Why CDOs Must Promote Data Culture Via People

As CDOs, one of our key responsibilities is the strategic use of data in the organization. Our expertise supports the company's efforts to become more economically viable. But at least as important is the establishment of cultural norms that support the whole organization in transformational change. Core factors such as adaptability and resilience play an essential role in dealing confidently with challenges that bring people out of their long-established habits and structures and in helping to shape a successful future.

Innovations in technology and ambitions for increasing digitalization primarily drove the development of our economy in recent years. In addition, uncertainties and changes in the (geo-)political and societal landscape have dictated the operating mood of companies and forced them to rethink their business model to become more resilient. Regardless of whether it is a crisis or a corporate restructuring — in volatile times, the ability to quickly adapt and develop are true core competencies for organizations.

Data is the core piece for all new developments and is the base for new digital business models and technologies. Most companies recognize this, but market uncertainty and lack of trust in their own skills seem to be the primary blockers for implementation. Negative examples such as Cambridge Analytica or the large penalties imposed on Clearview AI were a rough reality check of what can go wrong when technology is not used correctly. In a market determined by uncertainty, this clearly did not catalyze companies to explore new data-driven technologies.

How can CDOs overcome hesitations and keep up with market trends?

Will this stop the market from leaning toward more digitalization developments and introducing new data-based technologies? Probably not. Also, political decision-makers have become more and more aware of the importance of data for a resilient and sustainable future economy. In the European Union (EU), this is exemplified by the European Data Strategy, which includes a big agenda for creating the EU Single Market where data will flow freely and across sectors for the benefit of businesses, researchers and public administrations. The aim is to make the EU a leader in a data-driven world. With these ambitious targets in mind, how can we, as CDOs, overcome the existing hesitations at the business level and put employees and companies more at ease with using data?

The way toward successful data work is via people and data culture

With the latest trends, we observe that a defensive attitude regarding data is still more prevalent than its innovation-driving counterpart. This is not necessarily because CDOs’ and boards’ appetites for innovation with and through data are lacking — the organizations themselves have challenges adapting. The current focus remains on the defensive side, likely due to many new regulatory requirements for data. This is also apparent in the corporate agenda, where data is spoken more frequently in the context of data security, regulation and governance. The innovative potential of data in a transformative sense is much greater and only leveraged in a few places. At first glance, it often appears as though successful data work depends on technology only. Hence, owning data, investing in the appropriate technology, and adding experts to implement it into our business should get the job done, right? But this is a deception. The right technology and good data are must-haves and act as enablers for an organization. Yet, these are not pivotal factors and are insufficient for letting your organization come closer to the desired outcome.

Another — if not the — crucial factor is people. People are the decisive factor for a successful, data-driven company. We work on data strategies and technologies from the top down but often need to pay more attention to the implications for people and processes. The slogan “Know your target group” also holds for CDOs.

Deciding top-down for a shift toward a data-driven organization does not work. There are many more factors to consider in the digital transformation journey. The most common blocker for transformation is found on the user level — the lack of data culture and trust in data work. Transformation needs the establishment of a data culture. People must change their ways of thinking and their work processes holistically throughout all hierarchical levels. Therefore, we CDOs need to understand our coworkers and the overall company goals to translate our efforts into the establishment of a data culture. Therein lies the basis for functioning business use cases that boost trust in data and, therefore, our work. Targeting the user group of our efforts is essential to achieve a viable outcome and a sustainable data culture in the company. The achievement cannot be made by looking for external solutions, such as hiring a bunch of data scientists to get our organizations where we want them. It is a common effort!

Organizations with a thriving data culture hold the key component for fundamentally working more effectively and efficiently with data because of the collective behavior and beliefs of people who value, apply and support the use of data to improve everyday work and optimize decision-making processes. This weaves data into organizational processes and anchors it in the corporate mindset. In creating a data-driven corporate culture, management must lead by example by living the data culture itself, promoting data initiatives, and being inspired by them. We should exemplify common values, social norms, and ways of thinking that represent the behavior of organizational members among themselves and, at the same time, their effect on the outside world. The mindset shift sought through a data culture allows people to grow, optimizing the company and their own work process through data. This, in turn, can boost trust in working with data internally and eventually ray out to the market, facilitating the desired data economy in Europe.

With the right basics in place, CDOs can make a real difference

The likelihood of successfully leveraging this potential to the fullest increases by creating a data culture with everyone on board. We, as CDOs, must ensure the proper foundations — tools, tech, processes, and naturally, data — for efficient data use to be in place and integrated into the organization. Our inspiring story must consider all involved stakeholders. The best place to learn the real needs is with the data citizens — the upskilled and data-literate employees — and with the customers.

The road ahead is still long, and we should joyfully roll up our sleeves for tasks ahead of us as the potential for good data use is immense. In our upcoming PwC CDO study, we are exploring the value a CDO can bring to the table, and we see an ever-increasing relevance of the CDO role as data grows in importance to executives.

About the Author

Marcus Hartmann is a Partner and the Chief Data Officer for PwC Germany and Europe. As a proven data expert, he has spent his entire career in the data and analytics industry, helping companies move more easily and quickly in an increasingly data-driven world. Hartmann currently leads a team of 120 data, software, and digital experts to create and develop the foundations for efficient and scalable data use within the company and realize highly scalable, market-oriented data products and new digital business models. He joined PwC Germany — one of Germany's leading professional services firms — in August 2019.