack of actionable
insights
Lack of a data culture
Blockers & challenges to building a data-centric org
● Few people understand
the difference between
outputs and outcomes
● KPIs, Metrics, Trends
lack imagination

18. Lack of data ownership
& stewardship
No single source of
truth
Lack of data literacy
Little trust in data
quality
Lack of actionable
insights
Lack of a data culture
Blockers & challenges to building a data-centric org
● Disproportionate
reliance on intuition /
opinions
● Communications are
weak/light on
metrics and analytics

19. What are the strategies for
building a data-driven org?

20. Implement data
stewardship
Establish single source
of truth
Train for data literacy
Ensure data is clean
Make data access
secure & easy
Build a data culture
Strategies for building a data-driven org

21. Implement data
stewardship
Establish single source
of truth
Train for data literacy
Ensure data is clean
Make data access
secure & easy
Build a data culture
Strategies for building a data-driven org
● Develop data
practices and policies
● Assign data owners
and responsibilities

22. Implement data
stewardship
Establish single source
of truth
Train for data literacy
Ensure data is clean
Make data access
secure & easy
Build a data culture
Strategies for building a data-driven org
● Provide data training
and development
beyond traditional
data-focused roles

23. Implement data
stewardship
Establish single source
of truth
Train for data literacy
Ensure data is clean
Make data access
secure & easy
Build a data culture
Strategies for building a data-driven org
● Identify and declare
data groups that are
authoritative sources
● Audit against data
policies & practices

24. Implement data
stewardship
Establish single source
of truth
Train for data literacy
Ensure data is clean
Make data access
secure & easy
Build a data culture
Strategies for building a data-driven org
● Regularly test data
quality
● Share results and
hold data owners
accountable

25. Implement data
stewardship
Establish single source
of truth
Train for data literacy
Ensure data is clean
Make data access
secure & easy
Build a data culture
Strategies for building a data-driven org
● Provide tools and
secure APIs for people
and systems to use data
for their intents and
use-cases

26. Implement data
stewardship
Establish single source
of truth
Train for data literacy
Ensure data is clean
Make data access
secure & easy
Build a data culture
Strategies for building a data-driven org
● It’s a journey, not a
destination
● Bring the right
leaders
● Set the tone at the
top

27. And finally you
are ready to
build the
capabilities
required to be a
well-managed
and competitive
organization

28. Thanks!
Uday Kumar
Chief Digital Officer
Akira Technologies
Washington, DC 20006
ukumar@akira-tech.com
www.akira-tech.com