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Five Best Practices to Succeed with Data and GenAI: Lessons from Leaders
Key Moments: Focusing on Value with Bill Schmarzo 1:48Unlocking the Collective Genius with Walid Mehanna 4:07Building a Data-Literate Workforce with Valerie Logan 5:58Creating a Human-Centric AI Strategy with Sadie St. Lawrence 7:40Selecting the Right Tools with Katie Russell 11:23Implementing tools responsibly with Robert Garnett 16:00Why Clean Data Matters with Barr Moses 19:36Ensuring Responsible AI for the Long-Term with Dr. Gary Marcus 25:45 Key Quotes:“Data-driven is not important. Value-driven—that’s what’s important. We should focus on value.” — Bill Schmarzo, Head of Customer Data Innovation at Dell Technologies“Our role was rather to activate the organizational muscle… to try things out and tell us what has the highest opportunity and possibility.” — Walid Mehanna, Chief Data and AI Officer at Merck Group“It’s really a mindset and a muscle… we need to foster this kind of lasting change.” — Valerie Logan, CEO of the Datalodge“Teaching people to ask better questions is more about critical thinking than technology.” — Sadie St. Lawrence, Founder of the Human Machine Collaboration Institute“We wanted to make analytics accessible to everyone, combining real-time data and intuitive tools so every team member can gain insights and contribute to our mission to decarbonize.” — Katie Russell, Head of Data and Analytics at OVO Energy As we are looking at applications of AI within our environment, we are focused first on responsibility, making sure that we have a broad enough data set when we're building machine learning models, for instance. And so that's at the heart of anything that we do.” – Robert Garnett, Vice President for Government Analytics and Health Benefits Cost of Care at Elevance Health“Our world is moving towards a place where data is the product—and in that world, directionally accurate just doesn’t cut it anymore.” — Barr Moses, CEO and Co-Founder of Monte Carlo“The tech policy that we set right now is going to really affect the rest of our lives.” — Dr. Gary Marcus, Scientist, Advisor to Governments and Corporations, and Author of Taming Silicon ValleyGuest Bios Bill Schmarzo Bill Schmarzo has extensive hands-on experience in the areas of big data, data science, designthinking, data monetization, and data economics. Bill is currently part of Dell Technology’s core data management leadership team, where he is responsible for spearheading customer co-creation engagement to identify and prioritize the key data management, data science, and data monetization requirements.Walid MehannaWalid Mehanna is Chief Data & AI Officer at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, where he leads the company’s Data & AI organization, delivering value, governance, architecture, engineering, and operations across the company globally. With many years experience in startups, IT, and consulting major corporations, Walid encompasses a strong understanding of the intersection between business and technology. Katie RussellKatie Russell is the Data Director at OVO Energy, leading teams of Data Scientists, Data Engineers and Analysts who are transforming OVO’s data capability. As part of a technology led business, leveraging data using artificial intelligence keeps OVO truly innovative, delivering the best possible service for our customers. Rob GarnettRobert Garnett serves as Vice President for Government Analytics and Health Benefits Cost of Care at Elevance Health. In this role, he leads a data-driven organization supporting analytics and insights for Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial and enterprise customers in the areas of population health, cost of care, performance management, operational excellence, and quality improvement. Valerie LoganFounding The Data Lodge in 2019, Valerie is as committed to data literacy as it gets. With train-the-trainer bootcamps, and a peer community, she’s certifying the world’s first Data Literacy Program Leads. In 2023, The Data Lodge was acquired as the basis of a newly formed venture, Data Society Group (DSG), aimed at fostering data and AI literacy and cultural change at scale. Valerie is excited to also serve as the Chief Strategy Officer of DSG. Previously, Valerie was a Gartner Research VP in the CDO team where she pioneered Data Literacy research and was awarded Gartner’s Top Thought Leadership Award.Sadie St. LawrenceSadie St. Lawrence is on a personal mission to create a more compassionate and connected world through technology. Having grown up on a farm in Iowa she witnessed first-hand how advancements in technology rapidly changed how we work and earn a living, which in turn affected the overall success of a community. Through her work, she noticed that while many organizations and individuals have good intentions when it comes to D&I in data careers, there was a lack of progress.Dr. Gary MarcusGary Marcus is a leading voice in artificial intelligence. He is a scientist, best-selling author, and serial entrepreneur (Founder of Robust.AI and Geometric.AI, acquired by Uber). He is well-known for his challenges to contemporary AI, anticipating many of the current limitations decades in advance, and for his research in human language development and cognitive neuroscience. An Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at NYU, he is the author of six books. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.
