PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE'S PETE WILLIAMS ON THE COMPLEX ART OF LEADING DATA-DRIVEN CHANGE
“EvErything is within our grasp right now"
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manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
in a world of digital everything, there’s still something enchanting about a book; holding something tangible in your hands and engaging with it is a feeling that never gets old. But this is a digital world, as is evidenced in our chat with Penguin Random House’s Pete Williams. And while those same books are still at the heart of the company’s business, since 2019 Williams has driven a cloud-focused data evolution that has been transformational for the organisation.
Data is Williams’ passion. He is an experienced and knowledgeable evangelist for the topic, and a firm believer in the fact that technology and data are nothing without the right people, strategic ideas and informed decision making.
These essentials are at the core of his data literate ecosystem concept, which has been put into practice so effectively at Penguin Random House.
People, culture and leadership are fundamental to all our contributors’ stories. Take Marc Roulet of XING, who describes so well the importance of leadership, nurturing talent and data-drive performance, or Cynozure USA’s Jennifer Agnes who is not only a fantastic storyteller, but also a firm believer in giving back her experience to others, always learning and driving cultural change within data strategy.
Really, all technology is about people and culture. That’s as true for c-level executives writing and implementing tech strategies as it is for entrepreneurs, innovators and all of us.
As always, enjoy the issue.
Matt HighContent Director
Matt High
Creative Directors
Stroud & Clarke is a multichannel creative agency that produces exceptional business and lifestyle content for brands, leaders and pioneers.
Daniel Crawford
Steve Shipley
Marketing Director
Jack Pascall Project Director Manuel Navarro Project Director Tawfiq Kopti
Managing Directors
Charlotte Clarke James Pepper06 | INSIGHT EXEC SUMMARY
News, views and tech insight
14 | INTERVIEW PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE
On people, technology and building the data literate ecosystem
26 | PORTFOLIO TECH YOU NEED
Innovations for work, leisure and the environmentally conscious
36 | INTERVIEW XING
On the discipline of data, driving performance and leadership
52 | LEADERSHIP
EUGENIA PLANAS
Hybrid working? It’s a question of leadership and cultural change
60 | INTERVIEW NAPOLEON
How technology is at the heart of a responsible gaming environment
72 | ENTREPRENEUR DR MICHAL NACHMANY
Fighting climate change with AI and machine learning
14
36
60
52 72
100
74 | INNOVATION
ENTER: THE METAVERSE
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of the future
88 | INTERVIEW
PRES LES
Building a digital-first luxury retail experience
100 | INNOVATOR
CAPTN VAIARO
It’s mobility, but not as you know it
102 | INTERVIEW
CYNOZURE USA
Putting people, culture and collaboration first in data strategy
116 | DISRUPTOR
FRAUENLOOP
Making change that matters
118 | CITY GUIDE
48
HRS: TALLIN
Business and pleasure in the Estonian capital
126 | CALENDAR EVENTS
The best events for 2021
Friendly, intelligent, designed to do all our repetitive or boring tasks, and designed in a way that ensures humans can run away from it. Should they need to. All good information to know about a possible humanoid robot that may coexist with us and, thankfully, all information given by Elon Musk on Tesla’s proposed Tesla Bot. Musk broke the news during the company’s AI Day, saying the bot is “intended to be friendly and navigate through a world built for humans”.
Researchers at Google, in collaboration with physicists from several universities have reportedly created time cyrstals, a new and unique phase of matter that, in theory, can flip between two configurations forever without burning any energy, in the company’s quantum computer.
“The consequence is amazing: you evade the second law of thermodynamics,” said Roderich Moessner, co-author of Google’s paper on the subject and director of theMax Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Germany.
www.quantamagazine.org
“Collectively, we have an opportunity to apply AI and machine learning to propel the future and do good”
The latest NASA resupply mission to the moon included a machine capable of printing regolith, or moon soil and rock to you and me. The Redwire Regolith Print project will demonstrate the 3D printing of moon material to test its strength and durability with a view to developing sustainable manufacturing capabilities for lunar surfaces that will contribute to future space settlements.
www.engadget.com
According to research by McKinsey, Europe’s top tech startups have found success by following one of four distinct strategic plays: network, scale, product or deep-tech. Each provides a path to scale, says McKinsey. Network sees companies drive product adoption and become more valuable as they gain users; scale sees a path of achieving early sales growth to quickly reach economies of scale; product focuses on the development of superior products and exceptional customer experience; deep-tech relies on a focus on R&D.
www.mckinsey.com
61%
of leading companies say they have a clear view of which technology platforms to leverage to remain competitive and relevant to their customers.
Accenture: Moving beyond CX to the business of experience to drive growth
A self-driving, shape-shifting, autonomous EV. There, really, is all you need to know about the incredible concept car released by Audi. Skysphere is everything you want from a tech-heavy future vehicle, including two cars in one. At the push of a button the sporty roadster physically stretches into a grand tourer complete with more legroom and, according to Audi, a ‘seamless digital ecosystem’. Opt for touring mode and you get a chauffeur too thanks to its ‘Grand Touring’ autonomous driving model. Switch back to ‘Sports’ and a steering wheel emerges from under the dash. Now that’s the future.
audi-mediacenter.com
Do we really need another frighteningly realistic robo-dog? According to Chinese tech giant Xiaomi, yes. The company says its CyberDog, an experimental, open-source machine ‘holds unforetold possibilities’. What these are is yet to be made clear, but the company says CyberDog has a ‘pet-like nature’, can perform backflips and navigate semiautonomously. All for a reported $1,540.
www.mi.com
The use cases for 5G have been well documented: smart cities, autonomous vehicles, connected machinery and facilities – to name a few. Then there’s drone racing. Specifically, when it comes to a partnership between T-Mobile and The Drone Racing League (DRL), 5G-enabled drone racing capable of live-streaming video from ‘onboard’ the race craft direct to viewers via T-Mobile’s wireless network. Flights will start during the DRL’s 2021-22 season. www.t-mobile.com
Tesla confirms that its EV Cybertruck will be delayed until 2022 at the earliest, seeing it miss its original release target of 2021 by at least a year.
The United States’ National Security Agency reportedly awards a ‘secret cloud computing contract worth up to $10bn’ to Amazon Web Services.
A Jacobs Lab study on ‘squirrel parkour’ identifies the animals’ two- and three-dimensional spatial orientation as influential in robot design.
Apple announces a June quarter record 36% revenue increase and an all-time high services revenue in its latest financial results.
Researchers from South Korea create a robot chameleon capable of imitating its biological counterpart and demonstrating artificial camouflage technology.
A cyberattack on T-Mobile exposes the information of more than 40 million people, with information stolen including social security numbers, birthdays and more.
It turns out that Kevin Costner was wrong. At least he would have been, were he responsible for driving a data-literate organisation rather than building a baseball pitch. If, let’s say, he were a chief data officer – or any executive for that matter. That’s because when it comes to data, you can’t buy change regardless of how all singing or dancing your technology is. Or how many buzzwords you adopt. Ignore the people, the culture and the level of data literacy in your organisation and it won’t work. To contradict that famous 90s film, ‘you build it, and they won’t come’.
Pete Williams is a staunch believer in this [he introduced us to this metaphor during our conversation, after all]. As a data evangelist, a vastly experienced CDO and current Director of Data and Online for Penguin Random House, his career has revolved around being an advocate for this very lesson.
Williams is passionate about data-driven change and the behaviours required to tackle any data enablement journey. Specifically, the importance of creating a data-literate ecosystem – an environment in which technology, data scientists and data itself are important, but not to the detriment of strategic ideas and questions, of effective and insightful leadership that fosters an enabling culture, and
a data leader with the necessary soft skills, business acumen and experience equal to their technological expertise.
The latter, says Williams, are skills that have been learned over his own career.
“There’s key aspects to a successful data leader in my opinion,” he says, “things like strong technology knowledge, commercial and change management experience, and the ability to be an evangelist for your work; I’ve been fortunate enough to have landed in roles or environments where I’ve experienced all of them. First is that experience in technology functions, from my early days in overnight batch operations, through moving into programming, development and working with BI tools, to project management and more leadership type roles.
“That move to the leadership or business side of technology is crucial for anyone trying to lead data-driven change,” he says. “It’s about having the understanding of the business impact of any technology
“EVERY DECISION YOU MAKE IS BASED ON DATA, WHETHER YOU REALISE IT OR NOT”
development, or what something like the greater use of data means for people. If you’re just a technology specialist, you’ll only ever bring that point of view to the table and you won’t understand the commercial priorities or problems faced by the organisation as it adapts to new innovations.
it. The last part of the puzzle as far as data leadership goes is gaining real experience of what data-led initiatives inside organisations look like. Questions like why you need to create a data strategy, what the results will be, how it will empower parts of the c-suite are all essential. You have to be an evangelist for your work.”
“From that leadership or project management position I progressed to a more formal change management role,” continues Williams. “And that’s a really key aspect for any good data leader to have: how do you bring change and how do you manage it? Really, any data-driven organisation is about moving from a legacy way of operating to a new approach, and it’s your job as a data leader to present and sell that change to the parts of the business that don’t understand
Central to that evangelism, Williams explains, is the evolution of data adoption in organisations. A core component of any effective data literate ecosystem is the positioning of data at the heart of the business as well as a strong grasp of the importance of ownership. “Nobody gets to build their own HR, finance, facilities or IT functions because there’s a corporate model for those,” says Williams. “The
“IT’S YOUR JOB AS A DATA LEADER TO PRESENT AND SELL THAT CHANGE TO THE PARTS OF THE BUSINESS THAT DON’T UNDERSTAND IT”
same should be true of data. The place for data to exist is at board level; it’s a central asset that the whole organisation should access from one place – I liken it to the central nervous system of the company. That makes business ownership essential, because the value from any data will come from using it in business scenarios, driving business or strategic decisions and looking for business-focused outcomes or opportunities.
“The other important point is that data is the only truly horizontal organisation unit, because it flows from one pillar to aother,” he continues. “It doesn’t respect the traditional empirical hierarchies that we tend
to build from the c-suite downwards; it flows across all of them. Over time that’s led me to understand that, yes, the CIO or technology function has to put the infrastructure in place where data can be created, gathered or ingested into the business. But from that point on, there must be business ownership that uses the data in a way that drives strategic outcomes and creates value.”
Success in this regard rests on one important realisation: succeeding with data is ultimately a people, not a technology problem. It’s a thread central to Williams’ vision of a data literate ecosystem, an
organisation that puts data architecture at its heart, surrounds those components with a culture that generates a flow of strategic questions, inputs and objectives, and then acts on that data to drive commercial decisions and outputs.
“First you must establish the need to change,” he adds. “Typically, it’s the understanding that using data will help you analyse your market, look at opportunities to reduce costs or drive efficiencies, reach new audiences, develop new products and so on. Within that, cultural change is fundamental. It’s very easy to change technology, but it’s useless unless there’s a strategic outcome tied to the genius locked inside it.
flex and make informed decisions. Unfortunately, they’re often the things that people overlook because they don’t come with a receipt. They come with behavioural change and an evolution of words, patterns, actions and expectations; it’s far harder to change something than it is to buy.”
