Today, Dataiku’s CEO Florian Douetteau was listed as part of the DataIQ 100 for the fourth consecutive year. The recognition, which profiles the most important and influential data and analytics practitioners in the U.K., affirms Florian’s commitment to enabling enterprises to build their own path to AI.
To shake up the typical award recognition profile and coverage, we wanted to take the time to ask Florian some more unique and lighthearted questions. In this blog post, we’ll give some background on the award itself and how the winners are chosen up front and then we will transition into some quirkier questions so you can get to know Florian — and his occasional sarcasm! — in a more personal way.
To be chosen for the DataIQ 100 list, individuals need to adhere to the following criteria:
- Real leadership within their organizations, demonstrating the importance and value of data and analytics (Note: Florian was selected as a Data Enabler, those on the list who show tangible impact through deployment of data and analytics by clients.)
- Engagement with the larger data and analytics industry
- Support of Data IQ and its mission of further advancing the field of data and analytics
The final list is deliberated extensively and chosen with great precision — in 2019, more than 530 candidates from across the U.K. were nominated before the DataIQ team narrowed the list down to the final 100. Florian’s not one for the limelight — he’d rather the team and the company shine — but he agreed to answer some of our questions anyway. Here’s what he had to say:
Q: This is the fourth year you’ve made the DataIQ 100 list. Do you feel that you have changed as a person or CEO in these four years? If so, how?
Florian: Not really. I’m still using only a few words to express myself.
Q: What do you think has made you successful? Has your success stemmed from a particular experience that you’ve had or a mindset that you’ve adopted?
Florian: I’m lucky and I love the space I work in. The two are probably correlated.
Q: Do you have any books that you’re reading right now that you find interesting?
Florian: Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa is an interesting fable about the disappearance of a way of life.
Q: If you had to pick one word to describe yourself, what would it be?
Florian: “Why?”
Q: Do you have a favorite quote or mantra?
Florian: Fear is the mind-killer.
Q: If you sat yourself down 10 years ago, what advice would you give your younger self?
Florian: Get old.
Dataiku’s Commitment to Enterprise AI
Since Dataiku’s inception in 2013, the principle of collaboration has been a cornerstone. Florian and his partners saw a unique opportunity in the fragmented data science ecosystem to promote data science through a collaborative, team-based platform, empowering organizations to embark on their journeys to implementing Enterprise AI and making all AI efforts human centric and inclusive.
At Dataiku, we have remained true to this vision since the beginning. More than ever, organizations need collaboration between IT and business profiles as well as actionable ways to bridge the gap and scale their AI projects without running repetitive processes, having clearly documented standards for AI within their organization, or easily being able to access a workflow they’re involved in.
Traits like cross-team communication, workflow reusability, and a collaborative, end-to-end platform that is accessible to all team members are essential to generating true business impact with data science and machine learning. Wrapping up his commentary on the achievement, Florian said, “It’s an exciting time to be part of the industry, and I’d like to thank the DataIQ team for this recognition.”