Episode 5 | How to build data teams at high-growth startups in a COVID world from one of the top 10 data scientists

Mathangi Sri is the Head of Data at GoFood, Gojek and one of the top 10 data scientists in India. With 16 years of experience in data science and AI, and holding 20 patent grants in data science, Mathangi's built several high-impact data teams at banks, startups, and e-commerces like Citibank, PhonePe, and Gojek, to name a few.  She's witnessed the growth of data science from being just a "nice to have" function to becoming mainstream in strategic decision-making and has worked extensively on using data to answer questions about customer acquisition and revenue growth. In this week's episode, our co-founder Prukalpa Sankar has a candid conversation with Mathangi on finding the right talent for data teams, managing remote data teams, and the secret to smooth virtual collaboration. So tune in to this episode right now! KEY CONVERSATION TOPICS 00:42 - Mathangi's 16-year journey in data science and AI 02:07 - Mathangi's role as the Head of Data at the world's largest food delivery app, GoFood, and Indonesia's top e-commerce, Gojek 03:30 - How does Mathangi build high-quality data teams? 06:30 - Centralized or decentralized—which model works best for data teams? 10:40 - What traits does Mathangi look for when hiring talent for data teams? 13:31 - What criteria does Mathangi use to decide whether or not someone's a good fit for her data team? 14:44 - How has data leadership evolved in Mathangi's rich 16-year experience? 17:05 - How can data leaders encourage better collaboration between business and data teams? 19:41 - What frameworks can data team leaders use to nurture their teams for maximum productivity? 22:10 - How has Mathangi implemented these frameworks? What were the lessons learned? 23:51 - How was Mathangi's move to remote to adapt to a COVID-19 world? 25:53 - How did Mathangi and her team improve virtual collaboration at Gojek? 28:22 - Does Mathangi have some practical tips for data leaders on smoothening their remote work environments? 32:44 - How and why did Mathangi and her team at Gojek adopt a documentation-first mindset? 35:21 - What does the Gojek data and analytics team document to improve remote collaboration? 38:13 - What are the top 3 resources that Mathangi recommends for all data leaders and aspiring data professionals? ABOUT ATLAN Atlan is a data democratization company based in Singapore. The Humans of Data is an initiative by Atlan, featuring everything from ebooks and courses to expert interviews. Visit us at https://atln.cm/home