VIDEO | Absa Bank Kenya CDO: You Have To Have Milestone-Driven Strategies

(Middle East and Africa) Hartnell Ndungi, Chief Data Officer of Absa Bank Kenya PLC, speaks with Robert Lutton, Vice President, Sandhill Consultants and Editorial Board Vice Chair at CDO Magazine, in a video interview about the strategies to deploy to operate like data-driven organizations, the importance of data literacy, and maturing data teams with deep business understanding.

Ndungi urges data leaders to first understand the business, the ambitions, and the business strategy before rolling out a data strategy. He mentions the following areas that need special attention:

1. Identifying value drivers as early as possible — the value being anticipated from either recruiting new capacity or deploying a new strategy.

2. Incremental growth in the strategy — Milestone-driven strategies are a must. Use cases must drive data-driven incremental growth; use cases are business problems that data can solve.

3. Data literacy — It is a required skill for all business leaders. An organization cannot be transformed if its people are not trained on what they should know.

Ndungi states that even the best data talent must have domain knowledge and data expertise. He further emphasizes the effectiveness of self-paced training via the speed and agility of online training delivery tools. However, Ndungi does not discount the need for getting senior expertise to guide the new learners.

1. According to Ndungi, the following are the key drivers of business transformation in banking that he can transform using data analytics:

2. Asset growth

3. Reduced costs with operational efficiency

4. Generating revenue

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

See more from Hartnell Ndungi

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