Foreword

In many ways, Nissan’s data landscape reminds me of the healthcare world, an environment I have helped move forward, particularly in how it approaches the management of its data assets.

My success in that domain stemmed from recognizing early on the immense value hidden in underutilized hospital data, building solid data foundations, and forging strong partnerships with business owners (doctors), in that case. As someone who wasn’t a doctor, I had no choice but to rely on their domain expertise to make sense of the vast, unstructured, and largely untapped data they handled daily. In turn, they relied on my advanced analytics skills to take their ideas and preliminary research further than they had imagined. This kind of mutual trust and collaboration is the formula I aim to replicate at NNA.

I firmly believe in this model: true success begins with building the right foundations (organization, staffing, governance, and a reliable Nissan Data Repository) followed by forming strategic alliances with business stakeholders. Attempting to centralize all data initiatives under the Data Office is a guaranteed misstep. The business must remain the owner of its data and the driver of its data products.

The Data Office should serve as a certifier, an enhancer, and a support system that enables deeper analytics.

Without context, data is just noise; only the business can provide that context.