It is here that the well-rounded, businessfocused modern data leader is essential, believes Williams. “The data strategy is important,” he notes, “but it supports the business strategy. It’s the latter you really need to get your head around. You have to have a handle on organisational impact, talk business language and build an
Consider the data literate ecosystem as a venn diagram of three bubbles: people, technology and data. You need all three, you can purchase all three and, quite often in this scenario, the temptation is to go and buy the change.
“But outside of those three bubbles are the inbound influences,” Williams continues. “On one side you have strategic initiatives – questions you can work on and values you can generate – and on the other, the people that can accept the information you’re creating, respond,
understanding of how the data-driven initiatives you’re pushing affect each of the c-suite members so you can get buy-in and bring them on the journey with you. Data-led change is one of the biggest challenges, so you need those advocates with you – it’s a rocky journey, you answer one question, you get 10 more and that never stops so it’s about establishing that burning imperative for starting the journey.”
Since January 2019, Williams has been putting this into practice at publishing
“IT’S VERY EASY TO CHANGE TECHNOLOGY, BUT IT’S USELESS UNLESS THERE’S A STRATEGIC OUTCOME TIED TO THE GENIUS LOCKED INSIDE IT”
company Penguin Random House, driving a cloud-focused data transformation across the business with the objective of more effectively using the company’s data to generate business outcomes and add value across the organisation.
“I started with the intention of writing a data strategy,” he concedes, “the general idea being that the company wanted to learn how to use data better. Much of my early work was taken up with the ongoing merger of Penguin and Random House, so the data strategy was actually written last year. It was a case of reflecting on the newly merged systems, the single source of truth that we had created with technology including an industry-specific metadata tool called Biblio, and leveraging all of that combined strength forwards.
“I’d inherited a team consisting of many contractors, who’d been brought in to process the code needed to move the data around as part of the transformation but there are several challenges around scaling up with this kind of resource, so it was essential to find a way off our physical database,” he continues. “Any
“THE MAIN CONSIDERATION WAS HOW DO I LAND MY DATA INTO THE ORGANISATION AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE”
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physical solution is subject to limitations that just aren’t there in the cloud so that direction was key, as was automation and not relying on generating code by hand. The main consideration was how do I land my data into the organisation as efficiently as possible, which is where I started considering the modern data stack and the use of niche components that reflect a more modern problem.”
This approach, says Williams, has been transformational in delivering data across the business but also in generating greater collaboration, trust and partnerships between the various organisational functions. “For most starting their data journey, cloud-based tools that connect with oversight from you allow you to progress so quickly, it’s unbelievable. As an example, when I joined we were in the process of mastering our Amazon data to better understand how books were selling on the platform. We built a large reporting capacity, which took a lot of work and investment to bring that data to everyone in the business. This year we’ve started with the same set of data in our modern data stack – using AWS, Fivetran/DBT, Snowflake and Terraform tools, as well as Data.World for governance – we’ve done that in weeks rather than the previous months or years.
integrate four or five new tools, build a working solution and have that information ready to be consumed by the business is quite an achievement; the speed of transformation is incredible. Naturally, it will grow as we get more data sources, but we’ve already achieved so much with a smaller group of people for less money and in a shorter time frame. It’s something we should be rightly proud of. Beyond that, though, it’s also opened up broader transformation behaviour. I can go to any department in the organisation and say ‘let’s talk about strategy and look at what you’re trying to achieve’ knowing that I can connect my new modern data stack to almost any source of data in a way that wasn’t possible before and put that information into the hands of the people.”
“It’s so much easier to land and fire data into the organisation,” he states. “Within three months we had our first prototype dashboard in our power BI tools. To
Technology solutions played a crucial role in the development of the modern data stack. In this regard, says Williams, working with partners like Snowflake and Fivetran was crucial to unlocking the power of data at Penguin Random House. Unsurprisingly, considering the premium he places on collaboration and the human element of transformation, strong relationships are essential in partner collaboration. “First, you have to be market competitive,” he says. “But beyond that, I want our partners to understand my challenges, to have a robust engagement with our security function, and to demonstrate a willingness to understand our journey and support
our transformation efforts. It’s critical in forming strategic relationships.”
While still relatively early in its data journey, Williams is able to highlight several advantages already being seen across the business, including greater visibility of information and the data environment at large, significantly improved speed of delivery in bringing extra data sources to departments across the company – and the ability to scale technology rapidly, and better engagement across the board.
“Going back to my data literate ecosystem, the ability to create this centralised data asset brings more opportunities to understand the horizontal journey across the business of every decision that we make,” he says. “Every decision you make is based on data, whether you realise it or not. From this new capability I’m predicting better scenario planning, better forecasting, improved cost efficiency and the ability to do things faster, as well driving our products in the right market and to the right audience. We control all of these factors through better data visibility; everything is within our grasp right now.”
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
I NNOVATIVE AND INSPIRED ITEMS FOR WORK , LEISURE AND THE ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS
It is, if we’re honest, a niche wishlist to contain ‘watch made from the tyres of cars that have won races’. But that hasn’t stopped Swiss watch artisans Roger Dubuis and Pirelli. The result of this partnership is the Excalibur Spider Pirelli, which sees Dubuis’ signature skeleton calibre – made and certified against the strictest horology certifications – wrapped in black DLC titanium. The watch includes exclusive straps made of ‘winning motorsport tyre rubber’, courtesy of Pirelli, which also feature Pirelli-specific tread patterns on the inside surface.
www.rogerdubuis.com
I NNOVATIVE AND INSPIRED ITEMS FOR WORK , LEISURE AND THE ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS
You can 3D print anything nowadays: food, houses, dinosaurs… Add to the list the incredible Superstrata E, a unibody thermoplastic carbon fiber e-bicycle that’s custom-fit to its riders proportions [whether you’re ‘dainty or lanky’, according to its makers]. Unibody construction from single, continuous carbon fiber makes the Superstrata E light – around 11kg – easy to conceal a slim battery that can help you reach speeds of up to 20 mph, and ridiculously strong. So strong, claims Superstrata, that it’s a bike fit for space. All you have to do is get it there.
www.superstrata.bike
I NNOVATIVE AND INSPIRED ITEMS FOR WORK , LEISURE AND THE ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS
Offices have always been tricky environments when you want a little privacy or isolation. And, in the high-tech world we live in, you’d like to think that we’ve progressed beyond the clunky, fabric acoustic barriers of yesteryear. Office Shell is one solution. The compact, customisable work pod that comes courtesy of award-winning interior design house Dizz Concept enables unobstructed working in open plan spaces, allows for individual adjustment of lighting and colour intensity to suit its user and is made of natural materials. It even has smartglass windows, for when you really want to get out of that meeting.
www.dizzconcept.com
I NNOVATIVE AND INSPIRED ITEMS FOR WORK , LEISURE AND THE ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS
The world’s smartest mask. Says tech lifestyle brand Razer of its Project Hazel smart mask and, looking at the high-tech face covering, it’s hard to disagree. Project Hazel’s intelligent design incorporates innovative technology and safety features. Take, for example, its active ventilation system that filters at least 95% of airborne particles, or the special charging case with a UV interior that kills bacteria and sterilises between uses. Other features include lowlight mode that sees the mask light up at night and a built-in mic and amplifier to avoid any tricky ‘mask voice’ mumbling.
I NNOVATIVE AND INSPIRED ITEMS FOR WORK , LEISURE AND THE ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS
Spirit Animal is committed to sustainability, respect and responsibility. It is, it says, a different breed of coffee designed to change your palate and the planet. All beans are sourced from independent farmers in Honduras, fair wages are paid to all involved in the supply chain and the company reinvests its own profits back into its farms. Those farms are located at around 5,000ft, giving a sweeter taste from the top 1% of all beans chosen by Spirit Animal. The result: impeccable environmental standards and award-winning coffee ranked outstanding by the Speciality Coffee Association.
www.spiritanimalcoffee.com
XING’ S M ARC R OULET ON THE DISCIPLINE OF DATA , DRIVING PERFORMANCE THROUGH INSIGHT AND WHY ANALYTICS AND RESEARCH ARE A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN
What does success look like? Perhaps the most important question when it comes to defining business performance and setting the right incentives to meet your objectives. But, in an increasingly complex and technology-driven corporate environment, it’s likely you won’t answer that question yourself. Rather, says XING’s Director Analytics & User Research Marc Roulet, the answer lies in a data- and analytics-driven culture across the organisation, analysts that own the information and insight they provide and who aren’t afraid to engage their stakeholders, and in the marriage of research, experimentation and analysing that data.
Of course, as a self-confessed data evangelist, Roulet would say this. But, he also does so based on an extensive career in analytics, data and technology, a strong set of data and business principles, and a passion for embedding intelligence into the companies he works for while using technology to solve strategic challenges. “I fundamentally believe that data in all its entirety should be central to how an organisation thinks, operates, drives its decision-making processes; it should also be seen as essential in the overall organisational structure,” he states. “Only companies that place analytics and data at the heart of their business will survive in the long run.”
It’s a belief that Roulet has nurtured throughout his career, from his early days working at eBay as a Business Analyst, through roles at ImmobilienScout24 Group where he worked with analytics across several functions including marketing, sales and business development, mobile.de, which is part of the eBay Classifieds Group, and more recently the professional social network XING. “At its heart, it’s all been about problem solving,” he says, “it’s a pretty linear career development that’s seen my work centred
around helping businesses with data and, on the flip side, helping analysts create and own better insight that the company can work with – they’re probably the two sides of the coin that any analytics environment needs to thrive in.
“That combined experience has allowed me to stand at quite a unique intersection of understanding data, understanding the technology that underpins it across the organisation and also having strong enough business skills that I can translate those learnings and knowledge into a
“ONLY COMPANIES THAT PLACE ANALYTICS AND DATA AT THE HEART OF THEIR BUSINESS WILL SURVIVE IN THE LONG RUN”
language that’s understood more broadly,” Roulet continues. “At mobile.de, for example, I was in a quite traditional analytics role, things like product and business analytics and problem solving, web analytics, conversion rate optimisation and AB testing; I worked hand-in-hand with business partners and quickly realised that was my strong suit. Even at that stage, the interesting part for me was taking the data, connecting the dots and contributing to the larger picture.
“That interest was behind my decision to move into a global analytics position at eCG, the eBay classified group,” he adds. “It was a global analytics position solving complex challenges across the whole business portfolio. That scale presents an entirely new problem: on every level of the company people are trying to leverage data, but how do you do that internationally with different entities with their own
KPIs and tracking standards, different definitions of similar metrics, varying ways of looking at the business and different performance incentives? XING is even more structured in its use of data because it’s a social network. The only thing we have is our data and our users, we have to understand them and utilise our insight in the best way. There’s a big focus on how we define and nurture success from an analytics perspective, the next generation of which over the past two years has been how we fuse research and analytics to create more value with the products we have. I remember joining and having a real sense of renewed energy at being back on the frontline of data.”
The result of such experience is a staunch view on the value of data to any organisation that manifests itself in a set of business and data principles that Roulet
Exasol - The in-memor y database
XING’s legacy data warehouse often took more than 24 hours to load changes. Integrating Exasol into their existing environment, XING boosted data processing by 5x, processing 10 billion data sets per year. Thanks to Exasol’s unique in-memor y architecture and automatic quer y tuning, previously impossible business analysis is now commonplace.
