Data teams were perceived as report builders for a long time, and people believed that data should be one team's responsibility. But perceptions have changed, and more and more companies are paying attention to their data strategies.
If you want to become a data-driven company, you need to build a culture where data is everybody's concern, and it's more than a piece of information in a database. It is a valuable resource allowing you to look through your user's experience, an essential piece of your business puzzle.
In this episode of Data-Driven Leaders, Rupinder Dhillon, the Head of Enterprise Data Office at Sobeys, joins our host, Christina O'Reilly. They discuss data as a product, the importance of defensive and offensive perspectives in strategy building, and why companies should democratize data, making it available to all teams.
**Guest-at-a-Glance
💡 Name**: Rupinder Dhillon
💡 What she does: Rupinder is the Head of Enterprise Data Office at Sobeys.
💡 Company: Sobeys
💡 Noteworthy: With a background in shaping and delivering Enterprise BI, Analytics, Data, and AI strategies, Rupinder is on a mission to help companies look at data as a strategic business enabler.
💡 Where to find Rupinder: LinkedIn
Key Insights
âš¡ Data allows us to look through our users' lenses. Data is the most valuable asset in today's business world. It has grown from being a piece of information to becoming a resource for understanding users' habits and needs and helping companies create their business strategies.
''I think it will remain important, especially in the data space, where we've gone from report builders to now having to think through the user experience, and how to present it in a way and make it interactive enough that people want to use it. So I think that piece will grow in importance.''
âš¡ Data is complex, but it should not be intimidating. Many organizations aim to become data-driven. However, that's easier said than done, because most companies are not familiar with the processes and terminology around data. That's why, as Rupinder explains, her job is to bring data closer to the people.
''I can lead a conversation about data governance and start with data stewardship, and the difference between a data steward and data owner. But let's face it, people don't care. So the approach that we're taking, with the help of Gensquared, is to target very specific business processes and problems that are the result of data or have an impact on data so that we're talking the language of the business. We're going to be addressing things that impact the day-to-day.''
âš¡ Data should be everyone's concern. There's a misconception that not all teams within a company should deal with data. But here's what Rupinder says:
''In this day and age, everybody should care about customer data. Everybody should care about item data. You should be striving towards no longer having the sense that this particular data is only important to one part of the organization. It should be about how you can unlock that data for the entire organization?''