Inspired by our popular Data Leaders Of The North roundtable events, and presented by our host Kyle Winterbottom - creator of the popular event, Lawrence Harvey brings you this podcast series created for Data enthusiasts to hear from some of the most high-profile “Data Leaders” across the North of the UK. The community was born in early 2018 and has become a popular (and oversubscribed) series of thought leadership, round-table events for leadership figures from the world of D&A to share knowledge and ideas whilst discussing trending topics and real life challenges and experiences.
Ep 14 | Building Data Science teams for Business Success with James Waterhouse, Head of BI and Data at Sky Betting & Gaming
In Episode 14 of Data Leaders of the North; The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by James Waterhouse, Head of BI and Data at Sky Betting & Gaming where they discuss some of the key learns that James has experienced in; Building Data Science teams for Business Success
James provides some great insight and tangible advice from his journey which has seen him build the Data Science capability at Sky Bet, while being part of the growth from a small BI team of 4 people, to a fully fledged Data & Analytics capability of 100+ people. This includes:
How having domain knowledge within a DS team is imperative
That you have to make the business aware of the “art of the possible” and how he went about doing that
Why you have to be proactive in offering support to business/stakeholder problems
The importance of having the right skills-mix and not looking for the Data Science “unicorn”
The benefit of giving the DS autonomy to go and seek business problems and opportunities
Why it’s important to “follow-up” to gain visibility on the value of the work that has been done
How understanding the business strategy is essential for success and communication is key
Why the “handoffs” and “passing of the baton” between teams is often the major challenge – the transition is equally as important as the work itself!
The difficulty of quantifying making better business decisions
Advice for organisations at the start of its Data Science journey
29 Jul 2020
Ep 13 | Moving to Cloud & It’s Impact on Data with Steve Mills, Director of Data & Analytics at PwC
In Episode 13 of Data Leaders of the North; The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom sat down with Steve Mills, Director of Data & Analytics at PwC to discuss; Moving to Cloud & It’s Impact on Data.
Steve provides some really tangible advice and valuable insight into:
The benefits being realised by organisations who have moved to the Cloud
How the industry has adopted a “Cloud First” approach
What your decision means for your data
Why security and privacy concerns are not as feared as they once were
How to identify the potential pitfalls for your organization
The internal governance challenges
The significance of not polluting your cloud environment
Why you should think about talent before making your decision based solely on the technology
The benefit of failing fast and the advantage of speed and flexibility
Single vendor versus “pic n mix”
How the cost debate has become somewhat of a red-herring
The key considerations before making your decision
22 Jul 2020
Ep 12 | Using Analytics as a Competitive Differentiator with Fiona Sweeney, Managing Director of Data IQ
In Episode 12 of Data Leaders of the North; The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Fiona Sweeney, Managing Director of Data IQ where they unravel; Using Analytics as a Competitive Differentiator.
Fiona provides some really brilliant advice and insights into what should be considered for organisations, it’s leaders and their teams to get the most out of its data and analytics, such as:
Data Strategy should always align with the Busines Strategy
Start with Why – what’s the purpose?
The importance of benchmarking (against yourself and not others)
Why it doesn’t need to be perfect, just “good enough” to make something happen
How the industry has gone through a revolution and not transformation
How to assess your Data Maturity
The importance of Data Storytelling
How you have to simplify and speak to your audience; why language and communication is key
That you don’t have to have lots of data to be “data-led”
Why you should value internal data as an asset like you do external data
The Key 3 things to consider before you start
13 Jul 2020
Ep 11 | Creating the Data Science Ecosystem with Kelvin Lee, Head of Data Science at Lloyds Banking Group
In Episode 11 of Data Leaders of the North; The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Kelvin Lee, Head of Data Science at Lloyds Banking Group, where they delve into the best way of; Creating the Data Science Ecosystem.
Kelvin gives some fantastic insight and examples into:
How to structure an end to end Data Science capability for success
Why you have to set up your Data Science team with more than just Data Scientists
The frustrations that form within Data Science capabilities
The main challenges and opportunities that comes with forming the Data Science ecosystem
How “do some AI on that” doesn’t work
Why you shouldn’t do Data Science just to be “on-trend”
How to measure success and what to measure (and what not to)
Why allowing your Data Science to understand the business context is critical
Providing the right tools and technology is imperative to maximise success
Advice to any organisation that is at the start of its DS journey
1 Jul 2020
Ep 10 | Data Driven Change and Organisational Agility with Craig Mackay, Sharktower AI
In Episode 10 of Data Leaders of the North; The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Craig Mackay, the CEO and Co-Founder of Sharktower AI where we discuss the relationship between Data Driven Change and Organisational Agility.
