Data Governance Can Make Business Jobs Easier and Faster — First Citizens Bank Global HR Data Officer

(US & Canada) Jennifer Mezzio, Global HR Data Officer at First Citizens Bank, speaks with Amy McNee, SVP, Solutions Architecture, and Technical GTM, Informatica, in a video interview about her professional journey, getting started with data governance, and measuring the value of governance.

First Citizens provides a full range of banking products and services to meet individual or business financial needs.

With over 25 years of experience, Mezzio started her professional journey as a business analyst. As a business systems analyst over 25 years ago, she wrote functional specifications and assessed the data in the back end.

Adding on, Mezzio discusses some of the projects she did at her previous workplaces. For instance, at MetLife, she did long-term care rating. This required rating a policy by hand and in essence, all of it was about the data attributes and how the data work off of each other, says Mezzio. Eventually, as she spanned across management and broader roles, she became the Info Systems Manager and led the claim data warehouse for Travelers from 2008-11.

That is when she started comprehending data, its elements, and data warehousing, which made her want to be a data officer. Mezzio then joined the Silicon Valley Bank as the Head of Business Analysis and gradually became the HR Data Officer. Currently, she is positioned as the Global HR Data Officer at First Citizens Bank.

When asked about the core aspects that data leaders must focus on to bring in governance, Mezzio states that data officers specialize in different domains. Some specialize in privacy and compliance; others specialize in analytics or data engineering. To get started with governance, she advises individuals and corporations to understand organizational maturity.

Additionally, it is critical to comprehend what the organization is trying to accomplish, whether it is compliance or building and streamlining a data product. When it comes to governance, it becomes the job of data professionals to educate business professionals to instill governance across business functions.

Mezzio maintains that business people already have full-time jobs, and they are being asked to take on governance and help build this muscle. Given the scenario, organizations must be careful while getting people on board and understand that each function is critical. Having control of data, understanding who sees it, and making sure it is correct, clean, and precise is critical for any success.

Moving forward, Mezzio discusses ways to measure the value of governance. Referring to SVB, she states that the team was able to show value by getting into compliance with GDPR. She says it is crucial to get into compliance from a privacy perspective, whether it is GDPR, HIPAA, or other laws.

Furthermore, Mezzio states that the value of governance in business is that getting it sorted makes the job easier and faster for business people. She adds that the value of governance is also in access and controls.

While people enjoy having access to information, it also becomes a liability. In the instance of a data breach, it becomes challenging to levy the responsibility on someone, says Mezzio. Therefore, it is imperative to have an understanding of who owns the data, where it is stored, and with whom it is shared.

Concurring with the interviewer, Mezzio states that everything boils down to the data journey, and it is not just data governance. She reflects on explaining data lifecycle management to cyber partners, IT partners, and business functions to ensure they understand what must be achieved and their role in it. Understanding their part in the change helps in better adoption of governance, she concludes.

CDO Magazine appreciates Jennifer Mezzio for sharing her insights with our global community.