In episode 61 my guest is Sanjeevan Bala, who is ITV’s Group Chief Data & AI Officer. He is responsible for transforming the broadcaster to fully leverage the value of Data and AI & to create value for all areas of their business. Prior to this he was Channel 4’s Head of Data Science where he built a multi award winning team which combined human creativity with machine intelligence to drive growth and innovation.
Sanjeevan is consistently ranked most influential in Data and AI globally and under his leadership his teams have won numerous awards for Innovation. He has also expanded his executive career as a Non Executive Director (NED) at Bakkavor and Scholars’ Educational Trust. During our chat we explore both how his background in consultancy & startups helped developed the skills he needed for these roles & how leaders can amplify their impact by taking on NED roles later in their careers.
He is also very open with us about his experience of racism & exclusion earlier in his life. We discuss how he coped with this & emerged as a whole person during his career. Sanjeevan also shares his advice for those earlier in their career & what organisations need to do to encourage more genuinely inclusive organisations that nurture talent. Plus, you'll learn why he now embraces "not knowing".