(US and Canada) Veena Nayak, VP of Data Science, Strategy, and Solutions at the University of Phoenix, speaks with Maria Espona, Professor at ArgIQ and CDO Magazine Editorial Board Member, in a video interview about her professional journey, data governance, and implementing a robust data strategy.

Nayak has been in the data space for over three decades. Currently, she is developing the enterprise data platform, setting up the policies and protocols for data usage across the organization, business intelligence and reporting, and the university’s AI/ML program.

Noting the critical steps to consider while designing and implementing a data strategy, Nayak mentions the following:

• The key goal is to align with the business objectives. It must start with understanding business objectives and having a comprehensive and well-integrated plan.
• Every company’s journey is different. Start by assessing the company’s state and create that baseline; you need to know where you are to know where you can go.
• Establish the company’s key KPIs and get all the data strategy components together.
• Start with the right foundation, including data governance, have a deep understanding of the data architecture, and leverage the technology stack.
• Ensure you have the right skills to understand how quickly you can implement your data strategy.
• Understand where every department is in its journey in that spectrum and then decide which department needs to go first.
• Make sure the data governance program brings together everyone in the company.
• Set up a very high level of collaboration and communication to share early success stories.

Nayak explains that the University of Phoenix followed a three-pronged use case-driven approach to building its data strategy, which provided a short-term, mid-term, and long-term plan.

She also mentions that information regarding students should flow between faculty, internal staff, counselors, and advisors to engage with and create personalized student experiences. The data strategy must connect the dots on the various needs, and then it must be integrated into the technology stack, Nayak concludes.

CDO Magazine appreciates Veena Nayak for sharing her insights and data success stories with our global community.