Central Group

Having extensive experience in the domain, how would you describe the complexity of unstructured data transformed into structured information today? Could you also describe some of the roles and responsibilities you handle on a day-to-day basis?

Transforming unstructured data into structured data can be very complex if we overlook the basic question of what exact insights we need from this data. It is very important to carefully analyze and understand the complexity of unstructured data and transformation or insights requirements before undertaking a task. The complexity of the transformation process varies depending on several factors e.g., the Variety of data, the volume of data, the complexity of data sources, etc.

In my experience, I have seen complexity growing when data comes from different sources in different formats which requires a lot of effort to standardize the data into a structured format. Data Accuracy and Completeness is also a big factor that adds up to the complexity as engineers need to deal with inaccuracies and missing data.

“Right Data at right time drives business insights and foresights.” Can you explain how this idea helps deliver a better tomorrow?

Every organization is operating in a very dynamic and agile environment which requires the ability to change the strategy and adapt as needed. This requires organizations to stay informed about their customer’s behaviors, competitors, marketing effectiveness, brand positioning, etc., and a clear understanding of the business landscape they are operating in. All this is possible only if decision makers and working teams have access to the data, more importantly, the right data at the right time to make instantaneous decisions.

“Focus on the technology part of data but rather spend time with business leaders to understand their business strategy, challenges, and ambitions. Establishing strong collaboration and trust with business teams and leadership are going to be crucial to the success of Data Office.”

Many organizations who are still operating on a legacy data warehouse must wait for one whole day to see their data reflected in the dashboard to understand their business performance. This leads to revenue loss as they are unable to see the results of their actions in real-time e.g., thousands of dollars spent on a marketing campaign are not yielding any uplift in sales, and the marketing team realizes this only after the money is spent. If the Marketing team had access to the right data at right time, they could have taken decisions well in advance to stop the campaign and the foresight provided by the data will help plan their next campaign strategy.

Access to right data at right time not only helps organizations to make informed and timely decisions, but it provides them a competitive advantage, increases productivity and efficiency, boosts innovation, and mitigates risks.

As the Group Head of Data and Analytics at Central Group, could you shed some light on the ways your company is formulating and implementing a data strategy.

At Central, our focus is on RETAILIGENCE, and data plays a crucial role in this strategy. We are an Omni channel company, and we ensure the best experience for our customers whether they shop in-store, online, chat or call. Our data strategy covers the entire life cycle of data, all the way from creation to consumption. Data Governance plays a big part in our strategy to ensure analytics products deliver real business value while using trusted data. Having a 360-degree view of our customers helps us provide product recommendations and personalization to our customers.

Can you give us a brief background about the different roles you have worked for in the past and how does that experience augment your role and responsibility at your current organization?

I have been in the Data Analytics space for the last 18 years and I have seen a lot of shifts in this area from an on-prem DB for MIS reporting to long running batch processes, ETL, ELT, Data Lake, Data Mesh, etc. Technology is changing rapidly, and we all need to keep learning. I started my career as a Data Engineer and have played several roles like a BI Developer, Analytics Engineer, Analytics consultant, Analytics TPM, etc. All such experiences have enhanced my skills to work with C levels to understand the organization’s vision and strategy and how data can support in achieving that. All these skills helped me connect with different leadership teams within Central Group to understand their vision and align our data strategy to help deliver that vision.

As an ending note, what is your advice for other senior leaders and cxosworking in the data and analytics industry?

My recommendation to D&A Leaders would be to not just focus on the technology part of data but rather spend time with business leaders to understand their business strategy, challenges, and ambitions. Establishing strong collaboration and trust with business teams and leadership are going to be crucial to the success of Data Office. Once you have a clear understating of their strategy and kpis, try to align your data strategy with those ambitions and kpis. Delivering Analytics products attached to business strategy will see a much higher success and adoption rate to deliver real business value.