(US and Canada) Derrick Higgins, Head of Enterprise Data Science & AI at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, speaks with Robert Lutton, Sandhill Consultants Vice President, about developing talent and encouraging a data-driven culture.

According to Higgins, data scientists are in high demand, butcritical roles essential for successare:

• Engineers — A dedicated machine-learning engineering team that solely supports tooling for data scientists and the deployment of data science models.
• Data science product managers — Dedicated people who can marry business leaders’ needs and pain points with the art of the possible and chart out a joint roadmap with IT.

Next, discussing the balance between hiring outside and growing talent within the organization, Higgins explains that Blue Cross & Blue Shield promotes and grows talent from within and injects outside talent. In his opinion, this approach helps the organization better understand problems and align with the external market.

When asked how he encourages a data-driven culture, he says that establishing a data-driven culture is part of his job. It has been a journey for the organization, Higgins adds.

Continuing, Higgins mentions that the organizational leadership is receptive to hearing about data and how to use it more effectively and encourages evangelizing for data literacy and a data-driven culture. Highlighting a key initiative, he mentions AI-101, an AI learning pathway for all employees within the organization. 

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

See more from Derrick Higgins

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