(US and Canada) Sharath Gokula, Director of Data Sciences and Analytics, Walmart eCommerce. speaks with Tristan Spaulding, Head of Product, Acceldata, about the growth pathway for data science professionals and the approach to data science at the organization.

Gokula suggests that new professionals should read up on and understand their areas of interest and skills before moving forward. They can even diversify their skills once they have a clear idea of the specific direction they want to go. For example, professionals in the analytics area can pick up analytics skills and then move over to the data scientist area. 

He says that one’s interest could be in analytics, data engineering, machine learning, or a mix of all of these. However, having certain skills and attributes are useful and come in handy, such as having programming skills, understanding statistics, and being excited about the business.

Gokula also addresses the role of leadership in driving an organization’s culture. He says that the leadership believes data is a key differentiator. At Walmart, the data focus flows right from leaders who ask for specific data before making decisions. So, a lot of the optimization decisions are based on data that stems from the will of the organization and the leadership. 

Concluding, he mentions that Walmart is constantly trying to improve customer experience, and it is impossible to do that without data.