In the 30th episode of IIA’s Leading Analytics podcast, IIA CEO Jack Phillips chats with Inderpal Bhandari, Global Chief Data Officer for IBM, a company deeply rooted in the data, analytics, and technology world. When Bhandari started at IBM six years ago, the role of AI from an enterprise standpoint was not clear to many B2B companies. IBM set out to infuse AI into its own business processes and then use what they learned to showcase to customers, be a voice of experience, and help customers avoid pitfalls. Bhandari observes that to infuse AI into an enterprise, it requires a holistic transfo ..read more

What could be at all analytical about an elegant kitchen or bathroom faucet?  Actually lots.  As the name suggests, the Delta Faucet Company is synonymous with products for showering, bathing, sinks, toilets, and steam showers.  In this episode I visit with Liz Kershner who recently joined the company as Senior Director for Strategy, Insights and Advanced Analytics.  We cover the hybrid organizing model that Liz has implemented, and the various roles that analytics plays including market forecasting and monitoring of consumer behavior and trends.  We finish up with a f ..read more

To kick off Season 3 of the Leading Analytics Podcast, I sit down with Callum Staff who leads food analytics at the global retail brand Marks & Spencer based in London.  Sitting beneath the in-store customer experience and the rich product offerings, sits a growing analytics capability crucial to growing the enterprise in the future.  Callum also mentions a few must read book titles that you won’t want to miss ..read more

We close out Season 2 with a conversion with Helena Yin Koeppl of Bayer.  Like many of our guests over the first two seasons, Helena has held analytics leadership roles at some of the world’s most recognized consumer and healthcare brands.  Helena now oversees building the strategic vision as well as the analytics portfolio and roadmap for a brand-new function in Bayer’s Pharmaceutical division. She has designed a growing organization that enables advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to drive business outcomes across therapeutic areas and markets at Bayer ..read more

How about an inspiring conversation with John Kahan of the technology giant, Microsoft.  Of course, data and analytics are at the center of Microsoft’s business, but John acts as Chief Data Analytics Officer, and the global lead of “AI for Health” for the company. In this episode, John shares his (and Microsoft’s) world view of the possibilities for AI, ML and data science to help meet the global challenges such as sustainability, health and human rights, and disaster response. For one, I came away from the episode with renewed hope for how technology and analytics can help change the wor ..read more

Danone is among the most iconic food manufacturing companies in the world with brands like Evian and Volvic waters, and Aktiva and Silk soymilk in the dairy area. And, it’s hard to find a more diverse guest than the company’s analytics leader Elena Alikhachkina. Elena started her career in the news and information industry, and has since held senior analytics roles in healthcare and biotech, and now food and nutrition.  If you’re looking for some universal truths drawn from years of cross-industry experience, this is your episode ..read more

 Coca-cola is among the world’s most iconic brands.  In this episode, I sit down with Saurabh Parikh who leads data and innovation at CONA Services, which supports the largest Coke bottlers in North America. Saurabh describes how the firm delivers analytics solutions against today’s opportunities, while also keeping a sharp eye on all of the areas to improve and innovate for the future. He shares a well-tested organizational model that balances the needs of both data management and analytics, and keeps new ideas flowing through the organization ..read more

It’s not often that I speak with an analytics leader from a company whose roots go back to America’s founding fathers. Yatish Uchil of BNY Mellon joins me on this episode to discuss his new role leading an analytics team supporting the firm’s shared services technology organization. Yatish shares some great anecdotes and soundbites he’s developed over the years leading analytics, and compares his experience in both business-facing teams and now technology teams ..read more

If you’re into technology, pride yourself on owning the most cutting edge tech toys, you have undoubtedly spent time at Best Buy.  And lurking in the background, and often driving the customer experience is growing data and analytics capability led by Nicole Nelson, the company’s Chief Analytics Officer.  You’ll hear about the group’s recent transition to a centralized model (COE), and a few nuggets from Nicole around makes for a high-performing analytics leader ..read more

Zoetis may not be a recognizable brand to many, but If you work or live around animals or livestock, Zoetis will be a familiar name.  Zoetis serves veterinarians, livestock producers and people who raise and care for farm and companion animals in more than 100 countries.  Krishna Cheriath leads digital, data and analytics at Zoetis, and he walks us through how the company organizes the data and analytics effort around the globe and across business lines ..read more