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Cindi Howson

Speaker

Cindi Howson

11

talks

Chief Data Strategy Officer ThoughtSpot

Cindi Howson is the Chief Data and AI Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpot where she acts as a thought leader and strategic advisor to ThoughtSpot customers. Cindi is an analytics and BI expert with 20-plus years’ experience and a flair for bridging business needs with technology.Cindi was previously a Gartner Vice President in data and analytics, lead author of the Analytics and BI Magic Quadrant, data and analytics maturity model, as well as research in data and AI for good, NLP/BI Search, and augmented analytics. She introduced the BI bake-offs and innovation panels at Gartner events globally and is a popular keynote speaker. She’s frequently quoted in MIT, Harvard Business Review, Information Week and is rated a top 12 influencer in big data and analytics by Analytics Insight, Onalytca, Solutions Review, and Humans of Data.In 2021, Cindi was named data leader of the year by Women in Data and as a finalist for motivator of the year by Women Leaders in Data and AI. She serves on the board for Drexel University’s LeBow Business Analytics program and is a volunteer for Girls Plus Data, Women in Data, and the Mark Cuban Foundation, AI bootcamps.Prior to Gartner, she was the founder of BI Scorecard, a resource for in-depth product reviews based on exclusive hands-on testing, a contributor to Information Week, and the author of several books including Successful Business Intelligence: Unlock the Value of BI & Big Data and SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0: The Complete Reference. She served as The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI) faculty member for more than a decade. Prior to founding BI Scorecard, Howson was a manager at Deloitte & Touche and a BI standards leader for Dow Chemical. She has an MBA from Rice University and a BA from the University of Maryland.

Bio from: Big Data LDN 2025

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You’ve rolled out self-service analytics. Everyone’s answering their own questions. Job done, right? Not quite.

Together with ThoughtSpot, Huel shares what comes next when your organisation has fully embraced self-service analytics. From redefining the role of the data team, to unlocking a culture of empowerment for business users to go from reactive insights to proactive decisions, discover how Huel is going beyond dashboards and into a new era of analytics. If you’ve nailed self-service, or even if you haven't, this is your roadmap to what’s next.

Ready to elevate your data game? Join us for an exciting session with Shiv Nayak from EasyJet! Discover how they’re transforming their approach with cutting-edge technology—natural language search, AI, and GPT—to make data insights faster and more accessible than ever. In a fast-paced world where speed and clarity are crucial, see how EasyJet is staying ahead of the competition by turning data into a powerful, self-service tool that drives their success. Shiv will be joined by James Smith, VP EMEA at ThoughtSpot. Don’t miss this chance to learn from the leaders shaping the future of data.

Face To Face
with Drew Banin (Fishtown Analytics) , Mike Ferguson (Big Data LDN) , Tirthankar Lahiri (Oracle) , Shaun Clowes , Cindi Howson (ThoughtSpot)

In this executive debate, leading industry analyst Mike Ferguson welcomes leaders from premier software companies to discuss key topics in data management and analytics. Panelists will debate the impact of Generative AI, the implications of key industry trends, how best to deal with real-world customer challenges, how to build a modern data and analytics (D&A) architecture, data and AI governance and sharing, and on-the-horizon issues that companies should be planning for today.

Attendees will learn best practices for data and analytics implementation in a modern data-driven enterprise from seasoned executives and experienced analysts in a packed, unscripted, candid discussion.

For the past few years, we've seen the importance of data literacy and why organizations must invest in a data-driven culture, mindset, and skillset. However, as generative AI tools like ChatGPT have risen to prominence in the past year, AI literacy has never been more important. But how do we begin to approach AI literacy? Is it an extension of data literacy, a complement, or a new paradigm altogether? How should you get started on your AI literacy ambitions?  Cindi Howson is the Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpot and host of The Data Chief podcast. Cindi is a data analytics, AI, and BI thought leader and an expert with a flair for bridging business needs with technology. As Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpot, she advises top clients on data strategy and best practices to become data-driven, speaks internationally on top trends such as AI ethics, and influences ThoughtSpot’s product strategy.

Cindi was previously a Gartner Research Vice President, the lead author for the data and analytics maturity model and analytics and BI Magic Quadrant, and a popular keynote speaker. She introduced new research in data and AI for good, NLP/BI Search, and augmented analytics, bringing both BI bake-offs and innovation panels to Gartner globally. She’s frequently quoted in MIT, Harvard Business Review, and Information Week. She is rated a top 12 influencer in big data and analytics by Analytics Insight, Onalytca, Solutions Review, and Humans of Data.

