November’s Insights for Data Leaders

Welcome to the November CDO Newsletter!

This month’s newsletter features an exciting case study interview with Ryan Sousa , who details how healthcare organisations can advance their analytics capabilities to reach HIMSS AMAM stage 7. We also discuss striking the balance between AI and data literacy with Dizem Ozalp Sari. Finally, we’ve compiled some of the latest industry news to keep you in the know on all things data.

The Journey to HIMSS AMAM Stage 7: A Roadmap for Healthcare Providers

The HIMSS Analytics Maturity Assessment Model (AMAM) determines where healthcare organisations are on the data and analytics maturity curve. Only a handful of organisations worldwide have reached the highest level, which indicates population-level predictive modelling.

With a career spanning over 30 years, Ryan Sousa has implemented large-scale analytics and AI at organizations such as Amazon, Expedia, Starbucks and MCI. About a decade ago, Ryan brought his expertise to healthcare at Seattle Children’s Hospital as their Chief Data and Analytics Officer (CDAO). Over the next four years, Seattle Children’s became only the world’s fifth to reach HIMSS AMAM Stage 7, positioning it as a recognized leader in healthcare analytics. More recently, Ryan joined Children’s Minnesota as their interim CDAO to accelerate their data innovation journey.

In this exclusive interview with the CDO Healthcare Exchange USA, Ryan shares his advice for healthcare organisations looking to embark on the journey to HIMSS AMAM stage 7. Ryan’s recommendations for getting started can be summarised in four key steps:

1. Assess where you are: I think it’s essential to frame up what you’re trying to do at the beginning and build a big picture. Part of that is taking the time to assess where your starting point is. That’s where I think the HIMSS AMAM can be useful, as it’s a practical framework for identifying your starting point and initial roadmap to get started.
2. Replace ‘plan and implement’ with a ‘do and adapt’ approach: Organisations often over-plan. There is a tendency to try and build for where things will be in two years, but I don’t think anyone can ever anticipate where that will be – there is too much uncertainty. So plan enough to get started (usually 60-90 days), and then really get to work. Take more of a ‘do and adapt’ approach, so you start doing things, and then check back in every year and reassess your HIMSS AMAM rating. Ask yourself: Are we moving up? More importantly, are we demonstrating value? And if not, adapt your approach.
3. Aim to demonstrate value incrementally and often: Always remember that the goal is to create value along the way. It’s not about checking things off an AMAM assessment. If you’re creating value along the way in the right areas, you will naturally check things off and mature your organisation. In any ecosystem where there is uncertainty, and there is a lot of uncertainty in the ecosystem of care, the proven approach to achieving success is to plan enough to get started, focus on quick, early wins, and build on those wins to drive greater value. Get in the rhythm of delivering value early, incrementally and often along the way. This is the formula for success in demonstrating value and moving up the AMAM maturity scale.
4. Get in the right mindset: You’ve got to have the right mindset. Whenever you face a challenge, don’t see it as something that stops you; see it as something to be worked through. There is a stoic philosophy that states that the obstacle is the way. I find this concept to be really powerful because it helps you see through whatever is getting in your way and, in some cases, even leverage that. Learn to accept the Latin phrase ‘amor fati’ – love of fate. Take things as they go and work with them rather than fight them.

Click here to read the full case study interview detailing how Ryan led the journey to HIMSS AMAM stage 7.

Bridging the Gap: From Data to AI Literacy

Given the transformative impact that AI is having on organisations across all sectors, conversations around ‘AI literacy’ have unsurprisingly started to emerge as data and business leaders begin to integrate AI into everyday operations and decision-making processes. But can AI literacy really be separated from its predecessor data literacy? Or must it be seen as an extension of the latter?

To help answer these questions, the CDO Exchange spoke to BNP Paribas’ Head of Global Investment Data Services, Dizem Ozalp Sari. Recognised as one of Women in Data’s 20 data and technology role models in 2019, Dizem has worked in the financial technology sector across domains such as digital transformation, data analytics and strategy, ML Ops and IT architecture for cloud and hybrid systems.

