Data Debrief: Speed of ROI, The AI Land Grab & Are We Thinking Less?

Welcome to the very first episode of Data Debrief, the companion show to Driven By Data: The Podcast, where hosts Kyle Winterbottom and Catherine Dowden-King sit down every Thursday to unpack Tuesday's episode, share what's been on their minds, and discuss what's really happening across the data and AI market.

In this debut episode, Kyle and Catherine reflect on Tuesday's conversation with Kevin Cassar, diving deeper into the themes that sparked the most discussion, and a few that didn't make it into the main episode.

They cover:

• Why the data conversation is shifting from delivering ROI to accelerating it, and what that means for data leaders still stuck in output-factory mode
• The growing pressure on organisations to be seen doing AI, regardless of whether it's actually delivering value, and why the optics of inaction are now costlier than wasting budget
• The internal land grab between CDOs and CIOs over who owns AI, and why the answer is often more cultural than technical
• Why rolling out enterprise ChatGPT to an entire bank doesn't necessarily mean your organisation is embracing AI
• Kevin's people-first philosophy, and why understanding where your team actually sits on the AI adoption curve matters more than having an aggressive strategy
• The evolving role of the data professional: from coder to builder, from report-puller to AI quality controller

Plus, in their new Thoughts of the Week segment, Catherine raises a question that's hard to shake: are we over-optimising our downtime? From boiling water taps to washing up, she makes the case that friction isn't always the enemy, and that some of our best thinking happens precisely when we're not being productive. Kyle agrees and admits most of his best ideas arrive at 3am or are written on a shower panel.

Like and subscribe wherever you listen, and if you've got a question or topic you'd like Kyle and Catherine to cover, email the team at community@orbitiongroup.com