7 Transformation Takeaways from CDO Magazine Louisville Boardroom Dinner

CDO Magazine's Louisville Executive Boardroom Dinner on November 14 outlined critical issues shaping the future of digital transformation — building a data-driven culture, measuring success, forging strategic partnerships, and adapting to a rapidly changing technological landscape.

Central to the event was a panel discussion on “Navigating Digital Transformation: Leveraging Data and Technology for Business Success” with leaders gauging how companies are utilizing data and technology to drive innovation, improve operational efficiency, and stay competitive.

The panel of experts were:

• Kevin Geron, Farm Credit Mid-America Chief Information Officer

• Ben Murr, Churchill Downs SVP, President TwinSpires

• Amit Parulekar, Brown-Forman Director, Global Advanced Analytics & AI Strategy

The discussion was moderated by Dwayne Emerson, AHEAD Partner, Client Services.

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Speaker Geron shares his key takeaways from the event:

1. To build a data-driven culture, IT and business must be partners in the ownership and democratization of data.  Ownership must be upfront before the data is needed by the business. This takes having the business own data governance with the help of the IT or data teams to promote literacy and data quality. 

2. Using self-service or AI tools will allow data to be presented and accessible to everyone.

3. As IT leaders, we need to be cheering on the business to take further advantage and ownership of the data, not be the exclusive centralized BI and reporting function. The partnership between IT and business is essential for success in the future.

Detailing his observations from the discussion, speaker Parulekar notes:

1. Measuring the success or value generated from data and AI initiatives is multifaceted, and it's an amalgamation of various factors that lead to both short-term and long-term success. The three layers of success are: 

   1. Quality of the model or data

   2. Acceptance by business users

   3. Overall business impact that can be quantified into monetary value.

2. The existential threat from AI is both an opportunity and a challenge for organizations to reshape their processes, embrace new technologies in their workflows, and manage data as an enterprise asset. 

3. As a technology leader, you're really a conduit between internal and external partners. Partnerships should create synergies by combining each other's complementary strengths, leading to greater value creation than what could be achieved individually.

4. There are bigger questions about AI that we, as a society and as humans, don't have answers to.

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Sharing his experience, speaker Murr says: “The CDO Magazine Louisville Executive Boardroom Dinner was a great chance to discuss the challenges and opportunities around leveraging data to drive business success. In addition, being able to hear from other technology and business leaders about how they see the future of data was a great experience.”

Michelle Ziegler, CDO Magazine Global VP, Partner Development & Events, adds, “It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with our Louisville community in an intimate setting. The evening was filled with engaging discussions, great company, and a fantastic meal.”

Summing up the event, Dwayne Emerson, AHEAD Partner, Client Services, says: “It was a well-attended session with several interesting topics. The panel and the audience were highly engaged, and it made a noticeable difference creating energy and thoughtful discussion. I highly recommend area leaders to check out a future event.”

Special thanks to AHEAD for making the CDO Magazine Louisville Executive Boardroom Dinner such a resounding success.

Amit Parulekar is a member of the CDO Magazine Global Editorial Board.

Executives attending the Atlanta CDO Magazine Louisville Executive Boardroom Dinner included:

Tawanda Chitapa, Norton Healthcare System Director,  Business Intelligence, Clinical Value & Healthcare Analytics; Larry Combs, Brown-Forman CIO; Patrick Dondanville, AWS Enterprise Account Manager Healthcare & Life Sciences; Adel Elmaghraby, University of Louisville Director, Research & Innovation for Digital Transformation; Mike Gribbins, Churchill Downs Sr. Director, End User Productivity; Kevin Geron, Farm Credit Mid-America CIO; Trey Hyberger, UofL Health AVP, Business Intelligence & Data Analytics; Tom Jenkins, Churchill Downs VP; Praveen Katta, Baptist Health System KY & IN Corporate IT Director, Enterprise Systems; Ben Murr, Churchill Downs SVP, President, TwinSpires; Sai Nerella, Schneider Electric Director, Global Enterprise Data; Devin Nowicke, Churchill Downs Category Sourcing Manager, IT; Amit Parulekar, Brown-Forman Director, Global Advanced Analytics & AI Strategy; Taylor Payne, Baptist Health System KY & IN Director, Cybersecurity Operations; Jonathan Peña, Humana AVP, Data Science, Consumer Growth; Dr. Michael C. Redmond, Redmond Worldwide CISO; Eric Satterly, Jefferson County Public Schools CIO; Robin Wileman, BrightSpring Health Services VP, Data Analytics & Enterprise Architecture; Amber Hedges, AHEAD Client Director; Dwayne Emerson, AHEAD Partner, Client Services; Tyler Harned, AHEAD Client Director; Mahesh Seshadri, AHEAD Transformation Adviser; Lisa Runkle, CDO Magazine Global Events Manager; and Michelle Ziegler, CDO Magazine Global VP, Partner Development & Events.