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How to Master the Future of Work and AI Upskilling, with Marni Baker Stein at Coursera
Description: Marni Baker Stein, Chief Content Officer at Coursera, joins host, Cindi Howson, and dives into the impact of Generative AI on skills, diversity in tech, and the future of upskilling.Key Moments: The impact GenAI and the surge of learning demand (05:45)Why employers must prioritize AI literacy (10.32)The gender gap in AI learning and why it matters (19:40)Leveraging data to drive personalization and learner success (24:00)Predictions for the future of AI in the labor market (29.53)Key Quotes:“Generative AI is going to require us to all be a lot more emotionally intelligent because it's going to create such disruption and change. And we're all going to have to navigate the complexities of this change. We're going to have to bring our organizations through this change. That's going to take emotional intelligence as the one thing this technology isn't, is human. Understanding and human empathy is going to remain paramount.”“In terms of data and AI skills, what is extraordinary is that the demand for these skills in the last year has grown over a thousand percent. We now have seven individuals a minute enroll in GenAI content.”“Millions of people globally are deciding that it's time to upskill and reskill in these AI, regardless of whether their employer is telling them to or not. People see it happening. They're reading about it. They're hearing about it. And they're actively going out and chasing down those skills.”Mentions: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel WilkersonFrom Academia to EdTech: The Path to an Equitable Education in the Digital Age Girls Who CodeMarni Baker Stein Bio: Marni Baker Stein is Coursera’s Chief Content Officer, where she oversees the company’s content and credential strategy and partner relationships. Marni has more than 25 years of experience in producing and scaling online and hybrid education programs. Prior to joining Coursera, she was Chief Academic Officer and Provost at Western Governors University, where she led its four colleges serving more than 135,000 students with programs that improved access and affordability without compromising academic quality. Before that, Marni held several leadership positions focused on access, student success, and program design at institutions such as the University of Texas, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania. She earned her PhD in Educational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.
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How Can Data Leaders Shift from Data-First to Business-First Mindset? With Deepak Jose, Global Data, Analytics and AI leader
Key MomentsFrom Engineer to Data Leader (03:05)A Mindset Shift: Business Problem First, Data Second (9:31)Learning From Missteps (11:00)The Gazelle and the Lion Analogy (14:53) The Role of AI: Do Things, Do Things Better, and Do Better Things (25:58)Built to Last versus Built to Adapt (40:01) Key Quotes"Instead of a data-first mindset, you need to have a business problem-first and data-second mindset. That has helped me transform myself as a leader quite a bit.""It’s more important to define the problem right than solving the problem. How can we understand what you’re trying to solve, and how it impacts the stakeholder?"“The head of data analytics functions need to be business problem driven, empathy driven, and not technology-first minded or AI-first minded. Our objective is to solve the business problems of the organization. Data, AI, and tech are the enablers.”"In the past, we built capabilities to last. Now, the mindset has to be to build capabilities to adapt."MentionsIs Data Quality the Biggest Threat to Humanity? With Barr Moses and Olga MaydanchikResponsible AI InstituteTwo-Pizza RuleGirl Scouts STEM ClassesFrom Cancerman to Ironman: A Police Officer's Journey of Arresting IllnessHans ZimmerDeepak Jose Biography Deepak Jose is Vice President, Head of Data Sciences & Business Intelligence at Niagara Bottling. He is a member of the Forbes Tech Council, AWS Retail and CPG Executive Advisory Forum, industry standards associations, Editorial Board for CDO Magazine, and an advisor for startups and AI analytics service companies.Before Niagara, Jose was part of global brands like Coca-Cola, Mars, ABB Group, Asurion and Mu Sigma in strategic roles driving business growth. He was named to the 2023 Consumer Good Visionaries by Consumer Goods Technology and Retail Info Systems News, the 2023 40 under 40 by CDO Magazine, the 2022 and 2023 Top 100 Innovators in Data & Analytics by Corinium Global Intelligence, the 2023 100 Most Influential AI Leaders in USA by AIM Research, the 2023 Direct 60 List by The Lead, and the 2023 DataIQ 100 lists. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.