“Queries that were previously unthinkable Dr Ulrich Fricke, Data Warehouse and Reporting
holds close. The former, he says, are ‘read between the lines, challenge your business partner, own your product and be proactive’, while on data he states clearly ‘data accuracy is holy, methodology matters, visualisation matters, tell a story’. While these apply to the modern, datadriven organisation, that hasn’t always been the case.
Roulet describes an evolution in the adoption and use of data by organisations, wherein data and infrastructure has evolved across several waves of maturity, the terminology and use cases around data science and analytics roles and functions have changed based on how best to leverage all the available data, and the tools used to do this have also developed.
Over recent years, he notes, data infrastructure has evolved from basic analysis – tasks like web tracking and log tracking – through big data analytics and the need for larger storage and better access, to a cloud-based approach.
“The whole analytics environment has changed tremendously,” continues Roulet. “There’s several reasons. The volume of data available has grown exponentially, the
tools and skills needed to extract and create value have completely evolved, and at the same time the expectations from business stakeholders have increased to the point where it’s difficult to find the right balance between providing the insights that the stakeholder wants and keeping it simple enough that they actually use it. That’s why, going back to my business and data principles, things like visualisation and being able to tell the story are so important.”
“IF AN ANALYST PRESENTS THEIR DATA IN THE RIGHT WAY, THE DECISION HAS BEEN MADE BY ITSELF”
As this evolution progressed, Roulet states, data science permeated into analytics. “One challenge we’ve seen historically is the growth of the data science movement. The belief was that they have different challenges because they’re ultimately trying to solve different problems with different approaches than, say, traditional analytics and BI teams so they need their own environment. At the beginning I understood that approach, but I think data science was separated or pushed more into the technology function.
“We’re learning now that it’s one and the same thing and that we should be building on the same data, having a single source of information for both data scientists
and analysts,” he continues. “There are several examples of questions that can be answered by three types of data science: Analytics Data Science, for instance to build prediction models to forecast future churn or building a classification model for marketing communication; Applied Data Science, for example by improving recommender or search algorithms that improve user experience; and Research Data Science, where using deep-learning (neural networks) to develop critical components in self-driving cars or speech recognition is a typical use case. I think we’d do ourselves a favour as a discipline if we made people in the organisation understand we speak the same language and
ultimately need to work together more collaboratively than I think happens in many businesses.”
Analytics and data have to be embedded in an organisation and work seamlessly together, says Roulet. He also believes in a data maturity curve that runs from descriptive and diagnostic through predictive, prescriptive and automated; too many, he says, want to skip the basics to the detriment of the business. “I’m all for machine learning and predictive analytics,” he states, “but I also think it creates a false narrative that doesn’t work – there’s no point in applying machine learning algorithms if you haven’t properly defined what it is you hope to achieve. If you don’t have data you can’t analyse, if you don’t have clean data you don’t optimise, and if you don’t know what your goals or KPIs are, you can’t improve. Or worse, you improve for the wrong optimum.”
Roulet considers analysis and reporting to be central to the direction of those KPIs or incentives. “It’s the nature of how businesses operate that you need to incentivise people so they know what they’re optimising for, and I think it’s essential that companies define ‘this is what success means on a strategic level and an operational level’, and how you then translate that into what must be improved and the logically stringent set of KPIs that will let you achieve that. To do that you need analysts that actually
understand the inner workings of the metric and help, through their reporting, people understand what the KPI actually means, and you need a business that’s data informed to a degree that they understand the goal.
“A good analytics approach will see growth supported and driven by data; if an analyst presents their data in the right way, the decision has been made by itself – the nature of the outcome of what they’re showing means there’s no alternative,” he explains. “You can add opinions, but the better approach is to add the voice of the customer and research-based results. And that’s crucial. In the data and analytics space you can spend an unbelievable amount of time talking about what the numbers say and sometimes they just don’t make sense. You need to know what the users are doing and why.”
XING, which Roulet joined in late 2019, has been an innovator in the German social media space for more than 10 years and is part of a larger, data-driven ecosystem that includes a career-oriented social networking site, events and HR partnerships, advertising, content delivery and job rating services. This diverse value proposition is underpinned by a simple, yet effective ethos: to create meaningful social exchange and personal connections, while providing relevant and engaging information about careers and work.
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The company has been through several rounds of innovation and reinvention, the latest of which Roulet has actively participated in. Data is central to this drive. For example, recent transformation initiatives include development of tracking standardisation, preparing for migration to the cloud from existing Hadoop and MapR systems, migration to Tableau for greater visualisation capabilities and fostering a stronger experimentationdriven culture coupled with the bringing together of analytics and research.
than just data, proactively providing deep-dives that answer questions. That’s really important for me from a leadership perspective and I invest much of my personal energy in coaching and evangelising analysts to acknowledge the relevance of visualisation, storytelling and sparring with others in the company.
“The transition to Tableau was on request of our analysts, and we’ve been really successful at creating a degree of transparency that has shifted the dynamic in
“When I joined, analytics had some maturing to do,” Roulet states. “The business already worked with data a lot, but there were several KPIs that potentially weren’t as sharp as I think they needed to be, the analysts weren’t as embedded and engaged in the conversations with their stakeholders and the engagement across the organisation wasn’t as profound as I thought it should be. We worked on streamlining what we optimise for, and a lot of that was working to get the analysts to engage with their stakeholders, have meaningful conversations and deliver insights rather
terms of collaboration and everyone speaking the same language, looking at the same numbers and sharing the same optimisation goals,” says Roulet. “Much of our optimising of the infrastructure that sits underneath all this capability is still ahead of us, but we’re working with Exasol on data warehousing and it’s a really powerful and performative tool. The focus has been on renewing visualisation and tooling, connecting the businesses and bringing everything together so you’re not optimising for the local optimum, but you’re maximising for the entire business.”
“IF YOU DON’T HAVE DATA YOU CAN’T ANALYSE, IF YOU DON’T HAVE CLEAN DATA YOU DON’T OPTIMISE, AND IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOUR GOALS OR KPIS ARE, YOU CAN’T IMPROVE”
Alongside this transformation, Roulet has driven a greater connection of analytics and research – a combination he describes as ‘a match made in heaven’. This approach goes beyond the usual focus on data and blends several disciplines to create an entirely new level of knowledge for business stakeholders. Here, analytics is centred around behavioural insights, or ‘what the customer is doing’, whereas research is related to attitudinal insights or ‘why the customer does this and how they feel about the product’, Roulet affirms.
“We have an insights-driven decision making culture, but it’s not at the level it should be,” he states. “The research element really elevates the value of the insights generated to the next level as we include the users’ views into the decision process. Everything we do, we’re doing for our users so it’s essential to have a good research organisation that gives us the validation we need, particularly because we have so many different value propositions. We use a comprehensive set of research methodologies to support our insights process. These include interviews, unmoderated tests, market research and surveys using both quantitative and qualitative data (e.g. email survey with 10.000 respondents = quantitative, in-depth interview with five users = qualitative) to name only a few. Our product is all about driving engagement, but we want our users to be satisfied as well.”
To that end, the bringing together of research and analytics will continue into the future, says Roulet. “You can’t conquer the world all at once, you have to be methodical and take it step by step. The road forward is firmly establishing research and analytics as complimentary, in addition moving analytics and data science closer together and finally ingraining that testing and experimentation mindset as an additional component. For me, the combination of research, analytics, data science and experimentation are key, if you have all those in place you have a world-class data organisation – you have analysts explaining to you what’s happening, you have data scientists predicting user behavior through data and improving data-driven product offerings, testing specialists helping you validate that shipped products actually drive intended performance improvements, and you’ve got a research organisation telling you if the users are feeling the positive impact of your product improvements on an emotional level. It’s constant innovation, and it’s something we love to embrace.”
www.xing.com
T HINK A TRANSITION TO HYBRID WORKING IS TECHNOLOGY DRIVEN?
T HINK AGAIN . FOR E UGENIA PLANAS , IT ’ S ABOUT LEADERSHIP, COLLABORATION AND UNLOCKING CULTURAL CHANGE
Disruption is not an option. It sounds pretty dramatic but, for a few select companies and industries during the pandemic, it was a mantra to live by. You wouldn’t, for example, want your people or your technology to come up short should you be performing critical work for the economy. Or if business as usual for you meant responsibility for settling more than £600bn worth of payments every day. Throw in for good measure, the need to contribute to critical international forums such as the G20 or G7. As we said, disruption is not an option. At least not for the Bank of England and Eugenia Planas.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given her experience over the last 18 months and the nature of her work, Planas is an advocate for remote and hybrid working when done correctly. She has, after all, led a digital-first hybrid working strategy at a legacy organisation that has facilitated business-as-usual working conditions for some 5,000 people. But, despite her title and her experience, hers isn’t a story of technology so much as it is one of people, of culture and a human-first approach to business challenges. These are personality traits that both underpin Planas’ own leadership style and which she believes are crucial to any
Planas heads up Digital Services at the UK’s central bank. She is, she says rather modestly, responsible for ‘everything and anything’ that her colleagues at the Bank rely on to communicate and collaborate – in the context of the above, that’s a lot. In simple terms, during the pandemic she and her team were front and centre in enabling the Bank to continue to operate normally both internally and externally and move to a remote, then hybrid working model under which it has thrived. When she says disruption wasn’t an option, she means it.
organisation or leader navigating their team through a post-COVID return to work [whatever that may look like].
“It’s not about driving new technology,” she states. “The technologies we’re using have been around for a long time –I’d been working on a remote working strategy pre-COVID – so we’re not really breaking new ground here. This is a cultural change that’s absolutely about putting people at the centre. It’s about
“ It’s not about driving new technology. This is a cultural change that’s absolutely about putting people at the centre ”
saying ‘how can we make sure that everyone can do their work in the most productive way, feel good when they’re doing it and not perceive themselves as worse off than anyone else?’. The real focus should be on giving everyone the ability to contribute and be the best version of themselves, whether they choose to be in a meeting room in the office or at home. It felt good breaking that presenteeism culture that has existed in so many organisations for a long time.”
introduce your shiny new piece of technology without actually aligning it to your organisation’s culture, story and objectives and it’ll go horribly wrong. You have to understand the diversity of skills and experience you have in the business and know how you help everyone realise their role and capabilities in the context of the broader vision. You also need the ‘why?’. You have to know your organisation and its purpose, and the challenge there can
As a digital leader, much of Planas’ career has been focused on change and transformation; it is, she concedes, ‘a genuine passion’. Detailing the Bank’s transition to remote and hybrid working, she returns several times to a key phrase: ‘unlocking cultural change’. During the pandemic this was undoubtedly crucial and played a key role in driving the organisation’s hybrid evolution, but pre-COVID, Planas had always advocated the benefits that come from an effective, people-first digital culture and the leadership required to achieve it.
“Personally, I find it difficult to separate technology and culture,” she explains. “You can’t implement one without the other – it’s the first lesson for any leader. You try to
sometimes be helping those in the business understand how what’s being introduced and the changes that will come with it will help them be more efficient, more productive or tackle a certain challenge.”
