#233: Innovating with Data: Part One, with the Head of Data Science at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Jonas Christensen

This episode of the Data Futurology podcast is actually the reverse of normal – most of the time Felipe interviews experts in data science, but this time it’s his turn to be interviewed! Last year, he was on Jonas Christensen’s excellent Leaders of Analytics podcast, and we’ve got permission to republish it here.  In the wide-ranging interview, Felipe starts by describing his history. If you haven’t heard the story before, it begins with Felipe growing up in the driest parts of Chile. It then continues with him teaching himself databases in his first job in IT, after originally coming to Australia as a backpacker with very basic English. From there Felipe's career in data has taken off, both with his roles in financial services and healthcare, and the launch of Data Futurology. Deeper into the interview, Felipe describes the goals behind the podcast and the events that Data Futurology runs. He then ends the conversation with some insights about how data currently works in organisations, and what the future may hold. One of the most interesting things that Felipe has observed over the years is the potential for data specialists to “graduate” to the most senior roles in organisations. Just as CIOs moved from being a relatively isolated part of the business with few prospects to now being seen as prime candidates for CEO roles, the head of data analytics will increasingly be called on to show broader leadership within their organisations. What data professionals need to do is step up their “soft” or “power” skills (depending on which term you want to use), Felipe says on the podcast. One of the driving goals of Data Futurology is to help data specialists identify these opportunities within themselves and then work on them. To get a real sense of just how passionate Felipe is about data and the people that work in this space, his appearance on the Leaders of Analytics is a must-listen. Thank you to our sponsor, Talent Insights Group! Listen to the Leaders of Analytics Podcast: https://www.leadersofanalytics.com/ Join us for our next events Advancing AI and Data Engineering Sydney: https://www.datafuturology.com/events Join our Slack Community: https://join.slack.com/t/datafuturologycircle/shared_invite/zt-z19cq4eq-ET6O49o2uySgvQWjM6a5ng What We Discussed 00:00 Intro to Leaders of Analytics 2:30 Jonas Christensen introduces Felipe to his audience. 4:42 Filipe explains his background and history with data science. 14:01 Jonas asks what is unique about Felipe’s career, across all his self-taught knowledge and entrepreneurship? 19:00 Jonas asks what encouraged Felipe to start Data Futurology, and how he got it started. 25:54 Felipe shares his long-term vision for what Data Futurology could turn into. 28:37 Felipe shares his views on what the big trends in data science are. 37:10 Felipe discusses the implications of data science being a relatively new area of specialisation, in the context of the business as a whole. 40:15 Felipe shares some great examples of data analytics being used in a creative, innovative and high-impact manner by companies. 44:15 Felipe shares his vision of what the perfect data-driven organisation would look like and how it would handle data, analytics, and AI