(Europe) Robin Sutara, Chief Data Officer, Microsoft – UK, speaks with Della Shea, Chief Data Governance and Privacy Officer, Symcor, and CDO Magazine Editorial Board Member, about leveraging data analytics for building corporate strategy and driving decisions.

Sutara states that more organizations today are creating chief data and chief analytics officer roles, and are realizing data as an asset for creating their corporate strategy. She points out that the pandemic opened up a whole new world of getting organizations to look for ways to make real-time decisions in areas like supply chain, health care, retail delivery, etc. The change happened not just for health organizations, but also for other commercial entities that realized the need for real-time data to make real-time decisions.

Having engaged with various organizations, she says, most of them have started to think about putting data at the core of their corporate strategy. The outcome could be delivering customer experience, empowering employees to deliver better services, or creating new products or services that didn’t exist before optimizing operations.

Organizations are now thinking of ways to look at data not just as a reporting mechanism, but also for driving decisions and strategy. Sutara explains that they are also thinking about sustainability, carbon footprint, and improving processes to minimize environmental impact. Data is becoming foundational and central to daily decisions to drive businesses forward.