Then came COVID. With the pandemic came disruption, but also the removal of any doubts around the ‘why’ for all of us. At the Bank there was, says Planas, no questioning it; very suddenly, unlocking cultural change became simple – at least, as simple as you’d imagine it can be. Roll back the clock and, before COVID swept around the world, Planas had already been preparing for a greater shift to digital remote working. Technologies such as
“ It felt good breaking that presenteeism culture that has existed in so many organisations for a long time ”
collaboration tools were in place, she explains, and the Bank was already moving in the right direction, albeit at a more leisurely pace than a global pandemic necessitated.
“We had proposed strategies to increase remote working, use new technology and tools and break the geographical boundaries to give more flexibility to our workforce,” she says. “But it had been very difficult to get the air time for these kinds of topics because, as with many places, they were always seen as ‘nice to have’. Our current governor Andrew Bailey, who took up the role in March last year, has a strong vision for the Bank based around being more humble, more human and in step with the changing world.
“With COVID, that just accelerated,” she continues. “There was no question of why. Everyone understood the need to move to remote working; we had to protect our people, to get everyone into their homes safely and to continue to operate normally. Not doing any of those things meant serious consequences, it would make or break the Bank’s mission at a time when it was crucial for the country. As a leader, it was humbling to see how people reacted to a crisis, how they were passionate about the mission and focusing on the bigger picture.”
From a pure technology perspective, the rapid shift to remote working necessitated a quick response – in just under two weeks, close to 90% of the bank’s 5,000-strong
workforce were working from home. Cue challenges experienced by technology and IT teams across the world, including unprecedented demand on remote working infrastructure, described by Planas as ‘the front door of the bank’, a threefold increase in traffic that required an upgrade of existing bandwidth, a need to increase VPN capacity without disrupting service and the introduction of Microsoft Teams to cope with the around 60,000 meetings per month within the organisation.
But this is a more humble and more human bank. And from those many meetings, the discovery of new ways of collaborating and sharing and a single focus on driving forward, Planas explains a host of positives came to the fore. Take, for example, the Bank’s networking platform which, previously used as a way to share events and work, quickly became a people-centric hub for sharing lockdown experiences, wellbeing tips and nurturing the sense of community that has always underpinned work at the Bank of England. Similarly, virtual meetings levelled the playing field for everyone, facilitating communication and discussion between those that may have not found face-to-face discussion suited their working style; the same technology has played a crucial role in further improving diversity and inclusion work.
developing had three cornerstones,” says Planas, “work everywhere, work on anything and include everyone. After six months of remote working, the beautiful thing was how it opened our eyes to the improvements that could come. It made communication better and discussions richer thanks to the flexibility of virtual meetings.
“Working remotely or in a hybrid way is also a great leveller,” she continues. “That’s particularly true for those with families and caring responsibilities, but also in a geographical sense. Having virtual meetings and building in flexibility means people don’t feel less productive or not part of the team if they are physically present in the office less often. And that’s as true for those working from home as it is for our colleagues
One key theme underpins all of these positives: people. “It’s funny, because the digital working strategy I’d previously been
in other locations, such as our Leeds office. The real positive is that doing things digitally means everyone can collaborate equally, regardless of where they are.”
Much of our success at work relies on relationships built over many years. Remote working undoubtedly makes maintaining and building new relationships more challenging, particularly for new team members who find developing the traditional ‘water cooler camaraderie’ more difficult over a video call than they would
in the office. The answer, for the Bank, is hybrid working, says Planas. “After six months we faced the inevitable questions about how to return to the office, but all of these benefits from working remotely had just become ingrained in what we do; this new culture in all its richness had to stay.
“Technology can never fully replace human interaction,” she states. “During the transition we’ve done a lot of work with a steering group who found that the main reasons people wanted to return to the
office were to reconnect and recover that personal interaction. At the Bank, we see hybrid working as a way to continue to unlock talent irrespective of geographical boundaries, to provide the flexibility our workforce now expects, and to maintain the inclusivity and diversity of thought we have while providing an environment where human relationships can grow.”
To make any significant transformation work, a change in mindset is crucial. In this instance, that’s particularly true for the Bank’s leadership. How, for example, do you shift from a management position where teams and colleagues are always present, always visible and thus, simple to
“
I find it difficult to separate technology and culture ”
measure in terms of performance and effectiveness in their roles to one where people are still ‘present’, but not ‘there’? “It can be a challenge,” says Planas. “You’ll naturally lean towards people that you see rather than those you don’t. We’ve been working a lot with our HR teams to develop a training roadmap for managers centred around what leadership looks like in the virtual world.
“Part of our broader mission to be a more human bank was the establishment of a taskforce to redefine leadership,” Planas continues. “Within that vision, developing soft skills is crucial. We’re talking about leaders that can create enthusiasm and drive, that can really embody the mission and objectives of the organisation and be an advocate for the values and behaviour of a modern bank that wants to be more inclusive and dynamic. From a leadership perspective, that’s a big change because you’re challenging your core identity as a leader. I always view it as defining your own personal brand – what’s the incentive for you as a leader or manager and why do you have to change and evolve?
“The pandemic opened our eyes in terms of leadership and made us see the big step change that’s needed. I remember having sleepless nights about many of my team, particularly at the beginning when there was a lack of clarity, people were unwell or difficult to get hold of. You realised very quickly that people were looking to us as leaders for reassurance on what the bank
was doing. It put a lot into perspective in terms of how we move forwards,”
Moving forwards started on 13 September. On that day, the new normal came into effect at the Bank, encompassing all of the learnings from remote working that Planas discusses and driving them into a hybrid model. Challenges to that date were relatively light, says Planas, revolving largely around tech literacy and ensuring everyone knew the equipment available to them and how to best make use of it – that she can report training sessions went from ‘one or two turning up pre-COVID to 200 or more per session’ demonstrates the appetite for change across the organisation.
“From my perspective, we’ve pushed the Bank hard to make decisions on everything needed,” says Planas. “We set up rooms ready for hybrid working – 45 of 200, with the view to have 80 by the end of the year – refreshes of kit and new tech
and the Teams rollout I previously mentioned. We do a regular wellbeing survey on which one of the questions is around having the right technology and tools to do the job. Before lockdown it was at 54%, it was a key target to bring that up. After we’ve made these changes we’re now seeing around 80% or more of people agreeing or strongly agreeing they have the tools and technology to do the job.
“Is hybrid working the future? I think yes. For all of us, our lives have changed a lot, and it’s given us all time to think and to appreciate the benefits of a new way of working. It brings a different dimension to the need to be in the office and breaks down a lot of myths about things you can’t do remotely. If you think of it like that, the only reasoning for being in the office is building relationships – that’ll always be a
At time of writing we are a week into this new world. For Planas, the strong start seen is a vindication of the work carried out so far. “It’s gone really well so far,” she says. “We’ve had a strong uptake of people coming into the office and positive feedback across the board both in terms of peoples’ experiences in the hybrid environment and the capabilities of the technology we’ve put in place. We’ve also seen our three key policy committees take place in a hybrid way, which was a pretty big milestone in terms of role modelling hybrid working at that level. I’m pleased to see the behavioural change too. Meetings are really effective across the board, we’re seeing little things like people bringing their laptops to meetings, looking for ways to make sure the environment is inclusive.
part of our day to day work life. From our perspective, there’ll always be unknowns. There’s a lot of waiting to see what happens in the longer term, whether there’ll be big questions around people wanting to be in the office in any capacity and what that looks like. Regardless of where we end up, I think both the way and the reliance for day to day work with which colleagues at the Bank use collaboration technology has forever changed. And the focus has therefore shifted to create services that are fit for these new purposes, with emphasis on the user experience and reliability, but with an absolute need to guarantee speedy evolution and transformation to allow us to keep up with a world that’s changing at a faster pace than ever.”
www.bankofengland.co.uk
“ We see hybrid working as a way to continue to unlock talent irrespective of geographical boundaries ”
By vaLuEs
CEO T IM D E B ORLE AND CTO P ETER
T HIJS ON THE TECHNOLOGY AND ACCOUNTABILITY - CENTRIC CULTURE
DRIVING N APOLEON S PORTS & C ASINO ’ S LEADING EDGE AND RESPONSIBLE GAMING ENVIRONMENT
the modern casino or bookmakers has evolved hugely from the bricks and mortar gaming businesses of the past. The transformation of the entire industry has been vast – even a mere decade ago, a large majority of the online casino and betting platforms we see and use today were still in their infancy.
Since then, gaming has morphed into a multichannel proposition that enables players to access their favourite games and place bets anywhere and anytime in their provider’s jurisdiction so long as they have an internet connection.
For Belgium’s Napoleon Sports & Casino, the journey since its founding in 2012 has ridden this technology-driven wave.
Current CEO Tim De Borle joined the organisation as an Operations Analyst just months after the company started trading online. One of only five employees working on the online side of the business, his rise through the ranks is testament to the culture of aspiration, accountability and recognition that has allowed Napoleon to grow to where it is today – a Belgian market leader.
“There have been lots of learnings during these nine years,” De Borle muses. “The owners in 2012 had the foresight to know that online was the future of the business, and they granted us the freedom to make and learn from mistakes in order to grow and expand the company.”
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De Borle quickly transitioned into the operations side of Napoleon, serving as COO for three years before taking on the mantle of CEO Online in late 2020, followed by CEO Group in September 2021. He now stands at the helm of an ever evolving and growing enterprise in what has been the most challenging and satisfying chapter of his career – one that has most recently seen the firm’s acquisition by Superbet.
The takeover by Superbet will enhance the already strong ambition and drive at Napoleon to dominate the market as a multichannel casino and sports betting operator. The two companies have many
(CTO)
synergies, not least in the field of technology, where Napoleon’s CTO Peter Thijs has headed up operations for the past year. An IT sector veteran, Thijs brings a wealth of experience spanning three decades, much of it helping companies navigate rapid growth periods.
Napoleon represented an enticing challenge and an opportunity to apply his knowledge to a new industry, he says.
“I like how close we are to the end user – we are able to draw on a lot of feedback from players. We are here to make a difference for them, build trust and make their experience superior using technology.”
“W E ARE HERE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR PLAYERS , BUILD TRUST AND MAKE THEIR EXPERIENCE SUPERIOR USING TECHNOLOGY ”
P ETER T HIJS
True to this statement, De Borle identifies Napoleon as a responsible, technologydriven entertainment company. Moving forwards, he says this vision will continue as a result of ongoing pioneering developments designed to help drive the player experience.
“Many of these enhancements the customers won’t even notice,” Thijs adds.
“For example, during the European football championships in the summer, we experienced spikes on the system due to
large volumes of people coming onto the platform. This creates challenges to maintain continuity and quality, but our targeted approach meant we were able to successfully navigate those spikes.”
The busy sporting summer is just one of many recent examples of technology playing a crucial role in maintaining and enhancing the customer experience. Another critical component of Napoleon’s offering is a safe and responsible platform
through which players can enjoy gaming and betting. It is a fundamental pillar of the organisation, so much so that dedicated marketing campaigns involving famous faces from the sporting world have been developed, including cycling legend and former world champion Tom Boonen, who is now pursuing a career as a racing driver.
