New York Execs Chart the GenAI Frontier at CDO Magazine Boardroom Dinner

A core group of New York senior data executives connected at CDO Magazine’s executive boardroom dinner November 2 to exchange insights on “GenAI: How You Are Exploring or Using It.”

Data leaders from banking, financial services, healthcare, and pharmaceutical industries discussed topics ranging from identifying use cases, addressing AI governance, upskilling/reskilling workforce, and implementing AI at an enterprise scale to the impact of the October 30 Executive Order on GenAI.

The discussion was moderated by Stratascale Field CTO Ted DiMontova.

Members of CDO Magazine’s Global Editorial Board shared their perspectives:

Dan Merzlyak, BlackRock Director, Head of Aladdin Data Migration Practice and Business Intelligence, sums up the evening:  "Our recent dinner with CDO Magazine sparked engaging conversations on the advent of Generative AI and its expansive potential. The latest regulations introduced by the Biden administration provide a fresh framework that will shape our approach to deploying and governing these models, ensuring innovation moves forward with integrity and public trust at its core."

According to Vijay Venkatesan, Chief Analytics Officer at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, “Generative AI is the transformative catalytic force that, if balanced with ethics and responsibility, can harmonize human ingenuity with human potential. In healthcare, GenAI has the potential to enhance patient engagement and redefine the care delivery model, one member, one patient, one algorithm at a time.”

Santha Ramakrishnan, Bayer VP, Head of R&D Data Strategy and Governance, elaborates on key takeaways:

1. Reaction to AI:  Most practitioners are in a watch-and-wait posture. They see the greatest impact in backend workflows. GenAI is useful in generating content, reports, and summaries.

2. Value realization from AI:  Quantifying ROI is easy when it is in workflows, and more difficult when it is innovation. 

3. 2024 investment:  Greatest investment and efforts will be focused on governance especially in light of GenAI policies and regulations.

4. Literacy and executive education:  Peers agreed that literacy and executive education in data and GenAI is crucial. Reimagining workflows and other business scenarios may be one way to educate.

5. Differences exist:  GenAI usage is different for different industries. Within an industry, the organization size matters. For example, the difference between big and small banks.

Data executives attending the CDO Magazine New York Executive Boardroom Dinner included:

Mahasweta Dhawan, American Express Vice President, Customer Data & Relationships Platforms; Kavita Gupta, American Express Vice President, Big Data Platform; Jinyoung Kim, Morningstar Head, Development of Analytics Platform; Charu Mehta, KeyBank Head, Data Product; Dan Merzlyak, BlackRock Director, Head, Aladdin Data Migration Practice & Business Intelligence; Santha Ramakrishnan, Bayer VP, Head, R&D Data Strategy & Governance; Gaurav Shah, Sanofi Global Head, Data & Analytics, Consumer Healthcare; Vijay Venkatesan, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Chief Analytics Officer; Ted DiMontova, Stratascale Field CTO; Joe Peragallo, Stratascale Director NY/NJ Enterprise; Anu Srivastava Stratascale Manager; Steve Wanamaker, CDO Magazine Founder & Publisher; Camille Prado, CDO Magazine Global Editor.