Becoming A ‘Magic’ AI Leader And Awakening The 'Genius' In Every Employee

For veterans of the IT industry, AI is far from their first hype cycle. What is different, however, is how fast the technology is justifying the hype — and already replacing legacy fads.

“There's been so many evolving components,” former Bridgestone Chief Data Officer Johnathan Tate said on a recent episode of IT vendor Fivetran’s podcast. Now, “RPA … is kind of dead at this point because AI agents have replaced what RPA can do, and they do it so much better,” he added.

But as data and AI investments grow, so are expectations. Now the data and AI tansformation leader at Highspring, Johnathan recalled asking frustrated business leaders for investment for the company’s master data strategy and data governance controls.

“That really wore out the patience of our business leaders. Our executives would come and say: ‘Okay, you know what, you're going to have to start showing some value for this,’” he said. “It shifted my mindset from doing data strategy for the sake of.”

Now, AI is on every executive’s mind — and increasingly baked into every department’s budget. As a result, leaders like Johnathan are focused on more than just technical data science work. They’re engaging with stakeholders across the business to translate raw data into outcomes that improve productivity, efficiency, and ultimately the bottom-line.

“Taking that turn from being a data geek, being an analytics geek, to [thinking] like I own this company … has really made a huge difference in our team's success and connecting with our business partners,” Johnathan said.

To deliver the results enterprises expect, Johnathan advises data and AI leaders to focus on understanding the business and the core processes that support operations.

“You shouldn't be thinking about a data project. You should be thinking about just the business first," he said. “Throw any assumptions out the window … just understand the problem, understand the need, understand the business case and return that they're trying to chase after.”

Awaken the ‘genius’ in every employee

According to Johnathan, data and AI leaders can’t wait to be invited to the right meetings or involved in the right projects. Instead, they have to prove their worth to potentially skeptical counterparts in other areas of the organization by understanding the different problems employees face

“Get hands on. Go touch the products. Go visit patients if you're in a healthcare setting … go out and visit stores if you're in a retail space,” he said. “If you go out and learn the business, learn what they do, and understand what you can do with data and analytics to help drive value … you become that magic person.”

Similarly, data and AI leaders have to empower employees to also get hands-on with the technology, including providing both proper technical education and secure training grounds.

“There's really a genius that lies in each one of us, and it's a leader's job to empower and unlock that genius that is in that person,” Johnathan said. “Ultimately give them the direction and then the freedom to go try and to do and to fail fast and to learn from those failures.”

Now, whether it’s the data team asking for more budget or another part of the business aiming to launch a new AI project, Johnathan makes sure to ask a set of core questions: Why do this? How does it help the business? What’s the value it delivers to customers?

These aren’t answers that data and AI teams can answer on their own. Instead, by staying on top of technology trends, partnering with the business, and understanding how to apply new innovations to drive benefits for employees, CDOs become indispensable to their organizations.

“You've got to continue to hone that craft and to stay relevant. And then once you get it and you understand it, be ready to forget it all and just do what works for the business and for the team that you're in,” said Johnathan.

Be sure to listen to the full podcast episode here.