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Can We Tame AI Before It’s Too Late? With Dr. Gary Marcus
Key Moments: Disappointment With Today’s AI Systems (4:00) Congressional Inaction And The Need for AI Regulation (9:00)The Seduction of AI Propaganda (15:00)The Misguided Hypothesis of "Scale is All You Need" (23:00)Don’t Be Fooled by the Masters of AI Hype (27:00) The Global AI Race and the Need for International Cooperation (33:00)Key Quotes:“This matters. It matters as much as immigration policy or financial policy. The tech policy that we set right now is going to really affect the rest of our lives.”“We should want to have AI that can be like an oracle that can answer any question. There is value in trying to build such a technology. But, we don't actually have that technology. A lot of people are seduced into thinking that we do. But it may be decades away.”“Nobody can look you in the eye and say, ‘I understand how human intelligence works’. If they say that, they're lying to you. It's still an unexplored domain.” Mentions: Taming Silicon Valley: How We Can Ensure AI Works for All Of Us Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human MindThe Algebraic Mind: Integrating Connectionism and Cognitive Science (Learning, Development, and Conceptual Change)The EU AI ActAI Generates Covertly Racist Decisions About People Based On Their DialectDr. Gary Marcus Bio: Gary Marcus is a leading voice in artificial intelligence. He is a scientist, best-selling author, and serial entrepreneur (Founder of Robust.AI and Geometric.AI, acquired by Uber). He is well-known for his challenges to contemporary AI, anticipating many of the current limitations decades in advance, and for his research in human language development and cognitive neuroscience.An Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at NYU, he is the author of six books, including, The Algebraic Mind, Kluge, The Birth of the Mind, the New York Times Bestseller Guitar Zero, and most recently Taming Silicon Valley: How We Can Ensure AI Works for All of Us. He has often contributed to The New Yorker, Wired, and The New York Times. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.
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Three Must-Read 2024 AI and Analytics Books with Jeremy Kahn, Sol Rashidi, and Bernard Marr
Key Moments: Jeremy KahnThe history of AI: the Turing Test and the Eliza Effect with Jeremy Khan (1:50)Jeremy’s view on how we can learn from lessons of the past (9:00)It starts with data and people: leveraging AI to increase productivity (16:00)Sol RashidiSol Rashidi on failing to succeed in AI (31:00)The need for rogue executives (37:00)Sol’s view on prioritizing GenAI use cases and measuring ROI (42:50)Bernard MarrBernard Marr on demystifying AI (60:02)Is society ready for AI’s impact on augmenting jobs? (66:00)AI’s impact on personalization of medicine, treatment and drug discovery (72:00)Key Quotes: Jeremy Kahn“We're in a position where we can take action while this technology is still being shaped, to try to set some sensible guardrails. If we do that, we will see a lot of benefit from this technology. If we wait, we’re going to be in a situation like with social media. We will have a deskilling of essential human cognitive abilities.”We don’t talk enough about how to train people to use AI software. The organizations that think hardest about that are going to be very successful.”Sol Rashidi “Usually I start the conversations of how ROI shouldn't just be a financial measure. There's three ROI's in my opinion. There's a financial ROI, there's a cultural ROI, and there's a relevancy ROI.”“I am adamant that business value is not the number one marker. Everything needs to be scored and graded by criticality and complexity. And your criticality is a measure of ‘what is the impact if we don't do this?’”Bernard Marr“What we are seeing is we will see an augmentation of pretty much every single job. I can't think of many jobs that will not be augmented by GenAI. We need to really expect change as individuals.”“We must create a world where education is seen as something that never stops, that carries on. I believe that we are currently entering a hyper evolution cycle, with artificial intelligence right at the center of it.”Mentions: 'Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future' by Jeremy Kahn 'Your AI Survival Guide: Scraped Knees, Bruised Elbows, and Lessons Learned from Real-World AI Deployments' by Sol Rashidi'Generative AI in Practice: 100+ Amazing Ways Generative Artificial Intelligence is Changing Business and Society' by Bernard MarrBios: About Jeremy Kahn Jeremy Kahn is an award-winning journalist for Fortune magazine, where he covers AI and other emerging technologies. Previously, he wrote about technology, including AI, for Bloomberg. His writing on a range of subjects has also appeared in The New York Times, Newsweek,The Atlantic, Smithsonian magazine, The Boston Globe, The New Republic, and Slate. An Ohio native, he now lives with his family in Oxford, England.About Sol RashidiWith 10 patents granted and winning numerous awards that include: 'Forbes AI Maverick & Visionary of the 21st Century', 'Top 100 People in AI', 'Global 100 Power List', 'Top 75 Innovators', 'CAO of the Year', 'Top 5 CDO's', 'Top 65 Most Influential Women', Sol Rashidi is an seasoned executive, leader, and influencer within the AI, data, and technology space. Sol’s experience comes from real-world deployments where she has had to roll up her sleeves and do the work, while keeping the strategic intent in mind. Sol is currently Head of Technology for Startups, North America, at AWS.About Bernard MarrBernard Marr is a multi-award-winning and internationally best-selling author of over 20 books, who writes a regular column for Forbes and advises and works with many of the world’s best-known organizations. He has a combined following of 4 million people across his social media channels and newsletters and was ranked by LinkedIn as one of the top 5 business influencers in the world. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.
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Meet the world’s top data and analytics leaders transforming how we do business. Hear case studies, industry insights, and personal lessons from the executives leading the data revolution. Join host Cindi Howson, Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpot, every other Wednesday to meet the leaders and teams at the cutting edge.

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