Ben Rogojan, a consultant who helps companies optimize their data stacks and build communities for data leaders, shares insights on the evolving landscape of data teams. He discusses the importance of demonstrating ROI and aligning data outputs with business outcomes. The conversation covers navigating stakeholder expectations, dealing with vanity metrics, and utilizing AI for improved data workflows. Rogojan emphasizes the key skills for data professionals and the need to take risks and embrace creativity for personal and organizational growth.
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insights INSIGHT
Data Teams: Output vs Outcome
Data teams grew rapidly post-2018 due to cheaper, easier tools like Snowflake and Fivetran.
However, output often exceeded outcome, raising questions when funding tightened.
insights INSIGHT
Internal vs Client-Facing Teams Stability
Internal optimization data teams face volatility and cutbacks when budgets tighten.
Client-facing data teams maintain stability due to direct perceived value to customers.
insights INSIGHT
Data Teams Amplify Existing Success
Data teams require funding from already successful businesses, so they amplify value rather than create it.
ROI is harder to prove for data teams than for marketing or sales, causing challenges in budget allocation.
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In *Ego Is the Enemy*, Ryan Holiday delves into the concept of ego and its detrimental effects on personal and professional success. The book is divided into three sections: Aspiration, Success, and Failure, each offering valuable lessons and perspectives. Holiday draws on a vast array of stories and examples from literature, philosophy, and history, featuring figures such as George Marshall, Jackie Robinson, Katharine Graham, Bill Belichick, and Eleanor Roosevelt. These individuals achieved great success by conquering their own egos, and their strategies and tactics are presented as models for readers. The book emphasizes the importance of staying grounded, continually learning, and embracing a mindset of growth rather than letting ego hinder development.
Highlights from this week’s conversation include:
Technical Freelancer Academy & Consulting Community (1:21)
Evolution of Data Teams and Technology (2:52)
Data Team Growth and Output vs. Outcome (4:47)
Internal Optimization vs. Client-Facing Data Work (7:23)
Audience, Delivery Mechanisms, and Actionability (12:40)
Proving ROI and Prioritizing Work (15:27)
Practical Tips for Data Team-Business Alignment (18:31)
Dealing with Vanity and Security Blanket Metrics (23:39)
AI’s Impact on Data Workflows (27:07)
BI Tools, AI Integration, and Dashboards (32:25)
Top Skills for Data Professionals (37:27)
Career Growth: Technical, Communication, and Business Skills (42:02)
Show, Don’t Tell: Prototyping and Feedback (44:37)
Taking Initiative and Risk in Data Roles (50:21)
Parting Advice and Closing Thoughts (51:16)
The Data Stack Show is a weekly podcast powered by RudderStack, customer data infrastructure that enables you to deliver real-time customer event data everywhere it’s needed to power smarter decisions and better customer experiences. Each week, we’ll talk to data engineers, analysts, and data scientists about their experience around building and maintaining data infrastructure, delivering data and data products, and driving better outcomes across their businesses with data.
RudderStack helps businesses make the most out of their customer data while ensuring data privacy and security. To learn more about RudderStack visit rudderstack.com.
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