In January 2024, we hosted Season 4 of CDO Masterclass: An immersive, recurring three-day online experience that gives data professionals a unique opportunity to learn from the world’s top brands leading data-driven transformation. Each day of the CDO Masterclass is curated by industry experts and includes extensive content on practical case studies, industry best practices, sample data management and data governance roadmaps, interactive activities, roundtable discussions, and professional networking activities. Season 4 of CDO Masterclass was our largest yet and included more guest speakers, participants, and cross-learning opportunities than ever before! Season 4 of CDO Masterclass was packed with interactive conversations from some of the big data industry’s top voices and leaders paving the way for a new era of organizational data management and data governance. This blog post will discuss the top five key learnings from DataGalaxy’s CDO Masterclass Season 4, which included extensive content on practical case studies and industry best practices, including:
  • Daily keynote speeches from industry leaders
  • Sample roadmaps from top organizations
  • Professional networking activities
  • Fireside chats with data professionals, event keynote speakers, and Masterclass leaders

CDO Masterclass Season 4 day-by-day

Here’s a day-by-day breakdown of Season 4’s top conversations:

Day 1

  • Customer story: Swiss Life Insurance by Laurent Dresse, DataGalaxy’s Chief Evangelist
  • Roundtable discussions about today’s top drivers for organizational data literacy

Day 2

  • Roundtable discussion about linking data challenges to business outcomes
  • Customer story: Beck’s Hybrids “Succeeding with Data Transformation Using a Common Language”
  • Data Literacy Action Plan by Kash Mehdi, DataGalaxy’s VP of Growth

Day 3

  • CDOs in 90 days – “30-60-90 Days: Strategic Vision, Data Challenges, & Business Goals” by Kash Mehdi
  • Fireside chat about the future of AI and big data management with data leaders at Southwest Airlines and UNFI

Top 5 key learnings from CDO Masterclass season 4

  • Understanding your stakeholders is crucial for gaining sponsorship and excitement for your data initiatives. This principle is related to change management, to people management, to everything! Understanding the world outside the data is essential for seeing projects through.
  • Even though generative AI can accelerate processes, it cannot guarantee quality. To receive actionable insights from data and avoid “garbage in, garbage out,” you must enact proper data governance and retain the human element in data management.
  • When creating and maintaining AI policies and procedures, it’s important to create a framework that includes legal, data privacy and security, business, analytics, data science, and data steward teams to create a comprehensive strategy. In the future, there may be a rise in the creation of new positions like a Chief Data Strategy Officer to maintain and oversee AI applications in data management.
  • Data governance exists for more than just mitigating risk, it should enable organizational growth! Your company’s personal data governance plan should be defined by the goals you want to achieve, even if you have to work under constraints or roadblocks. Data governance will help to ensure the data you use every day is available, usable, and discoverable – In that way, it helps you achieve your organizational goals.
  • It’s not always possible to get a company-wide consensus on what is a critical data element (CDE). This is because, in the past, IT was in charge of all things data, but these days data teams are working to involve chief-level and non-technical user input in key decision-making strategies. This change will take time and its approach will vary among organizations, but it’s important to find a plan that works best for your teams in particular and stick with it.

Conclusion

Each season of CDO Masterclass features new content, speakers, and participants sharing the latest news and top tips in data management and data governance. Keep up-to-date with all things DataGalaxy by joining us for CDO Masterclass Season 5, coming soon! Discover everything you might have missed from CDO Masterclass Season 4 by downloading our exclusive white paper. We regularly host interactive webinars like the CDO Masterclass perfect for data professionals to upgrade their skill sets, collaborate with peers, and network with representatives from leading big data & AI companies around the world. Find us at an event near you or join an online webinar to learn more!