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ToddHenley

Todd Henley

Data Strategy, Data Governance, and Architecture Leader

Experienced professional with a twenty-plus year record of success in data management and information technology, managing enterprise-level initiatives spanning multiple industries from not-for-profits, to utilities, to banking and finance.

What attracted you to data management or IT, and why did you choose to pursue this career?

I realized the power of data while working for a metadata management company. I became fascinated with the potential for connecting the right people to the right information at the right time for the benefit of everyone and wanted to be a part of making that process work!

What has been your greatest career accomplishment so far, and why has it been important to your career?

Building an entirely new data management function in an organization that didn’t quite understand how to support it. This process taught me a great deal about organizational and power dynamics, as well as how to make clear the value data management brings even to the harshest of critics.

What are the two or three biggest challenges you face as a data management professional / CDO and how can we address them?

The biggest challenge is cultural lag. All companies are data companies, but not many have the cultural underpinnings to support that reality. The second biggest challenge is that the understanding of this reality is very uneven among organizational leadership.

How do you see data management / the role of the CDO / IT changing in the next 2 – 3 years?

Changes in techniques and technologies will continue to favor more of a “connect model” to support greater democratization and line-of-business autonomy. In response, the CDO, and data management in general, will become less-and-less of what has been seen as an IT function, and more of a business function.

Do you have any planned next steps for your career?

I’m a fan of doing interesting work and being in a position where I know I can affect change. I’ll go wherever those two criteria take me!

What is the single best piece of advice you have received in your data management / IT career so far?  Why has it been so important to you?

The best piece of advice was given to me while expressing frustration with a former employer, there’s a limit to the size of rocks you can move on your own. Do what you can, do what you know is best, and keep moving forward. This advice has saved me years of continued frustration and helped put my energies into initiatives I know can generate success.

Can you share something about yourself as a person that people wouldn’t know about you?

I’m a huge fan of LEGO! Not only are the kits fun and creative, but a prime example of the power of data management, as well! And the instruction sets that come with each kit are a marvel of simplicity and what I use as a template for all sets of instructions I create for the business.

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