Capital One discovers data disconnect between IT and business leaders

Diving overview:

A report from Capital One found that business leaders are overconfident in their organizations’ data capabilities. The bank commissioned Morning Consult to survey approximately 4,000 business leaders and technology stakeholders. The majority of business leaders surveyed (87%) believe their organizations have a modern data ecosystem that allows them to deploy AI at scale. However, only 41% reported successfully scaling their AI-based solutions. IT professionals were less optimistic. Seven out of 10 technicians surveyed spent up to four hours per day resolving data issues, performing quality checks, and fixing errors. Teren Peterson, vice president of data engineering at Capital One, says, “The amount of time engineers spend addressing data issues means that companies may be overlooking critical elements of data management. It shows.”

Dive Insight:

Enterprise AI ambitions are giving data technologists the opportunity to drive the IT agenda and raise the profile of data operations.

According to West Monroe, executive teams linking data and AI to their job titles are becoming more common as business leaders direct IT investments toward infrastructure that supports AI implementation.

“There’s a lot of movement right now around the data products and tools that data product managers in organizations need,” Peterson told CIO Dive.

Executives understand the importance of data, but they don’t know exactly how prepared their organization is. Research shows that four out of five business leaders find it easy to find, understand, and use the data they need. However, only 35% said their organization has sufficient support and training to foster a healthy data culture.

“Business leaders are reconnecting with their data,” Peterson said. “If you don’t invest in tools and people, it’s hard to execute on AI and ML. You can put a lot into your AI strategy, but if your data isn’t ready, it won’t happen. ”It’s worth it. ”

Leadership is also important.

“You need a chief data officer or someone at the top to compete internally on strategy,” Peterson said.

Building a culture around data hygiene and governance is key to getting data issues right the first time so others don’t spend half their week solving them, he added. .

Capital One’s technology strategy began with cloud modernization and an enterprise-wide platform strategy. Last year, the bank democratized access to machine learning tools as it leveraged its AI capabilities. This year, Evident ranked Capital One second behind JPMorgan Chase in AI adoption in banks.

The company has also strengthened its data and AI leadership over the past two years, adding three executive positions to the team: SVP and Head of AI Products, Chief Scientist and Head of Enterprise AI, and SVP of AI Foundations.

“You need a chief data officer or someone at the top to compete internally on strategy,” Peterson told CIO Dive.

Data leadership builds a culture around data hygiene, governance, and getting it right the first time so that someone else doesn’t end up spending half their week solving data problems. Yes, he added.

Leaders are relatively consistent about what their organizations lack in terms of culture and expertise. Only 36% of technology workers say their organization has the skills to implement complex AI projects. 47% of business leaders agree.