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Educating Senior Leaders

Imagine senior executives with no particular interest in data and data science. Yet, every day,
they receive a cacophony of grandiose proclamations that “data is the new oil,” extravagant
claims about analytics and artificial intelligence, exhortations to become data‐driven, heated
claims that they must digitize, dire warnings about privacy and the reputational damage that
results from data breaches. Yes, about five tech firms are profiting, but no important com-
petitor has truly embraced data and data science. The cover of the May 6, 2017, issue of the
Economist proclaimed that data is now “the world’s most valuable asset,” but these claims
have been around a long time. Further, the failure rate on analytics projects is high (Demurkian
and Dai 2014). The messages conflict and none of them fit together.
Closer to home, the senior executive team still can’t get sales figures from three systems to
agree after two years of trying. Complicating matters still further, the chief information secu-
rity, chief privacy, chief information technology, chief data, chief digital, and chief analytics
officers and others have narrow perspectives and compete for attention and resources. They are
certainly not lying, but no one can present a clear picture. No straight answers anywhere.
Senior executives in this situation could only conclude that the data space is a confused and
overhyped mess. And they are correct!! With a trusted perspective (or data) missing, senior
executives are likely to revert to their intuition.
Clearly this does not bode well for data in general or data science in particular. At best, it
means that data science won’t necessarily get asked to contribute on the really important
problems and will be underfunded, will probably be ill‐placed, and will not be given a fair
chance. It means that any sort of data or analytics transformation must wait for the next regime,
as transformations must be led from the top. At worst, it imperils the entire company. The list
of “once great companies” is littered with those who didn’t spot and act on an industry‐changing
technology, idea, or capability quickly enough.
Of course, most senior leaders are not so dismissive, and many know they have to sort it all
out. But one should expect confusion, gaps, and some misconceptions. CAOs should make it
their personal missions to clear up the confusion, fill the gaps, correct misconceptions, and
provide perspective. Senior executives, including board members, are entitled to simple,
complete, unbiased explanations. It bears mention that CAOs are uniquely qualified to provide
these explanations – after all, the job involves seeing the essential simplicity in complexity.

The Real Work of Data Science: Turning Data into Information, Better Decisions, and Stronger Organizations,
First Edition. Ron S. Kenett and Thomas C. Redman.
© 2019 Ron S. Kenett and Thomas C. Redman. Published 2019 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Companion website: www.wiley.com/go/kenett-redman/datascience