Why data teams fail at building revenue for the company from Coalesce 2023

“Talk to any data observability team, and they will tell you, if you're not having mistakes in your data, you're probably not doing data…your company's just not taking enough swings."

Boris Jabes, CEO & co-founder of Census, shares his insights on how data teams can drive better business decisions, and consequentially, revenue growth. He discusses various failure modes that data teams often fall into and provides advice on how to overcome them. He also focuses on the importance of tracking rates of change, attending non-data meetings, prioritizing valuable tasks, and fostering a culture of trust and risk-taking.

The importance of understanding the parameters that drive business growth

Boris emphasizes the necessity for data teams to go beyond merely understanding the top-line revenue figures. He argues that successful data teams must comprehend the underlying factors driving revenue growth.

Boris states, "Our job is actually to drive better business decisions that, ideally, also drive revenue and the bottom line." He also emphasizes the importance of understanding the inputs that make revenue change.

From his perspective, data teams need to constantly question whether their efforts are actually making a difference to how business decisions are made and at what speed they're made. Boris cautions, "Making things go faster is not necessarily going to drive anything in the company."

The need for data teams to be involved in wider business discussions

Boris stresses the importance of data teams attending meetings beyond their immediate duties. He argues that this broader involvement can lead to a greater understanding of business problems and the potential to provide valuable insights.

Boris advises, "Just go to random meetings. You would be shocked how many things happen once you just know the problems they're dealing with every day." He points out that data teams often have a unique, overarching view of a business and should use this to their advantage.

"There are only two teams in a company that actually have visibility over the whole–there's the accounting team and the data team." He asserts that using this broader perspective can help data teams to drive growth more effectively.

The benefits of starting small and aligning incentives with business outcomes

Boris advocates for beginning with small projects that directly tie into a business's key metrics. This approach can result in more meaningful, actionable insights that can drive growth.

"Start with one thing. It's not that bad. And then marketers will go like, ‘Wait. This is what science is like?" he explains. He suggests aligning data projects with key business outcomes is critical to delivering value.

Boris also notes the importance of building trust within the organization, stating, "The bigger problem, in my opinion, that's very hard to fix is trust." He suggests taking risks and embracing failures could help to build this trust and encourage a more experimental, risk-taking culture.

Boris' key insights

• Data teams often fail at driving business decisions because they are not tracking the rates of change
• Data teams need to attend non-data meetings to understand the problems other teams are dealing with
• Prioritizing valuable tasks and identifying where not to spend time is crucial for data teams
• Data teams have the visibility to understand the bigger picture and should bring this perspective to the table
• Fostering a culture of trust and risk-taking is key to driving better business decisions and revenue growth