“Napoleon is in the entertainment industry at the end of the day,” De Borle states, “To me, the definition of entertainment means that it must be fun. We have to do everything we can to ensure that the experience continues to be fun, that we realise the dangers of addiction and make
our customers aware of those dangers in the right way and at the right time.”
AI has a critical role to play in this respect. In October 2020, Napoleon partnered with Neccton, one of the leading data and analytics companies in the gaming space, to leverage its Mentor tracking tool, an AI-based programme that identifies possible problematic gambling behaviour and alerts operators and/or players. This moves beyond simply tracking what customers spend. For example, players’ variables will be constantly analysed and can trigger a call to action from Napoleon’s internal teams to communicate with the player.
T IM D E B ORLE (CEO)“N APOLEON IS IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY ”
“W E HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO ENSURE THAT THE EXPERIENCE CONTINUES TO BE FUN , THAT WE REALISE THE DANGERS OF ADDICTION AND MAKE OUR CUSTOMERS AWARE OF THOSE DANGERS IN THE RIGHT WAY AND AT THE RIGHT TIME ”
T IM D E B ORLE (CEO)
Napoleon’s customers are segmented into risk categories from lowest to highest, the latter being the most serious segment. When customers cross into a higher segment, this can trigger communications such as emails or even one-to-one phone calls. In extreme cases, Napoleon can refer people to professional support organisations.
“How we communicate is critical,” says De Borle. “These are never easy conversations, and we must guide our customers to using our platforms in the right way as opposed to simply shutting ourselves off to them.”
“Denying access doesn’t always help – it can lead people to gaming on the illegal circuit,” Thijs adds. “This makes effective communication even more important, encouraging customers to make use of tools such as deposit limits.”
Customers are also safeguarded in terms of their personal data. Napoleon has extremely strict GDPR and access management protocols in place, with player IDs being the primary way in which people are referred to and managed in the company’s systems. These processes have been formally recognised – towards the end of 2020, the firm received ISO 27001 accreditation, the leading international standard focused on information security.
Just as communication continues to be key in promoting a responsible gaming environment, it will also help define the future of Napoleon from an internal perspective.
For De Borle, the success of his ongoing tenure rests on he and his management’s ability to effectively communicate expectations, vision and values. “There are three core values that underpin everything we try to do: we’re in this journey together; do what you say and say what you do; and play your best game,” he says. “The first is about sharing in both our successes and failures – when one team celebrates a success, we all celebrate; and when we suffer a setback, we all rise up and do what we can to overcome the problem. The second focuses on everyone taking responsibility for ideas and actions and us creating an environment that enables our employees to do this freely.”
Fittingly, Napoleon’s third core value is centred around playing your best game. This encompasses a culture of continuous self and team improvement,
underlined
“W E HAVE CREATED AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE PEOPLE ARE FREE TO GROW , LEARN FROM SUCCESSES AND FAILURES , AND SHARE EXPERIENCES WITH OTHERS ”
by an expectation that employees will always be on the lookout for ways to perform better and deliver the best experience to customers.
As CTO, it is Thijs’s responsibility to instil these values within his own team, and connect his division to others in the business to avoid the creation of silos.
“One of my main leadership mottos is to let them solve the problem,” he explains.
“This means creating an environment where people are free to grow, learn from successes and failures, and share experiences with others. Every two weeks, our teams prepare creative presentations using audio and video to showcase the work they have completed – it is very rewarding to watch them, celebrate their success and see how passionate they are.”
De Borle sees cultural alignment with new parent company Superbet, another relationship that will prove pivotal in the coming years for Napoleon. With new financial backing and reinforced technological capabilities, the CEO optimistically looks ahead to a future that will see huge steps being taken towards welding the retail and online facets of the business into a multichannel enterprise. “Superbet, like Napoleon, has an endless ambition to succeed,” he concludes.
www.napoleongames.be
People are at their best when they care; when their passion for their work drives them, their organisation – all of us – towards a greater purpose. This is as true for Dr Michal Nachmany as it is anyone.
In this instance, that passion is climate change. Specifically, in the case of Nachmany’s not-forprofit, data-led climate startup Climate Policy Radar, using machine learning and AI to map and analyse the global climate policy landscape, inform evidence-based decision making and drive the transition to a low carbon, resilient world.
The company builds on a near-decade of work carried out by Nachmany at Grantham Research Institute, where she led work to map national climate legislation in 200 countries. Collaboration is key; all Climate Policy Radar’s code is open source and open access as part of a growing movement to harness digital tech and AI for the good of the planet. It is also a member of the Subak Open Data Pledge, an accelerator programme for climate-focused tech companies.
www.climatepolicyradar.org
www.climatesubak.org
“I WORK ON CLIMATE CHANGE BECAUSE IT JUST NEEDS TO BE WORKED ON; BECAUSE NOT ONLY IS IT THE GREATEST CHALLENGE HUMANITY HAS EVER ENCOUNTERED, IT IS ALSO THE GRAVEST IT EVER CAUSED, BUT ONE WHICH IT CAN STILL FIX”
SCIENCE FICTION OR REALITY? A SIMULATED, DIGITAL TWIN OF OUR CURRENT EXISTENCE, OR THE DREAM OF TECHNOLOGISTS? WELCOME TO THE METAVERSE, YOUR FUTURE DIGITAL WORLD
Depending on who you are, the idea of an alternate digital reality within which you work, play and socialise can be either mind blowing or terrifying. We are, of course, talking about the metaverse, a term that’s escaped the pages of sci-fi novels everywhere and become synonymous with big tech companies and our digital vision of the future: see, most recently, Mark Zuckerberg’s plans for Facebook to become a metaverse for us all as a case in point.
Without wanting to disappoint, the metaverse is already –to some extent – with us. The exponential growth of digital twin technology in business demonstrates that to good effect. As does the harnessing of virtual reality innovations and the creation of 3D replicas, seen to good effect in the proptech industry. Indeed, according to James Morris-Manuel, if you’ve ever looked at a property online, worn a VR headset, bought bitcoin, or looked at an NFT, you’ve already interacted with the metaverse.
Morris-Manuel is MD EMEA at Matterport, a ‘spatial data unicorn’ that uses innovative digital twin technology to build a 3D, simulated ‘mirror world’ of buildings, yachts and airplanes. He joined us [by the far more traditional email and not, sadly, from the metaverse] to discuss this fascinating topic.
TE: How would you describe your role and responsibilities at Matterport and how closely
has your career been linked to the use of innovative digital technologies?
JMM : As Managing Director for EMEA at spatial data unicorn Matterport, I spearhead growth across 116 countries. Matterport is a leader in the booming and innovative space of digital twin technology and I drive our EMEA strategy, vision, expansion and long-term goal of digitising the built world.
Prior to Matterport, I founded Virtual Walkthrough in 2009, developing the UK’s leading dimensionally accurate, high fidelity photogrammetry and imaging solutions, an industry first, enabling users to move through any space virtually. After rapidly growing it into one of the UK’s largest 3D providers, I led a seed funding round which raised £1 million in 2014. Sensing the global opportunity,
I approached US spatial data company Matterport in 2016 and orchestrated its global expansion. I led this firstly through Matterport’s entry into EMEA via acquisition of Walkthrough, and subsequently, entry into APAC in 2017.
Today, I drive the EMEA hub for Matterport’s game-changing technology which is rapidly digitising and indexing the built world –
“ THE METAVERSE BRINGS US INCREMENTALLY CLOSER TO A SIMULATED REALITY”
akin to creating a 3D internet, where every building and space has a fully populated, searchable digital twin. Every month we bring hundreds of thousands of buildings online, providing entirely new ways for people to experience, interact with and analyse spaces, homes, and buildings. We are building a mirror world of spaces ranging from houses, shops and office blocks, to schools, hospitals, museums, factories, hotels – even yachts and airplanes.
TE: How has the use of innovative technologies like 3D, VR, digital twins and so on, evolved in the proptech sector over your career?
JMM : When I joined the top five global commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, Rightmove and Zoopla were at their height. Today they’re widely considered as the first generation of proptech, replacing traditional real estate agency models, but at that time proptech was in its nascency. I realised technology’s potential to bring transparency and efficiency to real estate, and the major possibilities this presented to disrupt the sector. It’s the world’s largest asset class, but has historically been analogue-based; today it has an estimated value of $230 trillion – more than three times the value of all global equities combined.
In Virtual Walkthrough I built one of the first solutions enabling users to successfully move through a property with dimensionally accurate, high fidelity threedimensional imaging. Virtual Walkthrough provided better photogrammetry than previous virtual tours, many of which were built with a fisheye lens and visually distorted the user experience as a result.
I then created the Virtual Walkthrough software, integrating 360-degree photography with floor plans, to deliver a platform/earlystage SaaS service and bespoke
offering. It quickly grew to be regarded as the best product of its kind globally and cemented Virtual Walkthrough’s position as a first mover and one of the largest, and most well-known virtual tour companies in the UK and Europe, with a technology described as similar to Google Street View for interiors. As globalisation fuelled greater adoption of VR, digital twin technology and proptech have become more widely adopted. Proptech grew during the pandemic, when lockdowns prevented potential buyers from viewing properties in person. By enabling estate agents to create digital twins of properties, buyers were able to view them through virtual 3D tours, with some purchasing properties without even stepping a foot inside the door.
As the pandemic recedes, the demand for digital twin technology shows no sign of abating, especially as it becomes more accessible: using Matterport technology, for example, anyone can create a dimensionally accurate 3D digital twin – or digital copy – of any building or space. To date, we have brought over five million buildings and spaces online in over 150 countries.
organisations would implement digital twins within the next year, while in 2021, Accenture reported that 65% of executives expect their organisation’s investment in intelligent digital twins to increase over the next three years; various reports predict double-digit CAGR of the digital twin technology industry over the next three to five years as additional benefits are realised. According to a recent report by ABI Research, digital twin technology is expected to achieve cost-savings of $280bn by 2030.
TE: There’s increasing talk of the potential of the metaverse for us all – including Mark Zukerberg’s intention for Facebook to become
In terms of broader growth, in 2019, Gartner suggested that 75% of
a metaverse – what does the concept look like to you and how has it developed as an idea?
JMM : If there’s anything we’ve learned from the global pandemic, it’s that people crave connection. Increasing attention is being paid to the way people live, interact and socialise – creating the challenge of making densely populated areas more efficient and effective in providing residents with high quality living experiences.
Enter the metaverse. Many major tech players see the metaverse as a persistent online world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment. By powering the next disruptive transformation since the internet itself and social media, the metaverse brings us incrementally closer to a simulated reality using technologies such as VR and AR to create fully connected, immersive and engaging 3D experiences.
“ YOU’RE ALREADY INTERACTING WITH THE METAVERSE”
Much has been said of the metaverse lately; it means different things to different people. While it may have once been considered in the realm of science fiction, if you’ve ever looked at a property, worn a VR headset, bought bitcoin, or looked at an NFT, you’re already interacting with the metaverse. While it may be virtual, it is also very tangible. Either way, the metaverse or mirror world could play a leading role in the evolution of Tech 4.0.
TE: What’s the current state of the technology; can you give examples of working metaverses and what’s the context?