Below are some key takeaways from the interview:

• While the unprecedented speed at which AI is progressing no doubt calls for an increase in education around how to use this technology responsibly and effectively, AI literacy initiatives conducted in isolation will not give employees a full picture of important data governance and privacy considerations. Dizem states that: “I do not think that there is any viable AI roadmap or strategy that can be created as a result of a trade off against data literacy. They are deeply entangled at the domain level, and priorities have to be aligned without abandoning one for the other.”
• An overall increase in both data and AI literacy across the business will help make better informed decisions, especially when it comes to the buy vs. build debate.
• Promoting data and AI literacy at the upper management level is key to ensuring that the capabilities of AI are fully understood, preventing ‘vanity’ AI projects from being pushed through.
• It is important to keep ‘humans in the loop’ in all AI transformation projects to ensure that risks are detected.

Read the full interview with Dizem on data and AI literacy here.

*All opinions expressed in the article are Dizem’s own and do not represent the views of BNP Paribas.

Machine Learning, Data Quality and Generative AI Identified as Top Investment Priorities Among Data Leaders

Data collected at this year’s CDO UK Exchange in March revealed the top 10 investment priorities for senior data leaders across industries.

Machine learning was identified as the most important area of investment, followed by data quality and generative AI.

This shows a growth in investment intentions in machine learning compared to 2023, when data quality was identified as the number one investment priority, followed by data science and machine learning in third spot.

With the next edition of CDO UK Exchange only a few months away, make sure to read the 2024 post-event report for more exclusive insights on audience breakdown, key event takeaways, and much more! Download your copy here.

Data News in Brief

Google to Expand AI Search Summaries to More Countries

Google has announced that its AI search summaries will be expanding to over 100 additional countries. Launched in the US in May, Google’s AI Overviews in Search provide an AI-generated snapshot of information related to a user’s Google search. Google also announced that language support across AI Overviews will be extended, with users now able to see AI Overviews in any supported language, including English, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.

However, Google also warns users to ‘think critically about AI Overview responses’ and ‘explore results from multiple sources to fact-check important info.’ Indeed, the unreliable nature of AI-generated information was highlighted last week as thousands of people gathered in Dublin for a Halloween parade that was never due to take place after an announcement was posted on a website that creates AI-generated news.??

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“Quishing” Scams Involving Fake QR Codes on the Rise

Banks and regulators including HSCB, Santander, the UK National Cyber Security Centre and the US Federal Trade Commission are warning of the increased use of fraudulent QR codes in financial scams, the Financial Times reports.?

Links contained in QR codes may open fake websites that ask people to enter their personal or payment details, or download malwares. With the use of QR codes having been popularised during the Covid-19 pandemic, computer security company McAfee now estimates that over a fifth of all online scams in the UK involve the use of QR codes. With QR codes often sent in PDF form via emails and messages, they can potentially evade companies’ cybersecurity protections which are primarily designed to detect suspicious links.

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Amazon and Meta have Nuclear Plans Put on Hold by Regulators

With AI and cloud computing creating additional demands for energy, big tech companies like Amazon, Meta and Microsoft have all set their sights on nuclear energy as a ‘cleaner’ way to increase electricity supply than fossil fuels. However, Meta’s plans to build an AI data centre that runs on nuclear power was blocked when a habitat of rare bees was found on the land that the project would have been built on.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) – the body overseeing the US’s electricity and natural gas grids – also voted to deny Amazon’s request to connect a hyperscale data centre to an existing nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The FERC’s objection stemmed from the fact that the data centre would divert some of the plant’s electricity away from the rest of the local electricity grid, potentially driving up prices and reducing reliability for other customers.

These successive blows come as Microsoft last month announced that Three Mile Island – the site of the most serious nuclear incident in US history – will reopen in 2028 to produce energy for Microsoft. The plans are awaiting approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Book Recommendation of the Month – The Chief Data Officer’s Playbook by Caroline Carruthers and Peter Jackson

Written by two of the most established leaders in the data space today, Carruthers’ and Jackson’s Chief Data Officer’s Playbook is a definitive guide for CDOs looking to create real value in today’s complex business landscape. With 20 chapters covering real-world challenges facing CDOs such as ‘Avoiding the Hype Cycle,’ ‘Building the Chief Data Officer Team’ and ‘How to Present Yourself as a Chief Data Officer,’ the Chief Data Officer’s Playbook is an indispensable resource providing expert advice and actionable strategies for CDOs.

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Have a story to tell? If you’re interested in contributing to a future newsletter, please contact editor Emma Pappenheim at [email protected]

View upcoming CDO Exchanges

CDO BFSI Exchange – 11-12 November 2024 | Hilton Syon Park, London, UK

CDO Healthcare Exchange – 11-12 February 2025 | Le Méridien Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

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CDO Europe Exchange – 17-18 June 2025 | Hilton Munich City, Germany

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