CDO Magazine Launches Atlanta CDO Forum: Key Execs Connect at Inaugural Dinner

CDO Magazine’s first Executive Boardroom Dinner in Atlanta set the stage for the launch of its Atlanta CDO Forum on October 18.

A core group of Atlanta area senior data and analytics executives gathered to kick off this new CDO Magazine community. The leaders enjoyed exchanging their experiences and learning from their peers on the topic of “GenAI: How You Are Exploring or Using It.”

Stuart Bonnington, AHEAD Principal Data Architect, moderated the conversation that hit on several “how-to” areas of interest to the practitioners:

1. Create business value from GenAI now and where to go in the future

2. Identify use cases, prioritize where to invest, and structure to cover use cases of GenAI

3. Use GenAI in data management

4. Create an appropriate operating model and overall organization design

5. Leverage or expand governance to address the nuances of GenAI

6. Create a safety net

7. Address upskilling on GenAI

Summarizing key takeaways from the discussion, Himanshu Arora, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Chief Data & Analytics Officer, says: “The ethical use of AI, the ROI of AI, and the talent models needed to build and own AI in the enterprise, are three of the most significant areas for us to focus on as we bring AI (including but not limited to Generative AI) to mainstream in healthcare.”

According to UPS Vice President of Enterprise Data Strategy Ioana Mazare, "It was a great evening of networking at the CDO Magazine Atlanta Executive Boardroom dinner, where I had the pleasure of engaging with a group of Atlanta leaders dedicated to driving value from data and analytics.” She adds, “I had the opportunity to share UPS' digital transformation model, which revolves around fostering a data-driven mindset and a culture of innovation. A key factor contributing to our success has been the support and commitment of our senior leadership to become effective agents of change, exemplified by our executive digital fluency training program.”

Mazare urges that, “It is crucial to foster an industry-wide dialogue about how businesses can leverage the potential of AI and generative AI. Achieving this requires substantial investments in both technology and talent to fuel growth and achieve service excellence."

Speaking from his experience, Georgia-Pacific Vice President of Decision Analytics Tim Berryman emphasizes, "As a profession, we need to move away from siloed data and AI use cases, and move towards integrating this as part of the digital road map enabled by data and AI.” Berryman describes the ideal as “a road map that has a collection of data and AI enablers that materially transforms a domain or multiple domains to create enough value to make it a top priority."

Steve Wanamaker, CDO Magazine Publisher concludes, "We are thrilled to launch the CDO Magazine CDO Forum in Atlanta, Georgia. It's exciting to get these senior data leaders together to discuss the most transformational topics facing the enterprise today."

Executives attending the Atlanta CDO Forum launch included:

Himanshu Arora, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Chief Data & Analytics Officer; Sarang Bapat, Mitsubishi Electric Trane Director, Data Governance; Tim Berryman, Georgia-Pacific Vice President, Decision Analytics; Tracy Daniels, Truist Head, Analytics & Insights; Sudipto Ghose, Equifax Vice President, Enterprise Data & Analytics; Ioana Mazare, UPS Vice President, Enterprise Data Strategy; Karthik Ramasamy, Guardian Industries Chief Analytics Officer; Tej Savant, Carrier HVAC Director, Data, Analytics & Reporting, Sales & Inventory Optimization Planning; Balaram Tidhi, Artera Services Chief Data & Analytics Officer; Dan Flood, AHEAD Vice President of Sales, Digital Solutions; Juan Garcia, AHEAD Regional Sales Manager, Digital Solutions; Stuart Bonnington, AHEAD Principal Data Architect; Steve Wanamaker, CDO Magazine Founder & Publisher; and Camille Prado, CDO Magazine Global Editor.