Paths to Leadership in Data Science: Skills, Strategy, Advice
At COLLIDE 2023, six data leaders from Warner Bros. Discovery, Inspire Brands, AT&T, Morgan Stanley, Kaiser Permanente and American Express discussed paths to leadership. They stressed soft skills, continuous learning, alignment with business goals and the ability to translate technical work.
By The AI Enterprise Magazine Team4 min read
Key takeaways
- Soft skills grow in importance. Several panelists said they underestimated how much communication and empathy would matter.
- Keep learning. Sangode advised behaving like a brain surgeon: read research, practice new skills and talk to peers.
- Align to company goals. Coleman and Lukens said priorities should track what the business needs, not the newest tool.
- Translate the implicit need. Sangode said leaders turn vague business needs into explicit analytical problems.
- Widen the pipeline. Boykin and Javed described school outreach, broader recruiting and internal upskilling.
At COLLIDE 2023 in Atlanta, six data and analytics leaders shared how they moved from technical roles into leadership. The panel, "Paths to Leadership in Data Science," was moderated by Ash Naseer, Senior Director of Data Engineering at Warner Bros. Discovery. Panelists were Colin Coleman, Chief Data & Analytics Officer at Inspire Brands; Frances Boykin, Director of Advanced Analytics at AT&T; Asit Sangode, Executive Director of Data Science at Morgan Stanley; Faizan Javed, who leads data science work at Kaiser Permanente; and Hallie Lukens, Director of Analytics Capabilities at American Express.
Across the 43-minute session, the panelists kept returning to the same themes: soft skills, continuous learning, alignment with business goals and the ability to explain technical work in business terms. Titles are as given at the time.
What makes a data science leader effective?
Sangode said his career moved from credit cards to asset management, and the core problems stayed similar: who the clients are, what they are worth, when they might leave and who can be cross-sold. Knowledge, he argued, transfers across industries.
Coleman, who began his career at NASA and holds a PhD in aerospace engineering, credited natural curiosity. He said his own goals shift as he gets older, toward working with senior leaders and growing his team. "Nobody ever told me that," he said, referring to how the things you need to learn change over time.
Javed split leadership into two halves: strategy and vision, which matter more higher up, and execution, value delivery and people management. Leaders get less hands-on, he said, but must still know what is technically possible, because "we can't just be project managers."
Which skills matter as careers advance?
Lukens said she did not expect to spend so much effort on soft skills such as communicating with leaders and partner teams. Boykin described pushing her team to keep upskilling, including prompt engineering and AI privacy, and said she is completing another master's degree at Georgia Tech.
Sangode quoted Daniel Goleman, saying that in a pool of high-IQ talent, passion and empathy set people apart. He also offered advice he had received: "behave like a brain surgeon," meaning keep reading research, practicing new skills and talking to peers.
How do you handle the hard parts of a career?
Asked about obstacles, Coleman described low points: startups that failed, a layoff that included him and the self-doubt that followed. "Nobody ever talks about" those stretches, he said. His advice was to keep checking in with yourself about whether the work fits what you want, and to have the same conversation with team members about what is meaningful to them.
How can leaders widen the pipeline?
On diversity and inclusion, Boykin said open-source and open AI tools remove the economic barrier that existed in the 1990s. She said she speaks at university analytics days and has been asked to join the board of Atlanta Technical College, where she wants to bring data science to underserved students. Leaders who say they cannot find diverse candidates, she said, should visit schools and events.
Javed outlined a multi-part approach: put data science into high school STEM, recruit from a wider set of universities, and build internal upskilling and skill-matching programs so existing employees can move into data roles.
How do you align with company strategy and communicate it?
Coleman said that at Inspire Brands, data and analytics priorities track revenue growth, operating efficiency and new unit growth. The hard part, he said, is choosing what the company needs even when "you don't get to do your favorite little thing." Lukens said her team ties its goals to business goals and checks in often so it does not chase "the newest shiny tool."
On communication, Sangode said data scientists "speak Python" while business partners speak jargon, so the common ground is business metrics. Stakeholders rarely hand over a project; the leader's job is to turn an implicit need into an explicit analytical problem and translate the answer back.
Boykin described an annual alignment process at AT&T: teams propose projects in late summer for the following year, and priorities are aligned up to the CEO's goals, with funding often deciding what proceeds. Coleman said coming from aerospace, where he wrote technical papers, was a wake-up call. He said he leans on analogies and storytelling, and that the ability to connect with the business becomes more important with seniority.
What was the closing advice?
In a lightning round, Lukens urged being well-rounded across soft skills, business knowledge and technical skills. Boykin and Javed stressed collaboration. Sangode said to focus on people, build efficient processes and break silos. Coleman added that leaders should remember their teams are human and learn from things that go wrong. Naseer said leaders should work out "where the puck is going" and ask what a company needs next.
Where to learn more
COLLIDE 2027, billed as the largest AI conference in the Southern U.S. with 1,000+ enterprise data and AI leaders, is set for Wednesday, October 13, 2027, at Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center in Atlanta. See /events/collide/. Free webinars for data professionals are listed at /webinars/. Registration for 2027 events is coming soon.
Frequently asked questions
What skills matter most for data science leaders?
Panelists emphasized soft skills such as communication, collaboration and empathy, along with business knowledge and continued technical learning.
How do data leaders align with company strategy?
Coleman said priorities at Inspire Brands track revenue growth, efficiency and new unit growth, while Boykin described annual alignment of project lists up to the CEO's goals.
How can companies diversify data science teams?
Javed suggested data science in high school STEM, recruiting from a wider set of universities and internal upskilling programs. Boykin recommended going to schools and events.
What does it mean to behave like a brain surgeon?
Sangode said it means staying passionate and current by reading research, practicing new skills, talking to peers and attending conferences.
This article is based on remarks by Colin Coleman, Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Inspire Brands; Frances Boykin, Director - Advanced Analytics, AT&T; Asit Sangode, Executive Director-Data Science, Morgan Stanley; Faizan Javed, Data Science & Engineering, Kaiser; Hallie Lukens, Director of Analytics Capabilities, American Express; moderator Ash Naseer, Senior Director of Data Engineering, Warner Bros. Discovery at COLLIDE Data + AI Conference 2023 on October 3, 2023. More coverage: COLLIDE AI Conference.
Filed under: People, Culture & Leadership, AI Strategy & ROI