JMM : If digital twins can be said to form a fundamental part of any metaverse, they are certainly a vital business strategy tool for companies looking to optimise assets and offer new experiences to consumers through the growth of the metaverse. As demand for convenient, engaging and digital-first experiences grows, digital twin technology is spreading exponentially across multiple industries. Its benefits are recognised in numerous sectors from engineering, construction, architecture, travel and hospitality, through to insurance, facilities and retail.
For industries such as retail, even before the onset of the pandemic, traditional brick-and-mortar stores
immersive, engaging consumer experiences that unify the benefits of in-person and online shopping to improve engagement and conversion. In a retail context, this includes everything from trying on clothes virtually or checking out a new shop before it opens, through to visualising and confirming whether new furniture would fit before making a purchase for the home, all from the comfort of your couch.
Digital twins and the metaverse offer consumers a level of convenience we haven’t witnessed before, and it won’t be long before it’s something they come to expect.
TE: How fundamentally will a virtual replica of the world consisting of billions of digital twins change how we experience, interact with and analyse the space around us; can you give examples from the proptech industry?
were already under pressure to stay competitive in a market increasingly dominated by e-commerce. Using the metaverse and digital twins, retail businesses can now remodel and reshape hundreds of stores remotely.
For example, the technology also enables retailers to produce
JMM : As the trend for bringing the built world online continues, businesses large and small are discovering optimisation benefits to digitising their buildings and spaces such as reducing travel expenses by 50%+ for physical site visits or increasing productivity by as much as four times. The value proposition is huge and spans all industries that leverage the built environment.
“
DIGITAL TWINS AND THE
CONSUMERS A LEVEL OF CONVENIENCE WE HAVEN’T WITNESSED BEFORE, AND IT WON’T BE LONG BEFORE IT’S SOMETHING THEY COME TO EXPECT”
Using digital twins, multiple people can visit a space remotely. For example, global design and engineering firm Arup, the creative force behind some of the world’s most iconic structures like the Sydney Opera House, uses Matterport to virtually deploy engineers and designers to job sites to assess construction, access information like measurements of ceiling heights or outlet locations and embed notes, links, videos, or photos for collaboration and progress reviews with stakeholders.
TE: On a practical level, how do you go about building the metaverse and what are the complexities or technological challenges of creating virtual replicas and simulated environments?
JMM : Data is today’s most valuable asset. With the help of artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning technologies, there’s a growing opportunity to unlock powerful spatial data-driven property insights and analytics from a traditionally analogue sector. Breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and deep learning like our proprietary AI, Cortex, an industryleading AI-powered imageprocessing engine, consistently and accurately create 3D digital twins at scale. Cortex AI is a robust
“
SOME SEE THE METAVERSE CREATING AS BIG A SHIFT IN ONLINE COMMUNICATION AS THE INTERNET ITSELF, EVOLVING WITH INFINITE APPLICATIONS”
deep learning neural network that creates the 3D digital twins and automates what has traditionally been performed manually, significantly reducing delivery times.
Powered by AI, we’re indexing trillions of spatial data points to create dimensionally accurate digital twins of physical spaces and new insights into the operational efficiency of buildings around the world. Our AI delivers deep insight which aids strategic decision making, such as inventory decisions across a chain of retail stores or construction considerations in large infrastructure projects, or commercial office blocks, for example. Our AI is transforming buildings into data, and this increases the value of every building. One of the main attractions of digital twins is their rich data layer, which generates insights that help drive strategy and decisioning. An open ecosystem is key, enabling third-party integrations for even more customised solutions. At Matterport, our first decade has been focused on the digitisation of the built world; the next phase is the datafication of digital twins – providing these insights.
TE: Beyond proptech, what’s the potential of a metaverse in the business or corporate sense
and where do you see the largest benefits or opportunities?
JMM : Some see the metaverse creating as big a shift in online communication as the internet itself, evolving with infinite applications. We’ve built a mirror world of more than five million spaces from houses, shops, and office blocks, to even yachts and airplanes. The metaverse is a new
frontier that will open a plethora of unprecedented opportunities.
A virtual replica of the built world, made up of billions of digital twins, will fundamentally change how we experience, interact with, and analyse the space around us. We estimate there are over four billion buildings comprising 20 billion spaces in the world, yet only one per cent of this is digitised, representing an enormous opportunity to generate tangible business results in the metaverse.
As the metaverse could deliver seismic changes to how businesses operate, then there will inevitably need to be some change. The challenge is identifying what the changes
would be, and the business benefit of the approach. Similar to the above, we will better identify the changes as the metaverse evolves.
What could a metaverse-based future look like?
JMM: We will certainly see more of a social element to the metaverse; several tech companies are working on projects to explore how users can interact in a metaverse concept. If digital twins of physical spaces can be transferred to the metaverse, then people could see scans of famous tourist attractions in the mirror world. This is a nascent and burgeoning space.
Matterport is the world’s leading spatial data platform focused on digitising and indexing the built world. Says Morris-Manuel: “Since 2016 we’ve quadrupled our market position and our rapid growth looks set to continue following our July 2021 SPAC merger. Valued at $2.3 billion, this cements our position as a first-mover, first-scaler spatial data and digital twin technology unicorn. We recently announced strong Q2 earnings with total revenue was $26.9 million, up 108% year over year, with a subscriber revenue of $13.8 million, up 84% per year. Our Annual Recurring Revenue is $55.2 million.”
“
THE METAVERSE IS A NEW FRONTIER THAT WILL OPEN A PLETHORA OF UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITIES”
H OW DO YOU TRANSFORM A LUXURY, EXCLUSIVE BRAND INTO A DIGITAL- FIRST RETAIL EXPERIENCE?
DARREN L EVIN EXPLAINS
Tradition, luxury, exclusivity and exquisitely made to order – you’d be forgiven for thinking that, in today’s world of fast technology and even faster retail, these qualities are in danger of being forgotten. Amazon, you see, has a lot to answer for. It has spawned a global ecommerce industry that’s digitallydriven, built on speed, personalisation and an omnichannel, ‘need-it-now’ customer experience. But don’t be fooled into thinking you can’t have both. Pres Les and its CIO Darren Levin, have proved that perfectly over the last two and a half years.
To most in its native South Africa, Pres Les is luxury. Its range of high-quality and stylish homeware graces the homes of more than one million customers in the country and is delivered against the 50-year-old company’s traditions, values and ethos: enriching lives, empowerment and caring. And yet, courtesy of Levin and his team, the pace of digital adoption in the business has been staggering, moving from a largely paper-based direct sales business to a tech-savvy, digitally driven organisation that has substituted its physical product catalogues for an intuitive, customer-driven and mobile-first app experience.
Levin is a technology leader of considerable experience, passionate about helping organisations adapt and grow by leveraging people, data and the latest innovations. His experience spans a host of industries and sectors, from B2B and B2C, health and wellness, FMCG and retail. In the latter, he says, the need to digitally transform has grown exponentially. “It’s been forced. There’s little choice but to evolve and transform as a result of the growth of large online retailers. We live in a world of instant gratification, individualisation, personalisation and customers wanting a very specific, omnichannel experience – it’s a big departure from just a physical shopping experience, where we were a few years ago, and if you don’t transform and modernise you’ll get left behind.”
“We definitely see more people reporting incidents and, as an IT team, we’re spending less time looking at and deciphering emails, so productivity is increased.”
DARREN LEVIN, CIO PRES LES
The technologies required to build an omnichannel retail experience are many, says Levin, outlining the scope of change required at organisations like Pres Les. “There were probably five large retailers in South Africa and everyone shopped at those based on their demographic and financial situation,” he says. “That’s completely changed. If you can’t find what you want in one of these shops or the price doesn’t work for you, you can move online and seamlessly fulfil your want. That’s a real shift in terms of empowering the customer and making companies take note of every individual. From our perspective, it’s about using that technology and embracing the digital era to give people more choice and let them shop however they want.
“In terms of specific technologies, that involves several things,” adds Levin. “WhatsApp and bot-driven communication are becoming increasingly important, particularly here in South Africa, but it also requires a big focus on adaptive website technology and CRMs, sourcing a platform that’s right for your specific business needs or problem – and I don’t think there’s a single one that can solve all of those, rather you should be finding something fit for purpose, that’s hybrid in the sense that you can use multiple tools and switch and choose applications to serve the purpose – focusing on cybersecurity and, of course, data. I don’t believe that any decisions should be made without analysing the data; retailers have large volumes that have been captured and
“WE LIVE IN A WORLD OF INDIVIDUALISATION, PERSONALISATION AND CUSTOMERS WANTING A VERY SPECIFIC, OMNICHANNEL EXPERIENCE”
stored over many years, that should be used to better understand customers and bring opportunities for future product development, upselling and cross-selling.”
Levin joined Pres Les in May 2019, assuming the role of CIO at the start of 2021. His knowledge and understanding of technology, and how that contributes to strategic objectives, has stood the company in very good stead. But, of equal contribution to the transformation work, has been his approach to leadership, his dedication to creating a culture of success and his understanding of the importance of collaboration and project management best practice. Unsurprisingly, as with many of life’s most important lessons, this mentality has been nurtured throughout his career.
“It’s probably been 25 years since my first job, and I’ve learned a couple of lessons that have always remained with me,” he explains. “Most importantly is around
how I like to be treated and what that means for everyone I work with. It’s such a simple leadership concept, but I really believe in treating people in the same manner I want to be treated. No one bothers about your experience, your role or position in the business, or your education if you don’t interact with individuals and teams in a grounded, empathetic, inclusive and transparent way, it’s all irrelevant. Leadership, indeed any position in a business, is about being a good person, collaborating with your team and being prepared to give your all, but also understanding that work is a means to an end and that it’s not the centre of life. That’s really important.
“Alongside that, I’ve always taken with me that businesses too often focus on perpetual long-term strategies,” he continues. “So, only focusing on a five-year strategy may have been useful 20 years ago when your biggest threat was the physical retailer next door but that doesn’t work in a dynamic
and highly competitive digital era – it’s misguided. From a leadership perspective I think it’s important to be nimble, to focus on narrower achievable timeframes, data-driven strategies and on your people. That’s especially true in the IT space, where demand for resources is significant. It’s changed the dynamics of organisations from a very matrix-driven, autocratic environment to one that’s empathetic, inclusive, flexible and far more agile in its approach to work. To support this new way of working we as a business have a strong affinity to a Kanban approach now.”
So often with any transformation project, particularly one of the scale that Levin has driven at Pres Les, a story of leadership
“IF YOU DON’T TRANSFORM OR MODERNISE YOU’LL GET LEFT BEHIND”
emerges as much as it is technology. Today’s technology leader can be a complex mix of many things: technology expert, innovation evangelist, business strategist and more. All this is true for Levin, but he also has a firm view of his own leadership style, and how it has contributed to the success of Pres Les.
“It’s funny,” he reflects, “as you climb the corporate ladder the traits you need as a leader require adaptation. At a c-suite and board level, you have to demonstrate a more strategic leadership style – you have to have a clear understanding of a broad range of business challenges, be very focused on your trajectory and set a decisive plan on how you’re going to transform the organisation and the opportunities that
will present. At a team level, I believe in servant leadership. I don’t know everything, but I have a good understanding of a wide range of topics. But, first and foremost, it’s my job to build and support a team that’s strong in all areas and provide them with the capabilities, tools, environment and culture that allows them to give back to the organisation. A servant leader builds a family; we enjoy success together and when something isn’t working we step up and resolve it together without fear of reprisal or blame.”
