(US and Canada) Alex Golbin, Chief Data Officer at Morningstar, speaks with David Mariani, CTO, and Co-Founder of AtScale, about Morningstar’s mode of operation in terms of value addition to the company and making data approachable for users.

Golbin states that the mission is to connect people with data to people who need data, letting information flow freely from ingredients to insight. At Morningstar, the team collaborates to address the clients’ needs before considering what they want to build.

He notes that it is all about value addition first and then attending to the clients’ need for speed. As a CDO, he prioritizes the three fundamental client requirements of data discovery: knowing and learning about the data, data packaging — choosing the data that is required, and data delivery — how the platform accesses the data. Golbin’s job is to persuade and build consensus as it is delivered.

He finds several similarities between his current role and his previous role at Blackrock. He asserts that as a fiduciary, Blackrock is extremely client-focused. Hence, through the transition of companies, the cultural aspect of treating data as the “crown jewel” remains the same.

He adds that despite being an investment firm, Blackrock was built on the notion of understanding risks to understand investments, risk being the functional data in this instance. He notes that because both companies focus equally on the need for data, they are more similar than different.

Golbin takes pride in being a part of the ecosystem where investors come first and where, given the speed of data multiplying every day, data is turned into valuable information for clients’ needs.

Regarding the need for true information in the realm of data, he states that every company is in the business of breathing data. And with the world throwing multiple curveballs at a time, the need for information providers is at its height. However, the important part is to tell people what they need to know and not what the provider wants to tell them.

To make data approachable, the art of storytelling is important, Golbin emphasizes. With the discovery of new technological terminologies of cloud, snowflake, or redshift, it becomes difficult for everyone to understand data. Therefore, he focuses on reducing the amount of consumers’ work to embrace new datasets. 

He concludes by stating that in terms of data, giving people what they need to know builds credibility. Also, highlighting the quality aspect, he asserts that delivering answers with the correct piece of information is crucial.