VIDEO | Give & Go Food Director of Data Management: A Company Would Be Running Blind Without a Data Strategy

(US and Canada) Jaspreet Ghuman, Director of Data Management at Give & Go Food, speaks with Robert Lutton, Vice President of Sandhill Consultants and CDO Magazine Editorial Board Vice Chair, in a video interview about the organization’s business, his role, and the need to implement an effective data strategy.

Give & Go Food, a Canadian company in the snacking segment, was recently acquired by Mondelez. In his role at the organization, Ghuman manages three key functions — master data management, the Azure data platform, and analytics and data science.

He says every organization should have a data strategy, adding that a company would be running blind without one. Ghuman emphasizes that all organizations need to strategize to achieve goals and need data to make informed decisions.

He notes that an effective data strategy has to be as simple as possible, but simply pushing data into a data lake is not a data strategy. A good data strategy has to start with the organization's objectives, Ghuman says.

Next, sharing recommendations for implementing an enterprise data strategy, he points out that implementation comes later. Data leaders must work with the different functions and the top management to get buy-in. They need cheerleaders around them from other functions to sell the data strategy to senior leaders.

Ghuman elaborates that data leaders need to take stock of the technologies and people, find the gaps, and the various areas where they need to invest. He adds that they can start implementing while simultaneously breaking it down into smaller parts.

When asked about setting out the business value outcomes, Ghuman says the stakeholders will only believe it if their goals and objectives are addressed. Concluding, he stresses the need for data leaders to speak stakeholders’ language and communicate the benefits of data strategy implementation.

CDO Magazine appreciates Jaspreet Ghuman for sharing his insights and data success stories with our global community.