Craig gives some really valuable insights into:
The key differences between Enterprise organisations and Challenger Brands/Disruptors when it comes to change
Why Data has become a focal point for all organisations to make decisions
How the complexity or simplicity of a business determines an organisations ability to change in an agile way
Where organisations should start when considering change
Why change keeps organisations innovative and at the forefront of its market
Identifying critical metrics to make decisions on change
The importance of Data Storytelling in creating “buy-in” which facilitates change
Why change projects often fail
The relationship between Data Literacy and change
Understanding what problem are you trying to solve
Get in touch: You can reach Kyle at k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com (mailto:%20k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com)
25 Jun 2020
Ep 9 | The Pathway to CDO with Will Lowe, Chief Data Officer, Engine UK
In Episode 9 of Data Leaders of the North; The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Will Lowe, Chief Data Officer of Engine UK to discuss ‘The Pathway to CDO’.
Will provides some really great insight into:
The rise of the CDO role
The Norths position on the appointment of CDO’s
The deliverables, responsibilities and key components of the CDO role
What things are really important to CDO’s
How to demonstrate value and show ROI
Where ‘Data Monetisation’ sits on the CDO agenda
What skills someone needs to have to take on that role?
How, if the CDO role is your goal, how to start positioning yourself
What organisations should be considering when looking at a potential CDO
Get in touch: You can reach Kyle at k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com (mailto:%20k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com)
19 Jun 2020
Ep 8 | The Fractional CDO, with Edward Wynn, DPI Consulting
In Episode 8 of Data Leaders of the North; The Podcast, we are joined by Edward Wynn who operates as a Fractional CDO for a variety of organisations under his own consultancy business, DPI Consulting.
In this episode, we discuss the benefits of the fractional model amongst other things such as:
The rise of the CDO role and what’s caused this?
Why the North is behind in terms of businesses adopting the CDO role
The role of the CDO and what they are there to deliver
What a Fractional CDO is and the benefits to an organisation
How this differs from a full-time CDO
What organisations should be considering when looking at a potential CDO (fractional or otherwise)
The obstacles/challenges of a “fractional” CDO
Changing the way the company; values, uses and thinks about data
Get in touch: You can reach Kyle at k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com (mailto:%20k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com)
10 Jun 2020
Ep 7 | Talent & Trends in Data with Steven Keyes, Co-op
In Episode 7 of Data Leaders of the North; The Podcast, we are joined by Steven Keyes, Head of Data Science and Analytics at Co-op where we delve into the journey and evolution of talent within the Data & Analytics landscape and the shift in trends over the years.
Steve, gives some great insights into:
The emergence/evolution of the Data Scientist
How much data science, Data Scientists actually do
The reality of working as a Data Scientist in a commercial business
The “full-stack” Data Scientist – the need for Engineering & Science
The “Specialist” versus the “all-rounder”
The importance of getting balance between exploration versus business usability
How team structure plays its part in allowing talent to succeed
The rise of the cloud and the key considerations
The relationship between Data, Technology and Talent
Advice for junior/aspiring Data professionals
Get in touch: You can reach Kyle at k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com (mailto:%20k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com)
2 Jun 2020
Ep 6 | Data Literacy with Ffion Turner, Mediacom
In episode 6 of Data Leaders of the North; The Podcast, we are joined by Ffion Turner, Group Partner of Business Intelligence at Mediacom where we discuss some of the key considerations and challenges with one of the most popular industry buzzwords; Data Literacy.
Ffion gives some key insights into:
The key challenge of improving data literacy within an organization
How data literacy can determine how “data-driven” an organization truly is
Why usability of data is more important than the amount of data a business has
The correlation between availability and literacy of data
How “buy-in” from the top can drive literacy across an organization
That as an industry, we need to demystify data and make it relevant/fun in order to drive the users interest/understanding
Why educating children at a younger age will help with data literacy in business
Get in touch: You can reach Kyle at k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com (mailto:%20k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com)
2 Jun 2020
Ep 5 | The Hype and Production of AI with Adam Sroka, Incremental Group
In this week’s episode of Data Leaders of the North; The Podcast, I am joined by Adam Sroka, Director of Data & AI at Incremental Group where we discuss ‘The Hype & Production of AI’.
