(US and Canada) Chief data officers and senior data and analytics executives in CDO Magazine’s Toronto CDO Forum gathered to discuss the challenges of digital data transformation and how to stay ahead of the curve at the “Learning Over Lunch” event hosted at the Royal Bank of Canada March 14.

Joining 34 other data and analytics leaders were expert panelists: Toronto CDO Forum Organizing Committee member Alex Tait, Bank of Montreal U.S. Chief Data and Analytics Officer, Enterprise Data & Analytics; Ferial Sheybani, Colliers International Head of Technology & Data; Valeriya Yesypenko, Manulife Vice President, Enterprise Data Governance; Toronto CDO Forum Executive Committee member Aida Tahiri, Apotex Senior Director of Enterprise Data and Analysis; along with Organizing Committee member and moderator Robert Lutton, Sandhill Consultants VP of Sales & Marketing.

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The speakers exchanged the latest trends and best practices, along with innovative solutions for addressing the challenges of transforming organizations digitally. Focusing on the value of data, Tahiri advises: “We need to educate our organizations and the leadership that no digital transformation would be successful without ensuring that the data and its foundation is well managed and treated as a real asset.” On another note, Tait adds: “Showing the path to value for data governance continues to be important to ensure the direct linkage–and support–back to business objectives.”

“There were lots of great takeaways,” Tait reflects. The panelists honed in on:

• defining digital data transformation

• ensuring data is secure, compliant, and adequately governed

• measuring digital transformation success with metrics and KPIs

• barriers to implementing and maintaining strong data management practices

• the culture’s impact on driving digital data transformation

• how CDOs approach their investments in data and analytics

• creating value using data science practice maturity for predictive analytics

• structured versus unstructured data for better service to customers and operational improvements.

Participants also discussed the many aspects of AI–who is experimenting with it, in what areas it will add value, and the risks of adopting or not adopting it in data and analytics practices. “It is still in the early days with respect to the impact as well as the opportunities AI will bring to organizations,” says Toronto CDO Forum Executive Committee member Della Shea. ”It is important to continue to build this trusted community of data professionals,” she adds.

Tahiri sums it up: “It was very nice to meet with other data professionals and know that we’re not alone in our challenges and the path we are on implementing this important function for our respective organizations.” Toronto CDO Forum peers left armed with actionable insights to drive their businesses forward.