It is a style that has proved crucial in setting the right culture to enable Pres Les to transform, Levin explains. “Pres Les is an interesting environment. It’s a successful
“WE ENJOY SUCCESS TOGETHER AND WHEN SOMETHING ISN’T WORKING WE STEP UP AND RESOLVE IT TOGETHER”
50-year-old business that’s done a lot when it comes to enriching peoples’ lives and creating economic opportunities in a country that’s faced its fair share of political and economic hardship . But, as you’d expect, it hadn’t progressed far in terms of technology or IT process. We were a predominantly sales and marketing driven business that had a reactive and inexperienced BI capability, needed enhancements in terms of IT operations, user support and security, software development guidance, personal information privacy and clear policies and procedures for issue and change management control.
“We’re a complex business for several reasons,” he continues. “We’re the leading direct selling company in South Africa, selling through our network of 14,000 consultants. Before the transformation work, everything our consultants did was paper based. They’d receive our physical catalogue twice a year, which was sent out with a price list and order forms, and they’d sell from that, manually capturing
all of the customer’s information and sending it back to us for capturing. We’d then batch upload all of that information into our system once a month for processing. Added complexities arise from the fact that we fund and offer instalment credit as an option to customers, and that we import our own materials and manufacture a large proportion of our made-to-order product locally, at our state-of-the-art factory in Atlantis, Cape Town.”
Such a challenging landscape meant approaching transformation work in stages focusing, says Levin, on where the biggest reward would be found in the shortest time. A raft of changes have since been introduced including, in no particular order, introducing HubSpot for the company’s service desk and marketing capability, which has enabled both the building of a 360-degree view of consultants and customers’ activities; a greater focus on BI to shift from previously ad hoc reports and extracts to a rapid prototyping self-service model that allows data to be quickly shared; implementing Kanban for software development and modernising disaster recovery, redundancy, communications and security infrastructure; building a new website and introducing omnichannel communication via WhatsApp bots, email, SMS and live chat. Most important amongst the developments is the introduction of a new recruitment and selling mobile application that underpins the company’s omnichannel ambition.
The latter is the product of extensive research and development in collaboration with the Pres Les consultant network, which is responsible for selling the company’s products and recruiting new people into the business. South Africa, says Levin, is a dichotomy. A population of some 60 million people, most of whom own a mobile or smartphone, but still have an ‘inherent scepticism’ of ordering online because of the perceived risks involved.
“It had to be intuitive, easy to use and intrinsic to the way the business works,” Levin explains. “We spent around 12 months before we began building the app working with our partner iOCO, consultants and internal business users. We created a group of ‘super users’ and everything we subsequently built was based on feedback from them, understanding what they used and what they didn’t, how easy it was or any particular challenges they faced. As an example, we’d sit with users and film their interaction with the app as they worked through specific user stories, for example recruiting someone. These learnings were taken to iteratively improve on the user interaction and experience of the app. It was hugely beneficial and was at the heart of every step of the journey.
“There also had to be consideration and understanding of relationships and the more personal elements,” he continues. “When you have a catalogue and you’re selling face to face it’s more tangible, you
can see people, gauge their reactions, actually ‘see’ the products and explain the payment options. Selling digitally is different, as all of these areas need to be reflected through the app. So, it was really important to understand all the individual recruitment and selling complexities, ensuring we kept focus on user journey and experience, but that was where the prototype work with the consultants proved invaluable. We released the application in stages during 2020 with the full application launching in August 2020. To date we’ve seen a 79% adoption in a year, with just under 80% of all our sales being processed through it too.”
Of course, such a significant change requires the use of specific technology partners where necessary, a process that Levin describes as potentially challenging but rewarding when done correctly. A premium is placed on the partner
relationship where possible, he explains, particularly when determining whether a vendor is fit for purpose: “BDO UK, a consulting firm, has been a big help during this journey, particularly around compliance, vulnerability, risk and security, as has its partner for email filtering and threat protection, Ironscales. For me, it’s always about the size of the organisation, the complexity of the problem and finding a platform that is truly right for the job.”
Pres Les has seen an impressive evolution in under three years, of which Levin is rightly proud. “It’s definitely positive, and we’re moving in the right direction, but I’ve a project list that spans at least
the next two years,” he states. “The change has been welcomed and the company is looking at other potential acquisitions or ways to utilise our funds to build other tools, so we’re just looking at constantly reprioritising items and staying focused. COVID proved to be beneficial in the sense of our transformation, in that it coincided with the release of the app so allowed our consultants to still work and sell.
“The future, at the moment, is really about looking at diversification,” says Levin. “So off the back of the transformation
work looking at where else we can start generating revenue – is that through acquisition, expansion of the existing model into new markets, through monetisation of our current base of records, or even selling new services. There’s a lot on the table about how we can expand from a vertical component, particularly as our direct selling approach is somewhat confined. Technology-wise, we continue to develop the app to add new features and capabilities, as well as prioritising our move to the cloud. Across the organisation, every layer has had to change to support our new age of selling and reflect the fact that now, we are truly a digital business.”
www.presles.co.za
“NOW, WE ARE TRULY A DIGITAL BUSINESS”
What will public mobility look like in the future? In all likelihood, one of the most pertinent questions of our time. If you live in Kiel, Germany it may well look like the incredible Vaiaro, an autonomous, all-electric ferry concept from the Clean Autonomous Public Transport Network, or – quite fittingly – CAPTN.
As its name suggests, CAPTN is an innovative initiative driven by several science, business, political and educational institutions dedicated to creating an integrated, inner-city mobility chain
of autonomous, clean modes of transport on land and water. It’s integrated mobility chain concept sees accessible modes of public transport use clever tech to connect and operate autonomously, all while being friendly to the environment.
VAIARO will use renewable energy to power emission-free electric propulsion, will be self-piloted and available on demand around the clock. It also looks fantastic.
www.captn.sh/vaiaro/
JENNIFER AGNES ON A LIFE IN DATA, PEOPLE, CULTURE AND COLLABORATION, AND DRIVING EFFECTIVE DATA STRATEGY
Jennifer Agnes is many things, a cursory glance at her LinkedIn profile will tell you that. But an ‘accidental data leader’? We don’t buy it. That’s because, despite Agnes’ best efforts to detail how a successful career in risk management led her down the rabbit hole of the data executive, it is a far too humble description for a respected and recognised senior executive with extensive global experience in risk and data leadership, data evangelism and storytelling, heading up a key peer-to-peer network for fellow leaders, delivering transformation strategies and coaching, data consulting… you get the picture.
has done for her profession. Rather, she approaches data from a business perspective, is passionate about people, relationships and culture and the broader impact they have on data and data strategies, and is a firm believer in giving something back by acting as an advocate for fellow leaders and always wanting to learn.
It’s a refreshing and values-driven take on the open and positive use of data that, in reality, isn’t only about data – a perfect synergy with the mission and objectives of Agnes’ latest venture as Managing Director of data and analytics strategy business, Cynozure Group. But first, a question of risk. “I was in risk management long
Of course, Agnes is joking. There is, as she details, a very distinct link between a successful and in-depth understanding of risk management and how consistency of information behind investment portfolios drives key decision making and the effective analysis and reporting of the large volumes of data that drive most modern businesses. But the overarching narrative of that career journey – whether accidental or not – is that Agnes isn’t a technologist by trade, despite loving what technology
before we talked about data,” she reflects. “And of course, being in that world, I quickly realised you can’t make effective investment decisions if you’re not looking at good and consistent information.
“We never talked about data specifically back then, but when I worked for GE Capital I became an advocate for developing ways in which to represent deal risk parameters more consistently across the portfolios to facilitate decision making on
“EVERYBODY HAS TO BE IN THE GAME; THE ENTIRE DATA SUPPLY CHAIN HAS TO PARALLEL THE BUSINESS PROCESSES”
Forrester
multimillion dollar commercial investments. Often the key information would be presented very differently from investment to investment… I mean, powerpoint lets you do that still, right?,” continues Agnes. “That’s where my interest in data, data flows and operations came into play and, as I progressed through positions of leadership at GE it broadened from just looking at risk to considering how information was being collected more broadly, and how we were presenting it and then using it across the whole portfolio.”
Agnes spent 20 years at GE Capital, in an environment she describes as always encouraging continuous improvement and the freedom to be entrepreneurial, grow and problem solve. It’s a culture that perfectly fits her approach to work and leadership, and further drove her gradual transition to the data leader we speak with today. “I’ve always been one to say yes to a challenge when people ask me
to do something outside of my comfort zone,” says Agnes. “I really believe in always learning, always wanting to offer ideas or work on solutions to problems, and seeking opportunities or creating relationships that let you step into a position you may not have necessarily considered. GE let you find that opportunity. When there was something wrong with the process you could discuss it, find a way to fix it and build a function to deliver it that didn’t exist before.
“For example, when I was at GE Real Estate, I didn’t think the real estate data used for risk decisions and reporting was being managed or curated properly,” she states. “So I took it to the head of Asset Management and basically said ‘there’s a new role here to control and manage the data’ – and remember that this was a time before CDO’s were the ‘cool’ position they are today and, often, a time when senior leaders’ eyes glossed over if you went too heavy on data. After GE I took a
leadership role as Credit Suisse’s first risk and finance chief data officer, where I was able to build a strong team to create sustainable data ingestion, curation and management processes to ensure compliance with BCBS239, the Basel regulations on risk data aggregation and reporting. It was a very defensive data role that helped protect and limit the firm from regulatory risks and, believe it or not, a very practical (albeit all consuming) and common sense approach to managing data risk.
“It happened accidentally but very naturally,” adds Agnes. “I went from a career that was very focused on managing risk to a career that encompassed risk, data, technology and people. Unsurprisingly, these are also the critical components of a robust data strategy. Having this broader perspective
and understanding of how these aspects work together in a comprehensive data strategy helps you find creative ways to deliver your business vision and outcomes with empowered teams that believe in the value data can bring to any organisation.”
It is a common thread that still informs Agnes’ approach to data, strategy and leadership. The answer to a successful data strategy, or the effective use of data, is entrenched in people, business and outcome and driven by a culture that facilitates that, she believes. Data, she states, is everyone’s job. It is about relationships and working together to understand the vision and values of the business, realising how these are driven by people and culture, and then using the tools at your disposal in the correct way.
“EVERY DATA PROBLEM IS REALLY A PEOPLE PROBLEM IN DISGUISE”
“Every data problem is really a people problem in disguise,” she says. “I’ve learned over the many roles I’ve had that data is not a job for one person alone. I joke that I’m an accidental data person, but the reality is data is everyone’s job – if you own, create, provide or consume data in any way, you too have a commitment to data, like it or not. If you’re engaged in the process of creating value for your company, which is what our work at Cynozure is about in terms of data strategy and analytics strategy, then everybody has to be in the game; the entire data supply chain and the people that manage each part, has to parallel the business processes to ensure its integrity.
“In terms of the organisation, you can’t tie data to one job anymore,” continues Agnes.