As one of only a very people in the industry who has AI in his title, Adam gives an overview of how he entered the world of Data and AI and his journey to date in addition to:
How AI isn’t the Zeitgeist
That one of the biggest challenges is knowing where to start and what is even possible
Why he didn’t want AI in his job title
How AI is merely a set of tools and techniques; great for some stuff, but not always the right tool, right now
That you don’t need to have a production-ready system to get value from AI
How you can sometimes get more tangible and valuable results in a quicker fashion by doing more simplistic things (not AI)
The relationship between technology and AI
How, with investment and time, the UK will play catch up with AI
Why scale plays a part in the AI strategy
That an organisations AI journey should be a series of mini-projects that are easily measurable
Get in touch: You can reach Kyle at k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com (mailto:%20k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com)
20 May 2020
Ep 4 | Creating Data Culture with Catherine Wilks, Practice Area Lead for Data & Analytics - Slalom Consulting
This week on Data Leaders of the North; The Podcast, we are joined by Catherine Wilks, the Practice Area Lead for Data & Analytics at Slalom Consulting where we discuss the key considerations of ‘Creating a Data Culture’
Catherine provides a great insight of her journey into the world of Data & Analytics and a great overview on a brilliant career to date, in addition to:
The key challenges and benefits of creating a culture of data
How there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to embedding a culture of data
Why an organisations “data maturity” is important in outlining the strategy
Experimentation, Innovation and Literacy’ relationship with creating a data culture
How appointing a “Data Leader” isn’t “job done”
That to truly have a data culture, everybody in the organisation must “buy-in”
Why the location of data talent can play a huge part
The importance of having “Data Champions”
That large scale transformation often isn’t the answer
Why having a great data culture can add value beyond the classic drivers (revenue, cost, efficiencies)
Get in touch: You can reach Kyle at k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com (mailto:%20k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com)
13 May 2020
Ep 3 | Demonstrating Value in Data (ROI) with Amro Safadi, Head of Data Science at Auden
This week we are joined by Amro Safadi who is now the Head of Data Science at Auden (but was the Head of Decision Science at NBrown Group at the time of recording this podcast) to discuss one of the biggest challenges that many Data Leaders face; Demonstrating Value and ROI.
Amro gives a technical insight into the key considerations of:
How to put a tangible figure on the ROI of a data project by predicting uplifts and the two-step formula to do so
The typical challenges faced when trying to demonstrate potential ROI
How there needs to be unity between the direction of the business and the projects undertaken
That identifying and prioritising the major the opportunities where the most value can be added is key to success
That complex isn’t always best and simple projects can give the biggest ROI’s
How action and change must happen to realise any ROI
Differences between large organisations and smaller organisations
Data Literacy’s relationship to change and therefore ROI
Get in touch: You can reach Kyle at k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com (mailto:%20k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com)
6 May 2020
Ep 2 | AI in Financial Services with Ben Nadel, Director at Woodhurst
This week we are joined by Ben Nadel who is the Director of Woodhurst, a boutique consultancy business that operates across; Cloud, Big Data, Risk Management, and AI & Machine Learning, with a heavy focus on the FS industry.
In this episode, we discuss;
Why they decided to write a whitepaper on AI within Financial Services
How if done badly, AI can take your business backwards, not forwards
Why AI is more applicable to the FS sector than any other sector,
The major benefits and challenges of AI within FS
That data is the lifeblood to any AI project,
How most organisations fall into one of two camps regarding AI
That AI is still just a tool to allow businesses to make better decisions and the real question is, is AI the right solution?
Get in touch: You can reach Kyle at k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com (mailto: k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com)
3 Apr 2020
Ep 1 | Data Storytelling with Martin Squires, Pets at Home
This week, Kyle Winterbottom (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylewinterbottom/) sits down with the first guest on Data Leaders of the North | The Podcast, Director of Advanced Analytics for Pets at Home (https://www.petsathome.com), Martin Squires (https://www.linkedin.com/in/squiresmartin/)!
About the podcast:
In this episode we are joined by Martin Squires, Director of Advanced Analytics at Pets at Home, one of the UK’s largest retail businesses and the market leader within the pet care industry with over 450 stores and over 310 Groom Rooms.
Martin talks us through how he ‘accidentally’ entered the Data & Analytics industry and his journey thus far. A big personality with a brilliant reputation, Martin has some really interesting thoughts on the topic of; Data Storytelling.
He gives us an insight into whether the Data Storyteller/Translator role is required as a stand-alone role, how culture plays a part in the success of telling stories with data, why the data is irrelevant to how good you are at telling stories and the relationship between storytelling and technology.
Listen now to hear how Martin believes TV series such as South Park and Game of Thrones provide a brilliant framework of how to tell stories successfully. He gives some great advice to the next generation of data leaders on how to not only improve your storytelling skills, but how it will allow you to progress to leadership.
A really honest, informative and amusing discussion and a great episode to kick off our series! Enjoy.
Get in touch:
You can reach Kyle at k.winterbottom@lawrenceharvey.com
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Contact Data Leaders of the North | The Podcast
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Data Leaders of the North | The Podcast?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
