Ioana Mazare, VP, Enterprise Data Strategy at UPS, speaks with Susan Wilson, Group VP, Americas Solutions Leader at Informatica, in a video interview about leaders embracing analytics and AI, the purpose of data, on being an early adopter of innovation, strategic leveraging of generative AI, and the need of guardrails to balance AI uses and risks.
UPS is a leading global package delivery company and provider of global supply chain management solutions.
Speaking about the leaders’ inclination towards analytics and AI, Mazare affirms that it has evolved naturally at UPS. The enterprise data office and the advanced analytics and business intelligence groups, including AI are part of the data and analytics program, she adds.
Mazare maintains that the ultimate purpose of data is to deliver value by transforming information into relevant insights usually involving BI and AI analytics. Therefore, she says, building an enterprise data analytics program builds an integrated roadmap for data management, governance, and value.
The program also enables analytics for prioritizing projects, and delivering what matters, says Mazare. She maintains that having project visibility fueled by analytics and AI allows for prioritizing critical data.
In addition, Mazare states that her team works with the business stakeholders to identify and curate valuable data for each function and ensure it is ready for use.
When asked about generative AI and its impact, she shares that UPS is a technology company that caters to millions of customers, moving 20 million packages a day. Mazare states that the organization has been using machine learning and AI for over a decade to fuel supply chain and healthcare logistics worldwide.
Further, Mazare states that UPS has been an early adopter and pioneer of innovative tools, technologies, and analytics. For instance, she takes pride in Orion, an on-the-road integrated optimization and navigation platform, guiding daily pickups and delivery routes for package drivers in real time.
Moving forward, Mazare states that UPS uses algorithmic decision-making through tools like Orion. However, as a leader, she feels responsible for assessing the latest technologies and tools, including generative AI, to help the organization achieve objectives faster and employees work better.
According to Mazare, the first step is ensuring the availability of crucial data and partnering with stakeholders across companies to decide on a starting point and pilot generative AI applications. She asserts that most of the time is spent on finding the right quality data, in massive volumes and diversity to make informed decisions.
Therefore, Mazare stresses partnering with AI teams and advanced analytic partners to extract value through AI and Gen AI, in various business areas.
Commenting on balancing internal demands and risk aspects, she opines that with the permeation of AI and access to generative AI at fingertips, having guardrails is fundamental. Mazare further discusses building guardrails for responsible AI addressing the need to protect the information and company's reputation against potential threats.
Furthermore, she reiterates that the guardrails safeguard sensitive data and aid in maintaining privacy and regulatory compliance. Mazare also mentions focusing on targeted training and employee communication, with a special focus on roles, distinguishing between users versus developers.
In conclusion, she imparts that the goal is to balance the need for a protection and responsibility framework to encourage innovation and growth. Mazare insists that it is crucial to balance governance keeping in mind the massive growth of data over the past decade.
CDO Magazine appreciates Ioana Mazare for sharing her insights and data success stories with our global community.
