The Best Data Culture Insights from Big Data London

London - September 18, 2024

In the glamorous West End of London, data leaders flocked to the Olympia in one of the largest data events of the year: Big Data London.

It’s an incredible opportunity for the industry to share experiences, challenges, and success stories. From the complexity of data landscapes to the promise of AI, one thing was crystal clear: to make any data initiative work, senior leaders must champion change, promote collaboration, and have their data strategy aligned with their business goals. Let’s delve into key takeaways from the event, providing actionable insights you as a data leaders on how to advocate for and drive data-informed practices across your organisations.

Leadership commitment is the bedrock of a data-driven culture

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from various talks was that commitment to data needs to be led from the top.

“Data's a regular senior-level discussion," Claire Reynolds, Head of Data Solutions and Analysis of QBE shares, "but it needs far more than lip service.”

Leaders genuinely need to take an interest and support data initiatives with a clear alignment to organisational objectives. A data-driven culture starts from the top down, with senior leaders who don't just greenlight data projects but actually engage with them in a meaningful way. This will unleash further funding, resources and drive a mandate for success. Data is not a side project.

The role of two-way education in data adoption

Another common theme that really came to the fore was the need for education in both directions - between data teams and business leaders. According to AXA's Head of Data Culture & Capability Cali Wood, there was a strategic requirement for education across four key data audiences: the data professional, casual users of data, new entrants into the world of data, and finally, business leadership. All these segments have very different ways of relating to and adopting data-driven practices.

From performative to practical: How to bridge the Data Strategy gap

As Carly Eaton, Group Chief Internal Auditor at Vanquis points out, one of the most significant barriers is that most data strategies are performative in nature. While businesses often tout that they are data-driven, practically many leaders don't understand the nuances of how to implement those strategies. Governance and data quality come second best to sexier areas of data such as AI.

This gap can't be closed without investment in core foundational elements such as data governance, data quality, and data ownership. Advanced technologies themselves will not be able to deliver unless the fundamentals are in place.

Creating a data-centric collaborative culture

According to Tiffany Manteaw, Data Culture Senior Manager at Lloyds Banking Group, the secret to such transformation of data is cross-functional collaboration. The more teams collaborate, the more insights they get to share, and thus the faster the pace at which value is unlocked from data for the company.

Vipul Chhabra, Chief Data and Underwriting Officer at Domestic and General reinforced this when sharing how strong partnerships between business and data teams had empowered them to solve problems that were considered impossible.

Leaders must tear down data silos and develop a collaborative culture to get teams to work toward shared data goals. Such cross-pollination brings innovation and ensures data usage across departments.

Storytelling: The bridge between data and decision-making

Another strong theme that came out was how storytelling is what gives data meaning. Lindsay Mason, Head of Data Management, Governance and Skills Development at the Ministry of Defence singled out the translation of technical data into a story that resonates with nontechnical audiences as one of the key skills of any data leader. Convincing the board to fund new data initiatives or helping teams understand where their work is making an impact, storytelling turns data into actionable insight.

Leaders have to arm their teams with the necessary tools and training in data storytelling. That is developing not only an understanding of their data but also the skill of communicating such data in a way that drives action.

Building a data-driven workforce

The requirement to invest in people is just as high as the need for technology. This means developing a workforce who understand and can work with data as a baseline. Via formal learning pathways, in-house academies, or through partnerships with providers such as Data Literacy Academy, there needs to be a drive for data literacy.

It's time for leaders to balance the scales with job-specific learning opportunities from the ground up. From graduate onboarding to upskilling current team members, continuous learning is key to sustaining a data-driven environment.

Delivering value through quick wins

There’s a real need to manage that critical balance both long-term strategic objectives with shorter-term wins. The incremental delivery of data initiatives not only keeps the momentum going but also demonstrates immediate value to the business, which creates enthusiasm and ensures ongoing support. In fact, immediate results build credibility for larger long-term investments.

The buzz that keeps on buzzing: AI and Advanced Analytics

While the potential of AI and advanced analytics was unsurprisingly top of mind, many leaders offered a word of caution around the pace. Aimee Smith, Director of Data at the Met Police was among several to remind that any AI work requires a number of preconditions. First and foremost: solid foundational data and good governance. Without those, AI models can result in biased or incorrect outputs, eroding trust in the technologies themselves.

Leaders must drive AI literacy and ensure their organisations are set up with the correct data infrastructure before embarking on a journey of AI initiatives. In conclusion, only responsible adoption of AI will ensure the avoidance of unintended consequences and that value can be created in a sustainable manner .

ESG and Net Zero: What role do data leaders play?

Finally, we joined Lisa Rabone’s panel which took the question: "How can the data community be a driving force for good in the goals of driving Net Zero and other Environmental, Social and Governmental initiatives?"

With a slew of legislation coming down the pipe, people often drowning in acronyms not understanding their impact and vast confusion over what data needs to be collected, the fragmented and sometimes outdated data landscapes are often not ready to cater to the needs of tomorrow. Dark data, or data that’s being stored but not used, is also a massive contributor to emissions, so smart data collection is critical. Always ask: "Do I really need to collect and keep this data?"

Katy Gooblar, Director of Education and Data at Data Literacy Academy, pointed out how we need to bring every single person on this journey. Leaders need to help them to understand the role they play in the data value chain as well as empowering them to ask better questions in the process.

We loved hanging out with leaders who are asking the tough questions, bringing to the forefront the reality versus the dream state. Big Data London is one big opportunity to spark new collaborations and conversations, and we hope to see you there in 2025!

‍