CDO Magazine Boston Forum Celebrates Success and Forecasts Future

Boston area data executives gathered at the CDO Magazine Boston CDO Forum Holiday Lunch hosted by Takeda Pharmaceuticals December 7 to celebrate and engage with an expert panel on "2023 Lessons Learned & 2024 Challenges & Opportunities for CDOs."

Panelists Barbara Latulippe, Takeda Chief Data Officer; Shahidul Mannan, Bon Secours Mercy Health Chief Data Officer; and Chathuri Daluwatte, Alexion Head of AI Diagnostics, AstraZeneca Rare Disease; with moderator Dave McEachern, AHEAD Managing Director, New England, provided a deep dive into the evolving role and responsibilities of Chief Data Officers (CDOs).

Steve Wanamaker, Founder and Publisher of CDO Magazine, states, "As we wrap up 2023, we're not just reflecting on lessons learned but setting the stage for a year of unparalleled innovation and collaboration in 2024."

Sharing key takeaways from the panel discussion, Kishore Aradhya, Northeastern University Adjunct Faculty, College of Engineering (Data Engineering and GenAI/LLM), noted:

• Latulippe highlighted that, with all the generative AI hype and focus on it, data quality is still the most fundamental issue that needs to be addressed.

• Mannan outlined challenges around GenAI providing business value, and that the organization has already achieved US$5 million in directly attributable revenue or savings.

• Israel Abraham, MassMutual Head of Finance and Investment Management Tech; Brent Mahan, Moderna Senior Director of Data and Analytics Enablement; and other leaders echoed the sentiment that having the business buy-in and being responsible for the business data allows them to drive a "Data-as-a-Product" approach to driving the necessary changes.

• Abraham also suggested that it will be necessary to go through the current GenAI hype cycle before seeing some legitimate successes.

• Many GenAI POCs or pilots are underway but with very few production deliverables.

• Multiple leaders conveyed that given the focus on GenAI, data is finally getting the attention it deserves along with the much-needed funding for GenAI/LLM-driven products.

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Latulippe reveals that Takeda has created a GenAI steering committee “to ensure there was a holistic approach to include agile decision-making, adoption of a risk management framework, prioritization of use cases, and the appropriate governance across the enterprise for the responsible use of GenAI.”

Sharing her takeaway, Daluwatte says: “We entered an era of AI hype in 2023 with every company rushing towards AI. As companies realize their data is not ‘AI ready,’ this hype shined the light on the CDO’s charter. As companies navigate the AI hype in 2024 with investment that brings value to the business, choosing tools and frameworks while being compliant with increasing regulatory oversight on AI, CDOs will be the pragmatic voice in the room.”

Adding his POV, Mannan says, “With the evolution of AI, we are entering a new paradigm of digital governance, where data, security, privacy, and AI governance – all are converging into entirely new data-driven AI and digital product life cycle governance.”

Executives attending the CDO Magazine Boston CDO Forum Holiday Lunch included:

Israel Abraham, MassMutual Head, Finance & Investment Management Tech & Data; Kishore Aradhya, Northeastern University Adjunct Faculty, College of Engineering - Data Engineering & GenAI/LLM; Jane Chen, Analog Devices Sr. Director, Growth Analytics, Revenue Strategy & Operations; Chathuri Daluwatte, Alexion Pharmaceuticals Head, AI Diagnostics; Sanji Fernando, Optum Health SVP, Artificial Intelligence & Analytics Platforms; Simmi Hooda, Takeda Head, Transformation & Delivery, Enterprise Data Services; Kiran Kodali, Sanofi Head, R&D Data Strategy, Governance & Data Foundations; Barbara Latulippe, Takeda Chief Data Officer; Brent Mahan, Moderna Sr. Director, Data & Analytics Enablement; Shahidul Mannan, Bon Secours Mercy Health Chief Data Officer; Steve Moyal, Takeda Enterprise Data - Head, Insights & Analytics; Kenneth Rispoli, Analog Devices Manager, Data Science & Digital Innovation; Vitaly Shusterov, Alkermes Executive Director, Architecture, Data & Innovation; Prem Swaroop, Dover Corporation Chief Data & Analytics Officer; Brahma Tangella, Takeda Program Lead/Sr. Director, Transformation; Sudeep Regmi, Takeda Head, Enterprise Data Management & Innovation; Dave McEachern, AHEAD Managing Director, New England; Camille Prado, CDO Magazine Global Editor.