Sravan Kasarla, Chief Data Officer at Thrivent, speaks with Savio Rodrigues, Head of New Business Acquisition (NBA) at Trianz, and Editorial Board Member at CDO Magazine, in a video interview about the need for a data quality framework, the role of communication, the need to increase data IQ of the workforce, the lack of common definition for data, the call for a modern data governance approach, and Thrivent’s data governance playbook.
Kasarla begins by mentioning data quality as a major challenge. Elaborating, he says that data quality does not only take into account data accuracy but there are various dimensions to it.
He states that data quality is not just the job of a data organization or data steward, it needs to be everybody’s business. Kasarla stresses the need to maintain the quality aspect right from capturing of information while incorporating more common sense validation and controls. That way, processing becomes easier, data is connected well, and consumption becomes trusted, he adds.
Highlighting organizational efforts for data quality, Kasarla discusses the purchase experience, a major initiative that Thrivent has been reinforcing. The purchase experience ensures that solid data quality is incorporated right from the beginning for a better experience for clients while enabling advisors to do the same.
Next, Kasarla emphasizes having a data quality framework to identify crown jewels, good quality routines, monitoring, and visibility.
When asked about the communication standpoint, he believes that it goes back to creating data literacy or increasing the data IQ of the organization. He notes that increasing the data acumen of the organization is critical and can only be done with an approach towards data quality as an enabler that leads to a better understanding of data.
In continuation, Kasarla says that quality issues are not always about quality. At times, data lacks a common definition for a particular term which leads to misunderstanding. Stating an instance, he says that while considering the client count, the finance, sales, and service organizations give different counts.
The difference in data is not because the data is inaccurate, but because the definition of client is different for each sector, says Kasarla. Therefore, building data with the right definition that is structured more around findability is critical to increasing the acumen.
Moving forward, Kasarla states that a modern approach to data governance is necessary due to changing data architectures. He then discusses the modern data governance approach which includes building a common data enterprise for everyone to use with self-service at the helm.
Thrivent has created a data governance playbook that outlines the validations that must be included and provides definitions while building in the data. Kasarla asserts that data is only considered complete when the definitions and validations have been provided.
Secondly, he alludes to taking an approach where the organization applies the principle of criticality and assesses what would have a material impact on decision-making and delivery of experiences, and then applies the playbook against these factors.
In conclusion, Kasarla states that this might take time but will make everyone consider data governance as an enabler.
CDO Magazine appreciates Sravan Kasarla for sharing his insights with our global community.
