Driven by Data | The Newsletter, Edition 92

With only a few days until Christmas, everyone's probably trying to finish up the last few things on their to-do list and buy the last few gifts for the day. This is the last Drive by Data newsletter of 2024 - so we will see you in a couple of weeks with lots of new things to share with you for an even more amazing 2025!

Today's episode of Driven By Data: The Podcast

In Episode 5 of Season 5, the Director of Technical Recruitment is joined by the Director of Talent Acquisition to talk about the data behind talent acquisition. They discuss how recruitment data hasn’t evolved much since 2009 despite having more data than ever, the challenge of translating objective data into subjective insights, why someone can excel in one company but not another, and much more!

Our Spotify for Creators stats for 2024 are here!

We couldn’t be prouder of what Driven By Data: The Podcast has achieved this year! With a 78% growth in new listeners, it’s clear that the demand for insightful conversations in data and analytics is stronger than ever. We’re thrilled to have earned Spotify’s “Storyteller” badge, reflecting the powerful narratives shared by our amazing guests. Even more exciting, we’re honoured to sit alongside podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience, The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett, and Goalhanger's The Rest is Politics—all loved by many of our listeners.

A huge thank you to our incredible audience—your support and enthusiasm inspire us to keep creating. Here’s to an even bigger 2025!

Catch Kyle Winterbottom moderating a The Data Inspiration Group LinkedIn Live Panel

Hosted by Kyle Winterbottom, our CEO, an expert panel will explore how data and analytics are transforming healthcare, driving innovation, and creating opportunities for future talent. Get a sneak peek into the NHS Data & Analytics Academy, launching in April 2025, and discover how it aims to inspire the next generation of data professionals.

Don’t miss this chance to engage with industry leaders and be part of healthcare’s data revolution! 👉 Register now!

Our Festive Data Countdown

This month, we’re celebrating the season with our Festive Data Countdown, featuring a daily spotlight on a different data leader! From their insights on key data trends to their favourite festive traditions, this mini-interview series promises to inspire and bring a touch of holiday cheer.

So far, we’ve featured Steve Prokopiou, Maddie Amos, Srimanth Rudraraju, Lindsay Pellow, Nik Walker, Aubrey HB, Matthew Buckland, Ying Li, Mark Howland, McKinley Muir Hyden, David Pires, Sarah Tolfrey, Peter Laflin, Nic Granger, Antonio Acuña MBE and Hazel Finlayson. Who will be in the spotlight for Day 10? Stay tuned for today’s reveal at noon (GMT)!

Current jobs on offer:

We have got some great roles on at the moment. Why not check them out and if one takes your fancy, get in touch with Natalia Kurasinski:

• Director of Data & Technology Solutions (UK)

• Director of Data & Technology Solutions (USA)

• Data & ML Product Lead

• Data Transformation Manager

Have you read our report Understanding the 3 Layers of GenAI Implementation?

To successfully implement GenAI, data leaders must navigate evolving technologies to drive innovation and efficiency. Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022, organisations have grappled with questions like: How can we use this technology? Is our data AI-ready? How do we prepare our workforce?

Orbition Group’s CEO Kyle Winterbottom spoke with Dr. Raoul-Gabriel Urma, Executive Chairman at Cambridge Spark, to explore the future of GenAI application and education. Insights also feature Aimee Smith from Metropolitan Police, Nirali Patel from Liberty Global, and Zachery Anderson from National Westminster Bank (NatWest).

Read the full report below.

Why Most CDAOs Start at a Disadvantage—and How to Overcome It

This week's blog post is brought to you by Sophie Muscat

A great deal of CDAOs begin their journey as at a disadvantage. Even the most compelling and significant of communicators can fail in this role. The sad truth is that D&A is often viewed as a "second-class citizen" within the C-suite realm.

As a CDAO you may often find yourself having to convince and fight your corner, as well as face the challenge of overcoming misguided views from executives and the board. Your peers at the C-suite level won’t see you as an equal, despite your title. You may even find the scope of your role doubted and second-guessed, as they may view themselves as established executives and believe that to be established one must typically have more tenure, greater influence and a more secure seat at the table.

This places the CDAO role in an awkward position as they feel the need to break down those barriers and in doing so work harder to build credibility, establish trust and be “accepted” as a peer in the business leadership team as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, first impressions count here.

The faster one acts to change the peers’ perceptions, the better. Building trust and credibility is also essential. The role is less about technical skills initially and more about relationships and acceptance.

In order to be a successful CDAO, a combination of skills needs to be considered and practised. These include sales, politics, relationship building and ruthless execution.

The CDAO role is unique—it requires a mix of soft skills and accomplishment ability. Being effective means mastering the business “playground” while delivering results. Neither relationships nor execution alone will cut it.

And of course, this week's Christmas data joke:

Why was the Christmas tree so good at data analysis?

It had plenty of rooted branches! 🎄📊

See you back here in the New Year! Till then, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!