Ataccama FWRD 2024: Full recap

Ataccama FWRD 2024 was more than just an event; it was a deep dive into the future of AI-powered data management. Now that the dust has settled, it's time to unpack the insights and knowledge shared during those action-packed sessions. This blog is your comprehensive guide to everything FWRD. 

We're going beyond the highlights to provide a detailed recap of each session, key takeaways, and access to session recordings. Consider this your shareable resource to spread the FWRD experience and spark data-driven conversations with your colleagues and network. Let's dive in!

Chief Data Officers: Unleashing potential to drive success

In his FWRD session, Ataccama CEO Mike McKee emphasized the critical role of Chief Data Officers (CDOs) in today's data-driven world, including the increasing importance of data for businesses to stay competitive. 

Mike stressed that CDOs have a "career-defining opportunity" to drive organizational success by fostering a strong data culture, where everyone feels ownership of data quality and contributes to data-driven decision-making. He illustrated this with real-world examples of data-driven companies like Tesla, Netflix, and Uber, showcasing how they leverage data as a core asset.

Key takeaway: To truly unleash data's potential, CDOs need to champion a shift in organizational culture. They must move away from siloed approaches to data and foster a sense of collective responsibility for data to drive organizational success.

AI 2.0: Transforming the future of data management

Ataccama CPO Jay Limburn traced the evolution of data management from SQL skills to machine learning and AI copilots, culminating in the emergence of the ONE AI agent — Ataccama's new AI data management capability that acts independently, learns from past interactions, and even formulates its own "thoughts." 

Jay spoke to the importance of data trust in the data supply chain, noting that many organizations are "stuck at the organize & govern stage" and struggling to extract true value from their data. The Ataccama ONE AI agent, he explained, is a "game-changing capability" that empowers businesses to "provide data trust to [their] business in a more automatic way than ever before." 

He supported this claim with a compelling statistic: Ataccama's AI-driven automation has already reduced the time spent on specific data management tasks by 40%.

This evolution, he argued, is democratizing data management, making it accessible to everyone, building trust in their data, and accelerating data-driven initiatives.

Key takeaway: The Ataccama ONE AI agent benefits businesses by diminishing the need for highly skilled data staff, making every user a power user, and enabling organizations to provide data trust to their business in a more automatic way than ever before.

Snowflake & Ataccama: Introducing a new, Snowflake-native data quality solution

Ataccama CPO Jay Limburn and Snowflake's Head of Technology Alliances, Tarik Dwiek, introduced Ataccama's new, Snowflake-native data quality solution designed to help Snowflake customers improve their data quality without any security risks or performance challenges associated with traditional data movement. 

Native apps can eliminate data silos and improve time to value. Ataccama for Snowflake offers 50 free, high-quality data rules that can be used directly within the Snowflake UI, allowing data engineers to "become data quality engineers and provide high quality trusted data for their business."

Key takeaway: This new solution allows Snowflake users to access Ataccama's data quality features without moving data outside their Snowflake instance, ensuring maximum security and efficiency while improving data trust.

Data leaders track

Attendees of the data leaders track received updates on the latest trends in data management, networked with people in their positions, and brought valuable experience, knowledge, and guidance back to their teams. Get a complete summary of the sessions below:

The power of data to unlock GenAI

Tia White, AI & ML Executive at AWS, guided attendees through the transformative potential of Generative AI (GenAI) in her FWRD session. Drawing on her experience at major financial institutions like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan, Tia highlighted the significant impact GenAI is predicted to have, adding "$19.9 trillion to [the] global economy by 2030." 

She distinguished GenAI, which leverages "foundation models already trained on vast amounts of data," from traditional AI, emphasizing its flexibility and ability to generate new content and insights. Her five essentials for organizations to successfully adopt GenAI include:

• Strategic focus
• Cultivating an innovation culture
• Strong governance
• Talent investment
• Modern data foundation. 

Key takeaway: Tia stressed that "data is the differentiator," arguing that companies can unlock GenAI's true potential by combining it with a robust data foundation and using it to generate insights tailored to their specific business needs and customer base.

What comes next for the CDO/CDAO role in an AI Future

Randy Bean, author of "Fail Fast, Learn Faster: Lesson in Data-Driven Leadership in an Age of Disruption, Big Data, and AI," delivered a compelling session that explored the evolving role of the Chief Data Officer (CDO). 

The session traced the history of the CDO role, specifically the increasing pressure on CDOs to demonstrate measurable business value and the challenges they face in navigating organizational change and delivering tangible results. 

He also delved into the complexities of the CDO role, including the need to demonstrate measurable business value and navigate the shift from defensive data strategies (focused on regulatory compliance and efficiency) to offensive strategies (focused on growth and innovation). 

Integrating data and AI into business processes and fostering a data-driven culture remains a major hurdle for many organizations. He concluded by exploring the future of data leadership, raising questions about the long-term trajectory of the CDO role and the emergence of Chief AI Officers.

