Episode 39 - Business Intelligence Can Be a Game Changer with Mohit Sahgal

Mo formerly held leadership positions including Executive Director at EY, and Partner at IBM, Capco, and Accenture. He is a senior executive with 25+ years of management consulting experience and has successfully managed IT projects in Financial Services, Electronics & High Tech., Energy & Natural Resources, Chemicals, Lodging, Media & Entertainment, Pharmaceuticals, and Professional Services.

Mo has published many Business Intelligence and Data Warehouse articles in several industry journals including DM Review, B-EYE Network, and BI Review. He is an effective communicator across all levels of an organization — adept at building delivery organizations and mobilizing and managing multicultural, international teams. He has extensive experience delivering information management, data warehouse, and business intelligence solutions. Mo leads the Data Engineering practice at EKI which brings AI-driven data solutions to help clients identify, build, and commercialize the value of data for competitive and strategic advantage.

Mo shares so much of his knowledge about business intelligence and data warehousing. He shares the importance of data and how business intelligence can be game-changing for an organization. He also talks about where to start and how to start to have a bigger impact on a faster timeline.

Show Notes:

• [00:26] Mohit is the Managing Principal and Head of Data Engineering at EKI-Digital.
• [01:11] Data has been part of his history for a long time dating back to his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland. He has always been on the consulting side and been able to work with some of the largest companies in the world.
• [02:41] Data is still not being used as effectively as it could be.
• [04:15] Most organizations face challenges in sourcing the data. 80% of their time and effort is spent just on that. There are many technologies that can reduce that time to 10% or 20%.
• [04:49] Insufficient time is spent on understanding the consumption aspect.
• [07:19] Heavy manufacturing, nickel and copper manufacturing, gold mining banking, and financial services continue to have major challenges.
• [08:18] Intelligence can really be a game-changer for organizations.
• [09:01] In most cases there is a common theme. It starts with understanding the consumption aspects of the data.
• [11:12] It is important the data is able to be consumed.
• [13:17] There is a lack of understanding of the underlying statistical nature of the data itself, the use of the correct visualization to analyze that information, and more importantly to identify exceptions in the data such that it leads to action. Is the data actually going to lead to action?
• [15:13] There is a huge opportunity that is being overlooked across all industries.
• [17:01] Small nimble teams can move faster, so having the right individuals skilled with the right tools can make a huge difference in a shorter period of time. Starting small, thinking big, and scaling fast is a tried and true approach for managing these types of projects.
• [18:42] Have the end in mind at the beginning of the project.
• [19:58] He would have picked an industry that specialized in the areas he is passionate about.
• [20:57] He enjoys working in banking and capital markets and he finds the pace of change fascinating.
• [21:38] Mo shares his best worst boss story that was a life-changing experience for him.
• [23:09] He learned the importance of looking three steps ahead as a leader.
• [24:47] There are two key stakeholders in any organization, the CFO and CIO. There is a balance to that.

Links and Resources:

• State of the CIO Podcast Website
• State of the CIO Podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Dan on LinkedIn
• EKI-Digital
• Mohit on LinkedIn