“Good managers and good leaders have to build a robust culture in which you don’t just hand data to the IT department or the tech team and think they’ll fix it. Rather, you have an environment where every function has a key role to play, believes in the value of data and has a clear line of sight as to how their work is critical to the success of the company because of the information they are providing, managing or using.”
This shift in mindset to a data-driven culture reflects the increasing importance of data in the organisational hierarchy, says Agnes. And yet, she believes it is
still one of the most challenging aspects of effective data adoption. “Data is critical to your business strategy,” she comments, “but creating an environment or culture where everyone understands the impact she or he can have on data quality and acts appropriately and consistently – remember when I said every data problem is a people problem in disguise – well, that is the hardest part about it. It’s not about the organisational hierarchy or the technology, it’s about how your teams work together with other teams breaking down silos of data,
“YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SET THE EXPECTATION THAT THIS ISN’T A FLIP SWITCHING EXERCISE. IT CAN TAKE TIME AND WORK”
The biggest brands trust Tamr with their data.
process and culture across the enterprise, particularly now there is a strong focus on sustainable data product creation.
“Building sustainable data products often requires a mix of expertise that may not reside in one team and most likely not under a single manager hierarchically,” she continues. “In large corporations that have objectives focused on their function vs value creation, that’s a very hard thing to change and transform. There’s a big difference in how we work today – the org chart should not be the way you operate. It’s essential for companies that want to shift to the concept of creating products with data to understand; make sure you have the right mindset, the right people who are willing to contribute and realise the value they can offer in creating reusable data products that deliver value to the company.”
Cynozure Group works with companies to drive this approach to data and analytics. The business, founded in the UK by Jason Foster, was established to reshape our collective vision of data and analytics and set a new precedence on data strategy in a traditionally tech-led industry. At the heart of the company’s vision and values is a belief that the use of data must be aligned to what the business is trying to achieve; that people are at the heart of any successful data adoption and use; that businesses should be built on collaboration, access to information and data by everyone; and that data is
horizontal – it is about making a positive impact for everyone.
That these values sound so familiar is testament to the natural fit that has seen Agnes first begin collaborating with Cynozure around 2018 – initially working with the company’s CDO Hub initiative, a peer-to-peer network for data leaders and executives – and subsequently develop and launch the company in the United States. “Remember the days of in-person events?,” she laughs. “Well, I was in London for a CDO Hub meeting, which are great forums for creating strong and lasting relationships, and sharing best practices among senior data leaders accountable for their business strategy – it was great. Fast forward to early 2020 and I’d returned to
the US as a result of the COVID pandemic, was looking for my next project and I really wanted to replicate the model for the CDO Hub in the US.”
Through her own experience, Agnes is acutely aware of the challenges facing today’s data leaders. Launching the US equivalent of Cynozure’s CDO Hub in September 2020 was the perfect opportunity to address these issues with like-minded professionals. The hub acts
as an industry community based on collaboration and mentorship that encourages senior data leaders to meet, share and shape the data discussion through relaxed sessions and discussions that are led by members.
“It’s different to the big industry shows or conferences that most of us attend,” Agnes says. “We try to have a really unique and intimate structure that’s based around open and honest conversation and discussion.
“WE TRY TO HAVE A REALLY UNIQUE AND INTIMATE STRUCTURE THAT’S BASED AROUND OPEN AND HONEST CONVERSATION AND DISCUSSION”
That’s really important because sometimes as a data leader, particularly in an organisation where it’s a new function or role, it can be a lonely position. The biggest challenge facing these leaders remains expectation setting. You can come into a ‘defined’ CDO role, and tell people what to expect but often there is a mismatch, especially in the skills, time and funding you will need to correct decades of data ignorance. Unless the culture is right and everyone truly buys into the expectation, including the more efficient ways of operating by breaking down silos, it’s going to be really challenging – you have to be able to set the expectation that this isn’t a flip switching exercise.
Agnes recently celebrated the first anniversary of the US CDO Hub, validating the need for such a network and demonstrating the power of peer-to-peer collaboration. It was over this 12 month period that the genesis of Cynozure Group in the US was formed. She elaborates: “Through that we established a level of trust and understanding around who we are, what we want and believe in and that was the beginning of Cynozure in the US. It was important to me that the business focused on how we can help people and this translates to building strong relationships over time. We’re not out here trying to sell you something you don’t need. Instead, we
“From a pure leadership perspective, there can be complications when you have organisations that have a chief digital officer, a head of analytics, a chief information officer and so on without clearly delineated mandates,” she adds. “If you don’t have the right leadership that understands how tightly these functions must work together, things can start to break down. The CDO has to be able to work with other leaders to deliver the collective value they have agreed to serve the business. If you agree strategically on the problem that needs to be solved, everyone has to be prepared to work towards that goal together.”
“THE ORG CHART SHOULD NOT BE THE WAY YOU OPERATE”
deeply understand the concerns and issues that people and their companies have, what they’re trying to achieve and what they’re struggling with when they want to create value from their data, and that’s what shapes the strategic and practical advice we offer.”
This revolves around several core components, says Agnes. First and most important is vision and value. “You always start there,” she says. “We have to have that conversation with business leaders; maybe you have a data team, maybe you don’t, but whoever is leading ‘data’ must be tightly tied to understanding the problems you’re trying to solve and the value you’re looking to create. Once we’ve helped an organisation understand the vision and value they want to create with data, we then help them to understand the skills, people and culture they will need to achieve this, which is a significant piece of
the puzzle, as I’ve already explained. We consider and offer strategies for better ways for the client to operate (and organise) and help them determine the right technology and architecture for their size and need. This culminates in a practical roadmap that sequences how to move forwards.”
Moving forwards for Agnes means growing Cynozure in the US. Since January 2021, significant steps have been taken, including communicating with her existing network of fellow executives and data leaders, growing the CDO Hub and building a prospective client list in the local market. If passion and dedication were a sure-fire indicator of business success, there would be little doubt that this will continue. Agnes is a dedicated and passionate data leader, knowledgeable about her subject and always willing to give more to those she works with.
“I really believe in paying it forward,” she states. “After years of working, I believe it’s my mission to help people get better and work with them when they’re struggling. And that helps me keep learning, which I think is an important attribute for all leaders, not just those in data. Lastly, I think a big part of what we do is making it enjoyable. A lot of what we should be doing as senior leaders is creating teams that want to work together and stay together, that’s what builds an effective culture and allows us to do great things. It’s what Cynozure is about for me. We have fun, we innovate, we are creative and it feels like the right place to be.”
Technology may be failing women, says Frauenloop. More concerningly, it may be contributing to the already present gender bias problem that the tech industry seems unable to shake.
Nakeema Stefflbauer founded Frauenloop, a not-for-profit initiative aimed at boosting diversity in tech, to address this. The use of AI software and algorithms during the hiring process, says Stefflbauer, often discriminates against women, those that identify as women or ethnic minority groups – because those groups are rarely involved in the development of such technology.
Frauenloop wants tech development teams, products and services to reflect the communities we live in. It’s team of experienced mentors achieves this by training women from different ethnic backgrounds, many of whom have no prior tech experience, to become AI specialists, data analysts, developers and more; its courses are subsidised for refugees and asylum seekers.
www.frauenloop.org
Sitting on the northern coast of Estonia and looking out on the Baltic Sea, Tallinn is an exciting, dynamic city. New startups and entrepreneurs are emerging and flourishing here all the time – it’s not surprising that TechRound named it the “Silicon Valley of Europe”. Being one of Europe’s biggest startup hubs, Tallinn is a very inspirational place to be, hearing about the success of so many businesses gives you the feeling that nothing is impossible.
For a capital city Tallinn is small, but this gives it a deep sense of community and everything is located conveniently close, anything you want is just a walk or bike-ride away. There’s no need for a car to get around, especially as public transport is free for residents.
In your spare time, you can take a walk around Tallinn’s medieval Old Town, which dates to the 13th century, or through one of the city’s many parks. It is a beautiful place to visit, whether for work or pleasure.
My company, Modularbank, has been based in a wonderful co-working space called Workland for the past year. It’s conveniently located in the Old Town, and has all the amenities one might need. You can meet someone here for a coffee, or book a private room for a meeting or just to work in silence. It’s a beautiful place to network and do business, either for a few hours or for an extended period.
Located in the heart of Telliskivi, one of the hippest areas in Tallinn, LIFT99 is a great startup hub. There are several entrepreneurs located here, and the owners organise lots of different events and networking opportunities. LIFT99’s mission
is to strengthen the global startup community and help it succeed by bringing founders together. It’s definitely a very energetic place to be.
Another great thing about Tallinn is that you can work from anywhere in town, especially as there is free wifi available everywhere. This shouldn’t come as a surprise as, after all, Estonia is probably the only country in the world where 99% of the public services are available online 24/7.
Another of my favourite places to work from is the scandi-influenced bakery and coffee shop RØST; it opens early and sells some of the best pastries I’ve ever eaten!
Honestly, I suggest just booking an Airbnb. There are many great apartments throughout the city to rent at a moderate cost, including some overlooking the sea.
If you are looking for something a little fancier, however, there is the 5-star Telegraaf Hotel. It is a lovely building in the Old Town with a spa, great services, and the upscale Restaurant Tchaikovsky. It also has a wonderful garden to be enjoyed, especially in the summer.
Vilve Vene is the CEO and Co-founder of Modularbank, a next-generation core banking technology provider. She is a financial IT pioneer and visionary from Estonia, having begun developing innovative financial technologies well before fintech even became a tangible concept. For the past 30 years, she has been digitalising large Nordic banks and establishing leading financial technology companies. She is one of the bright minds behind the Estonian e-tax system and was recognised as a “Highly Commended” Woman in Tech at the Banking Tech Awards 2020.
VILVE VENE
Tallinn’s food and drink scene is booming right now, with new places opening all the time.
Karase Sai is a great bakery and a wonderful place for breakfast. Recently, the owner has expanded his business to also offer a dining option in the evening by opening Barbarea , one of my favourite restaurants. It serves a mix of Middle Eastern and Sicilian food – lots of sharing platters and pizza. Kerase Sai and Barbarea are located about 20 minutes away from the city centre in a subdistrict
called Kopli, which used to be very industrial but is now a great place to walk around.
My favourite place in the Old Town, on Vene Street, is La Bottega . It serves Italian food and has one of the best chefs in Estonia – I recommend the truffle pasta. SALT is another top restaurant.
If you want a drink, my favourite wine bar is Vixen , which is based in a cellar in the Old Town. I often go there after dinner to enjoy a glass of champagne.
KARJASE SAI BARBAREA
There are several theatres in Tallinn, including the Estonian National Opera . If you have time, it is worth spending an evening there.
Telliskivi is the liveliest part of Tallinn, with lots of art, music, food and drink. There you will find, for example, Fotografiska, a renowned photography museum with exhibition spaces in Stockholm and New York. It has lots of exhibits, as well as a very nice rooftop bar and restaurant, plus a wine terrace in the summer.
There is also Uus Laine which recently opened and is vastly different. Built in an old garage, it is quite cosy with great décor; you can go there to listen to music or catch a film.
If you want to spend time outside, Kadriorg Park is beautiful. Peter the Great built it in 1718 for Catherine I. In the park you’ll find the KUMU Art Museum , which is a must see if you have time.
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