Moin Haque, Head of Enterprise Data, Analytics, and AI at International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF), speaks with Jack Berkowitz, Chief Data Officer at Securiti, in a video interview about his role, the federated model at IFF, AI and data as its enabler, the importance of cross-functional partnerships, the value of under-structured data, and how generative (GenAI) makes it more digestible.

IFF operates in the scent, ingredients, health, bioscience, and pharmaceutical industries.

Highlighting his journey, Haque shares that he has spent nearly two decades in the data field, transitioning from the media industry in the last couple of years. He mentions realizing that most of the data challenges and opportunities are actually people problems and opportunities.

For large and widely distributed organizations, Haque recommends a federated model, working with data where it resides, delivering insights where they are most needed.

The organization works to create a federated landscape that can respond to the changes in this space and the challenges that tag along. It aims to have a distributed space in which signal to insight is something that can help move the needle forward and drive action across the ecosystem.

Moving forward, Haque discusses AI and how it is still volatile. While managing the challenges that come with it, he notes that the foundation is still data, and having a data foundation drives many opportunities.

It boils down to taking that foundation and using it to build upon the capabilities, says Haque. It is about “how” things are done, and not “what” shiny tool or technology is used, and it is critical to understand how data strategy continues to enable business objectives. It is always, and should always be, about business strategy, he adds.

Delving further, Haque states that when it comes to data and AI, it takes a village to work together because everyone brings a different dimension to it, especially in the AI space. He adds that similar to what happened with data a decade ago, with AI, there is a growing landscape of regulations, concerns, and considerations that will only continue to expand.

Therefore, it is crucial to approach this with a focus on strong partnerships. There needs to be close collaboration with privacy, legal, risk, and security teams because, together, they help shape the right approach to manage risks effectively while unlocking organizational value and opportunities.

Ultimately, the most critical partners are the business and functional teams, who will put the strategies into action, says Haque.

Next, he sheds light on the material shift that has happened in the “data center of gravity.” Elaborating, Haque states that in the past, data was primarily collected from transactional platforms and other traditional systems, focusing on structured data. However, the wealth, value, and insights lie largely outside of structured systems. It is spread across productivity tools such as emails, chats, file shares, and portals. He prefers to call this data “under-structured” rather than unstructured because it still has an inherent structure.

The key challenge is that this data is not set up with the same governance, usage guidelines, and permission frameworks we typically apply to structured data, says Haque. He maintains that this shift over the past few years has made it even more critical to figure out how to capture the value and integrate this data into the ecosystem.

In conclusion, Haque says that all of it now qualifies as data, and by bringing it together, organizations can unlock a more comprehensive, holistic value. He says that this evolution has been significantly accelerated in the past year with the rise of Gen AI, which has made it more digestible.

CDO Magazine appreciates Moin Haque for sharing his insights with our global community.