Key takeaway: A survey revealed that "97.2% [of] companies claim that a CDO/CDAO role is necessary," but only half consider it successful. This indicates that while the CDO role is becoming increasingly prevalent, organizations still struggle to fully understand and leverage its potential.

Beyond technology: Building a people-first approach to data governance success

Rebecca Lane, Director of Customer Success at Ataccama, and Prithwiraj Thakur, Deloitte's MDM and Data Governance lead for Canada, presented a compelling session on building a people-first approach to data governance. 

They highlighted a common pitfall: prioritizing data and technology over people and business needs. Rebecca and Prithwiraj explained that successful data governance encourages people to understand, trust, and utilize data effectively. 

The speakers shared real-world examples of customer successes and challenges, advocating for clear communication, practical training, and strong leadership support to drive data governance adoption and deliver tangible business value.

Key takeaway: To achieve sustainable data governance success, organizations must prioritize the human element, foster a data-driven culture, and enable everyone to understand, trust, and utilize data effectively to solve business challenges.

Data practitioners track

Attendees of the data practitioners' track learned about the latest technologies in data management and how groundbreaking businesses use them, gaining advantages and improving enterprise operations. Find full summaries of all the sessions below:

Ataccama ONE data quality & catalog suite

Jessie Smith, VP of Product and Data Quality at Ataccama, introduced the Ataccama ONE Data Quality & Catalog Suite, covering its comprehensive capabilities for building trust in data. 

She outlined the four key components of a successful data quality program: 

• Document & define. Create a comprehensive inventory of data assets, define business terms and data dictionaries, and establish clear data quality standards and rules.
• Understand quality. Data profile to identify patterns, anomalies, and potential issues and measure data quality dimensions (accuracy, completeness, consistency, etc.) to establish a baseline for improvement.
• Improve quality. Data cleansing, transformation, and enrichment to correct errors and improve data accuracy. Deduplication and mastering to create a single, trusted view of key entities (like customers or products) is also important.
• Prevent issues. Implement real-time data validation, transformation, and quality checks within data pipelines and applications to prevent issues proactively.

The session stressed Ataccama ONE Data Quality & Catalog as a holistic approach, going beyond data cataloging and monitoring to include these essential capabilities like active data cleansing, transformation, enrichment, deduplication, and mastering. 

Later in her presentation, she showcased how the new Ataccama ONE AI agent can work with cataloging tasks, querying it to find tables containing a rule description. The agent quickly responded in a conversational tone, finding the tables and offering a fast summary with fetched attributes. 

Key takeaway: Ataccama ONE provides a comprehensive platform for managing data quality throughout the entire data lifecycle. The platform's AI agent further enhances this capability by automating complex tasks, such as identifying relevant data, creating data quality rules, and resolving data quality issues, ultimately freeing data professionals to focus on higher-value activities.

Ataccama ONE master data management suite

Petr Zacek, Director of Product, MDM at Ataccama, provided a comprehensive overview of Master Data Management (MDM) and its crucial role in connecting data to real-world entities to deliver business value. 

The session covered various use cases for MDM, including analytical applications, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency. He showcased Ataccama ONE MDM as a user-friendly, multidomain solution that provides a holistic view of master data and integrates seamlessly with data quality capabilities. 

A compelling demo illustrated how AI agents within Ataccama ONE MDM can automate complex tasks, such as identifying and resolving data inconsistencies and enriching master data with external sources, significantly accelerating time to value. Looking ahead, AI agents will become increasingly important for automating tasks and allowing users to focus on more strategic initiatives.

Key takeaway: MDM is not merely a technical discipline; it's a strategic enabler of business value. Ataccama ONE MDM, with its intuitive interface, multidomain capabilities, and AI-driven automation, empowers organizations to create trusted, connected data assets that represent real-world entities and drive business outcomes.

Fireside chat: Navigating the future of data & AI in telecom and beyond

This panel discussion, featuring Jason from T-Mobile, Phil Klippen from Snowflake, Anup Bose from Infosys, and Jessica Goulart from Ataccama, explored the latest trends in data and AI, with a particular focus on the challenges and opportunities presented by generative AI. 

The panelists discussed the increasing use of GenAI in various applications, including customer service at T-Mobile, field operations planning at Snowflake, and data bias detection. Open data formats and secure data sharing are also important for fostering collaboration and innovation. 

A key theme was the need for robust AI governance frameworks to address issues like bias, privacy, and transparency, similar to how data governance frameworks emerged in response to data privacy regulations. 

Key takeaway: As AI becomes increasingly prevalent, organizations need to establish comprehensive AI governance frameworks that address issues of bias, privacy, transparency, and ethical use, ensuring responsible and trustworthy AI applications.

