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Browse the full archive →Are Companies Wasting Money on Data & AI?
In this episode of Data Analytics Chat, we welcome Lior Barak, Author & Founder of Impact Operations. After 15+ years in data organisations, Lior now helps data teams and their leadership treat data and AI as a capital allocation decision, so teams can show what their work returns, not just what it costs. Lior is the author of What Data Really Costs, a business fable about the hidden cost of data: the "zombie taxes" and "FTE debt" that organisations pay every year when business teams spend their time checking, rebuilding and second-guessing data. Listeners can read the first two chapters of the book here: https://liorbarak.com/what-data-really-costs We discuss how leaders should decide what is worth funding, when to stop a project, how to escape the POC trap, and how technical teams can stay focused on work that creates real business value. 00:00 Cold Open 01:24 Introduction to Data Analytics Chat 02:15 Introducing Lior Barak and His Background 03:29 Should Technical Teams See the Commercial Value and Cost of Their Work? 09:19 Where the Most Money and Time Is Wasted Across Data & AI 12:15 Why Companies Invest in Projects That Don't Create Business Impact 15:51 Questions Leadership Should Ask Before Funding a Data or AI Initiative 18:50 Building the Business Case Before the Team Starts Building 24:00 Communicating Value Effectively to Senior Stakeholders 27:29 What Are We Actually Getting Back for All This Data & AI Spend? 32:09 Deciding Which Projects to Continue, Deprioritise or Stop 34:19 The POC Trap: What Makes a Project Production-Worthy? 38:29 How Technical Teams Can Work on Problems That Matter, Not Just Tickets 39:52 What a High-Performing Data & AI Team Looks Like 45:22 What Leaders Should Audit First on Their Roadmap Connect with our guests: Lior Barak, Author & Founder, Impact Operations: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liorbarak/
· 48 min
ListenYour AI Is Live. But Is It Actually Working?
In this episode of Data Analytics Chat, we welcome Ryan Stevens, Senior Director of Applied Science at Ramp, the financial technology company helping businesses save time and money across cards, bill pay, expense management, travel and more. Ryan leads a team of machine learning engineers and product data scientists, and before Ramp he worked on ads ranking at Meta. He also holds a PhD in economics.
· 39 min
ListenNestlé’s Chief Data & AI Officer on Scaling AI
In this episode of Data Analytics Chat, we welcome Jessica Matheron, Chief Data & AI Officer at Nestlé. Jessica brings a rare mix of experience to the role, from a French engineering and mathematics background and a Harvard MBA to a decade trading structured credit on Wall Street, followed by roles across fintech, ad tech and e-commerce before joining Nestlé.
· 49 min
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