In the episode, Cindi and Adel discuss how generative AI accelerates an organization’s data literacy, how leaders can think beyond data literacy and start to think about AI literacy, the importance of responsible use of AI, how to best communicate the value of AI within your organization, what generative AI means for data teams, AI use-cases in the data space, the psychological barriers blocking AI adoption, and much more. 

Links Mentioned in the Show: The Data Chief Podcast  ThoughtSpot Sage  BloombergGPT  Radar: Data & AI Literacy Course: AI Ethics  Course: Generative AI Concepts Course: Implementing AI Solutions in Business 

An effective data strategy is one that combines a variety of levers such as infrastructure, tools, organization, processes, and more. Arguably however, the most important aspect of a vibrant data strategy is culture and people. In the third of our four RADAR 2023 sessions, Cindi Howson and Valerie Logan discuss how data leaders can create a data strategy that puts their people at the center. Learn key insights into how to drive effective change management for data culture, how to drive adoption of data within the organization, common pitfalls when executing on a data strategy, and more.  Cindi Howson is the Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpot and host of The Data Chief podcast. Cindi is an analytics and BI thought leader and expert with a flair for bridging business needs with technology.  As Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpot, she advises top clients on data strategy and best practices to become data-driven, speaks internationally on top trends such as AI ethics, and influences ThoughtSpot’s product strategy.  Valerie Logan is the Founder and CEO of The Data Lodge. Valerie is committed to data literacy, she believes that in today's digital society, data literacy is a life skill. With advisory services, bootcamps, a resource library and community services at The Data Lodge, Valerie is certifying the world’s first Data Literacy Program Leads and pioneering the path forward in cracking the data culture code. In 2018, she was awarded Gartner’s Top Thought Leadership Award for her leadership in the area of Data Literacy. Listen in as Cindi and Valerie share how to build a data strategy that puts people first in an enterprise organization.

The number of women entering data professions is growing, and men need to adapt. This podcast is designed to enlighten men about the role of women in the data field. Our guests are all executives at data and analytics software companies who have held positions in other sectors of our field: Prukalpa Sankar, Cindi Howson, Debika Sharma.

Ever wonder about the masterminds that create the famous Gartner Analytics and BI Magic Quadrant? Meet Cindi Howson, former VP at Gartner and current Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughSpot. Cindi's unorthodox start in the BI world and quick rise to well-known author, BI Scorecard creator and go to for the media, is nothing short of spectacular. Find out why Cindi is one of the most inspirational and well-known women in BI!  

Sponsor

This exciting season of AOF is sponsored by our BI Data Storytelling Mastery Accelerator 3-Day Live workshops. Many BI teams are still struggling to deliver consistent, high-engaging analytics their users love. At the end of two days, you'll leave with a clear BI delivery action plan for your BI team.  Join us!

Enjoyed the Show? Please leave us a review on iTunes.   For all links and resources mentioned visit: https://bibrainz.com/podcast/25

Successful Business Intelligence, Second Edition, 2nd Edition

Revised to cover new advances in business intelligence—big data, cloud, mobile, and more—this fully updated bestseller reveals the latest techniques to exploit BI for the highest ROI. “Cindi has created, with her typical attention to details that matter, a contemporary forward-looking guide that organizations could use to evaluate existing or create a foundation for evolving business intelligence / analytics programs. The book touches on strategy, value, people, process, and technology, all of which must be considered for program success. Among other topics, the data, data warehousing, and ROI comments were spot on. The ‘technobabble’ chapter was brilliant!” — Bill Frank, Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing Program Manager, Johnson & Johnson “If you want to be an analytical competitor, you’ve got to go well beyond business intelligence technology. Cindi Howson has wrapped up the needed advice on technology, organization, strategy, and even culture in a neat package. It’s required reading for quantitatively oriented strategists and the technologists who support them.” — Thomas H. Davenport, President’s Distinguished Professor, Babson College and co-author, Competing on Analytics “Cindi has created an exceptional, authoritative description of the end-to-end business intelligence ecosystem. This is a great read for those who are just trying to better understand the business intelligence space, as well as for the seasoned BI practitioner.” — Sully McConnell, Vice President, Business Intelligence and Information Management, Time Warner Cable “Cindi’s book succinctly yet completely lays out what it takes to deliver BI successfully. IT and business leaders will benefit from Cindi’s deep BI experience, which she shares through helpful, real-world definitions, frameworks, examples, and stories. This is a must-read for companies engaged in – or considering – BI.” — Barbara Wixom, PhD, Principal Research Scientist, MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research Expanded to cover the latest advances in business intelligence such as big data, cloud, mobile, visual data discovery, and in-memory computing, this fully updated bestseller by BI guru Cindi Howson provides cutting-edge techniques to exploit BI for maximum value. Successful Business Intelligence: Unlock the Value of BI & Big Data, Second Edition describes best practices for an effective BI strategy. Find out how to: Garner executive support to foster an analytic culture Align the BI strategy with business goals Develop an analytic ecosystem to exploit data warehousing, analytic appliances, and Hadoop for the right BI workload Continuously improve the quality, breadth, and timeliness of data Find the relevance of BI for everyone in the company Use agile development processes to deliver BI capabilities and improvements at the pace of business change Select the right BI tools to meet user and business needs Measure success in multiple ways Embrace innovation, promote successes and applications, and invest in training Monitor your evolution and maturity across various factors for impact Exclusive industry survey data and real-world case studies from Medtronic, Macy’s, 1-800 CONTACTS, The Dow Chemical Company, Netflix, Constant Contact, and other companies show successful BI initiatives in action. From Moneyball to Nate Silver, BI and big data have permeated our cultural, political, and economic landscape. This timely, up-to-date guide reveals how to plan and deploy an agile, state-of-the-art BI solution that links insight to action and delivers a sustained competitive advantage.

SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 The Complete Reference 3/E

The definitive reference for building actionable business intelligence—completely revised for SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0. Unleash the full potential of business intelligence with fact-based decisions, aligned to business goals, using reports and dashboards that lead from insight to action. SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0: The Complete Reference offers completely updated coverage of the latest BI platform. Find out how to work with the new Information Design Tool to create universes that access multiple data sources and SAP BW. See how to translate complex business questions into highly efficient Web Intelligence queries and publish your results to the BI Launchpad. Learn how to create dashboards from data sourced through a universe or spreadsheet. The most important concepts for universe designers, report and dashboard authors, and business analysts are fully explained and illustrated by screenshots, diagrams, and step-by-step instructions. Establish and evolve BI goals Maximize your BI investments by offering the right module to the right user Create robust universes with the Information Design Tool, leveraging multiple data sources, derived tables, aggregate awareness, and parameters Develop a security plan that is scalable and flexible Design Web Intelligence reports from basic to advanced Create sophisticated calculations and advanced formatting to highlight critical business trends Build powerful dashboards to embed in PowerPoint or the BI Launchpad Use Explorer to visually navigate large data sets and uncover patterns

Successful Business Intelligence: Secrets to Making BI a Killer App

Praise for Successful Business Intelligence "If you want to be an analytical competitor, you've got to go well beyond business intelligence technology. Cindi Howson has wrapped up the needed advice on technology, organization, strategy, and even culture in a neat package. It's required reading for quantitatively oriented strategists and the technologists who support them." --Thomas H. Davenport, President's Distinguished Professor, Babson College and co-author, Competing on Analytics "When used strategically, business intelligence can help companies transform their organization to be more agile, more competitive, and more profitable. Successful Business Intelligence offers valuable guidance for companies looking to embark upon their first BI project as well as those hoping to maximize their current deployments." --John Schwarz, CEO, Business Objects "A thoughtful, clearly written, and carefully researched examination of all facets of business intelligence that your organization needs to know to run its business more intelligently and exploit information to its fullest extent." --Wayne Eckerson, Director, TDWI Research "Using real-world examples, Cindi Howson shows you how to use business intelligence to improve the performance, and the quality, of your company." --Bill Baker, Distinguished Engineer & GM, Business Intelligence Applications, Microsoft Corporation "This book outlines the key steps to make BI an integral part of your company's culture and demonstrates how your company can use BI as a competitive differentiator." --Robert VanHees, CFO, Corporate Express "Given the trend to expand the business analytics user base, organizations are faced with a number of challenges that affect the success rate of these projects. This insightful book provides practical advice on improving that success rate." --Dan Vesset, Vice President, Business Analytics Solution Research, IDC

BusinessObjects XI (Release 2): The Complete Reference

This book is a must read for anyone deploying BusinessObjects. It covers everything from planning your upgrade to the latest release, to best practices in universe design, and powerful report creation that maximizes business insight. This book covers the most frequently used features for the full BI suite, in one comprehensive book. There's in depth coverage of Designer, security via the Central Management Console, InfoView, Web Intelligence, and Desktop Intelligence. It goes beyond step-by-step instructions to cover how and why in a business context. Transition notes are interspersed for version 5 and 6 customers to understand the biggest changes in XI Release 2. If you drive BI requirements in your company or are a data warehouse program manager, Business Objects administrator, report author or consumer, this book is for you.