New Year, New Strategy, Same Headaches?

As the Western and Lunar New Years have both passed, we find ourselves in the 2025, the Year of the Snake, and data leaders are looking to reignite, reboot, or resuscitate data strategies in their organisations. This is particularly true in the context of rapid change in the world of Generative AI.

Rebooting Data Strategies in 2025: Embracing the Year of the Snake

As we step into 2025, the Chinese Year of the Wood Snake, it’s an opportune moment to reflect on and reboot our data strategies. The Year of the Snake, symbolizing transformation, wisdom, and renewal, aligns perfectly with the strategic themes discussed at the Castlebridge Data Leaders Summit. This year, let’s harness the transformative energy of the Wood Snake to elevate our data management practices and build robust capabilities for the future.

The Castlebridge Data Leaders Summit: Key Themes

The Castlebridge Data Leaders Summit has consistently highlighted the importance of data fundamentals and the evolving landscape of data management. Key themes from the 2024 summit include:

• Data Fundamentals and Data ‘Nous’ for Value in the Era of AI
• The Future Landscape: AI, Regulation, Quantum, and Beyond
• Delivering Data Value through Data Sharing and Collaboration
• Learning from Common Pitfalls in Data Transformations[1]

These themes underscore the necessity of a strong foundation in data management and the critical role of human capability in leveraging future technological advancements.

Our 2025 Summit in March picks up on those themes to look at things like the return on investment on Cloud, the role of data management fundamentals in Net Zero goals, and the importance of data fundamentals in the post-GenAI Hype world.

The Importance of Data Management Fundamentals

Effective data management is the backbone of any successful data strategy. Without robust data management practices, organizations risk making decisions based on flawed or incomplete data, leading to suboptimal outcomes.

Through 2024 and into the first half of 2025, Castlebridge has seen a significant increase in demand from clients for practical and pragmatic advice and training in the non-technology aspects of data management, helping empower data leaders and their teams to better harness and safeguard the value of data as an asset for organisations (and for society). While the lure of the shiny thing is still strong, organisations are realising that good data foundations are necessary for information-enabled excellence.

Developing People Capability

While technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, the true potential of data can only be realized through the development of people capability. This involves equipping individuals with the skills and knowledge needed to manage and interpret data effectively.

• Data Management People Skills: These include technical skills such as data architecture and database management, as well as soft skills like communication and strategic thinking. A key research focus for Castlebridge is the nature of human factors and soft skills in developing resilient data governance frameworks and practices in organisations.
• Critical Thinking Skills: The ability to analyse data critically and make informed decisions is essential for data acumen. As organisations experiment, formally or informally, with GenerativeAI, and as we are presented with more and more GenAI generated content it becomes more important than ever for us to have people working in and with data who can think critically and in a structured way. This is essential to help us frame problems, design and document processes, and define and govern data.
• Data Literacy (on steroids): Data is moving out of the IT department with a vengeance as modern data architectures bridge the worlds of ‘data in a relational database’ and ‘data in a document store’ through metadata capabilities and AI. That means that staff in all areas need to develop Data Nous (a theme of last year’s Data Summit)

The Mythological Aspects of the Chinese Wood Snake Year

The Year of the Wood Snake brings with it a unique blend of wisdom, intuition, and transformation. In Chinese mythology, the Snake is seen as a symbol of intelligence and adaptability. The Wood element adds a layer of growth and renewal, making 2025 a year of potential and progress[2].

For organizations, this means embracing change and being open to new ways of thinking about data. Just as the Snake sheds its skin to grow, businesses must be willing to let go of outdated practices and adopt innovative data strategies.

Conclusion

Rebooting data strategies in 2025 requires a balanced approach that combines strong data management fundamentals with the development of people capability. By focusing on data governance, critical thinking skills, and data literacy, organizations can unlock the full potential of their data assets. We face a new year and new strategic choices. But the fundamental headaches of governance, people skills, critical thinking skills, and data management fundamentals remain key to success.

As we navigate the Year of the Wood Snake, let’s embrace its transformative energy to drive growth and innovation in our data practices.

[1]: Castlebridge Data Leaders Summit 2024 Report [2]: People.com – All About Lunar New Year 2025 and the Year of the Snake

• Please get in touch if your organisation is facing into 2025 in need of a Data Strategy Health Check!
• Join us in Wexford on the 13th and 14th of March for our 2025 Data Leaders Summit – details at https://summit.castlebridge.info

References

[1] Data Leaders Summit 2024 Report – Castlebridge

[5] All About Lunar New Year 2025 and the Year of the Snake – People.com