Ataccama users track

Attendees of the Ataccama users track had a first-hand look at the new features and updates of the Ataccama platform and formulated insights on leveraging them for their business. Find the summaries of the sessions below:

Quantifying the value of data initiatives

Lee Edney, LGlobal Head of Business Value Consulting Ataccama, and Chantale Boulanger, Director of Shared Client Data and Performance iA Financial Group, led a session that explored the crucial topic of quantifying the value of data initiatives. Demonstrating the value of data initiatives is no longer optional; it's essential for securing buy-in, justifying investments, and showcasing the impact of data-driven work. 

Attendees learned how to effectively quantify this value through collaboration with business stakeholders, holistic measurement across multiple dimensions (including business KPIs and financial metrics), and ongoing tracking of success metrics even after project implementation. 

Key takeaway: Many organizations struggle to demonstrate the value of their data initiatives because they focus on short-term project deliverables rather than ongoing value measurement. To truly showcase the impact of data, data leaders need to establish continuous tracking mechanisms and integrate value measurement into their operational model.

Driving adoption of the Ataccama platform

Manan Joshi, Director of Customer Success at Ataccama, and David Kalab, VP of Data Management at Adastra, presented a practical guide to driving successful adoption of the Ataccama platform. 

The session explained the importance of establishing a strong foundation with executive sponsorship, a clear data strategy tied to business value, and a well-defined data roadmap. Data teams must consider the user journey, define user personas, and tailor education and training programs to their specific needs and roles. 

To promote wider adoption, Manan and David recommended leveraging various communication channels, celebrating successes, and continuously monitoring platform usage to identify and address any adoption challenges. Real-world customer success stories demonstrated the significant value and ROI that Ataccama can deliver when implemented effectively.

Key takeaway: Successful Ataccama platform adoption requires a strategic approach that goes beyond technical implementation. Organizations must actively engage users, tailor training programs, promote success stories, and continuously monitor platform usage to ensure the platform delivers maximum value and drives data-driven outcomes.

Accelerating data excellence with Ataccama ONE: Unlocking the full potential of your data strategy

Patrice Bellan, Senior Sales Engineer at Ataccama, led a session that showcased the power of Ataccama ONE to accelerate data excellence and unlock an organization's data strategy's full potential. 

The session focused on how Ataccama ONE streamlines data operations, reduces manual effort by up to 80%, and enables smarter decision-making through advanced data quality, governance, and observability capabilities. 

Attendees learned how Ataccama ONE can help organizations optimize their data management, whether new to the platform or seeking to enhance their existing deployment.

Key takeaway: Ataccama ONE can deliver data quality and governance up to 95% faster, significantly reducing the time and resources required to manage and utilize data effectively.

Bridging data and business: Women leaders driving valuable outcomes

This panel discussion, featuring Monica Zimmerman from Baylor Scott & White Health, Heather Mitchell from Nissan, Sukanya Konatam from Vialto, and Catherine Yoshida from Teranet, Marta DeBellis from Ataccama, offered a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities faced by women in the data space. 

The panelists candidly shared their experiences on perseverance, mentorship, and balancing professional and personal life. They also showcased their proudest accomplishments in 2024, ranging from Sukanya's successful completion of a two-year data governance project to Catherine's efforts to establish mature data management practices and foster a data-driven culture at Teranet.

Beyond personal reflections, the discussion explored trends shaping the data landscape, including data democratization, AI governance, and the growing importance of privacy and security in an increasingly data-driven world. 

Companies need continuous learning and adaptation, staying ahead of the curve in the rapidly evolving field of data management.

Key Takeaway: Catherine Yoshida demonstrated that building a data-driven culture often requires creative approaches to engage business users. Her use of the "Mr. Data" character to illustrate data concepts and lifecycle shows how data leaders can make data more accessible and engaging for non-technical audiences, ultimately fostering greater understanding and collaboration.

Data Visionary Awards

At FWRD 2024, we celebrated the achievements of some truly exceptional data leaders with the Ataccama Data Visionary Awards. These awards recognize individuals and teams who have demonstrated outstanding innovation, leadership, and results using the Ataccama ONE platform.

A huge congratulations to all the winners! Your dedication to data excellence inspires the entire data management community.

Here's a closer look at each award category and its well-deserving recipient:

Award	Winner
Data Innovation Award	Sundar Sattanathan, Customer Experience Leader at Nissan
Data Excellence Award	Jason Wright, Manager, Technical Products & Solutions at T-Mobile US
Customer Advocate of the Year Award	Chantale Boulanger, Data Governance Director at iA Financial Group
AI Visionary Award	Catherine Yoshida, Data Governance Architect at Teranet
Data Collaboration Champion Award	May Kwok, Data Management Architect at Hamilton
Ataccama Community Advocate Award	Albert de Ruiter, Lead Data Management at Stater

Contact us to learn more about Ataccama ONE

That concludes our in-depth recap of Ataccama FWRD 2024! We hope this blog has provided valuable insights into the key trends, technologies, and strategies shaping the future of data management — a huge thank you to all the incredible speakers and attendees who made FWRD a success.

We encourage you to share this blog with your colleagues and network to spark conversations and spread the knowledge. Let's continue the momentum and build a more data-driven future together.