Bill Franks
60 episodes listed below
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In Bill’s roles as Chief Analytics Officer for both Teradata and The Int'l Institute For Analytics, he was lucky enough to meet with analytics executives in hundreds of large companies around the world. Now with Kennesaw State U's School of Data Science and Analytics, he interviews executives he’s met to learn about how their careers unfolded, what skills they look for when hiring, what trends they think are coming next, and more! If you want an inside view into what some of today’s top data science names are thinking about, this series is for you!
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Bill Franks makes data leadership concrete by connecting career paths, organizational constraints, governance and technical judgment.
Data Science Perspectives follows Bill Franks into candid conversations with senior data and analytics leaders, tracing how careers develop and how technical work becomes organizational practice.
Bill Franks brings your data plan face to face with the org chart.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A measured look at analytics leadership, vendor-side tradeoffs, and speaking business instead of jargon.
The conversation stays grounded in David Sommers' path through banking, retail, insurance, automotive, and now Epsilon, using that arc to frame timing, family, and the shift from client-side work to vendor-side work.
A practical case for treating analytics as a production system, not a one-off craft.
Analytics delivers value here only when it is treated as something that has to work inside a large organization, with governance and production folded into the same system.
A grounded pharma career story that ties early discovery pattern-finding to late-stage operational discipline.
Chris Miller's career story gives the episode its strongest shape, showing pharma analytics as a field that moves from early discovery, where AI can help surface patterns in huge, uncertain datasets, to late-stage development, where handoffs, reports, and rigid analysis steps…
A steady career conversation that turns analytics strategy into practical leadership advice.
Erica McBride's path from Paychex to Dow to Tenarity gives the episode its shape, with Bill Franks using each turn to show how analytics changes as the business changes.
A grounded look at how an analytics career can grow through education, scope, and steady reinvention.
Frances Boykin's path reads as a steady career map, moving from an early IT project management role at AT&T into data science, marketing compliance, consumer marketing, global supply chain analytics, and, since 2019, customer research and analytics.
A grounded discussion of AI governance, data handling, and the documentation habits organizations will need.
This episode looks at the legal questions that come with AI use in organizations. Carol P. Ovison brings a background in government, privacy, cybersecurity, and law, and Bill Franks keeps the conversation tied to the realities teams face day to day.
A steady career conversation about staying useful as data work keeps moving.
Beverly Wright's conversation with Bill Franks reads less like a career recap than a grounded look at how data work changes across consulting, corporate analytics, and academia.
A practical analytics conversation centered on early involvement, clean data flow, and scale done in the right order.
Melanie Murphy's path through analytics gives the episode its shape, moving from Montclair State University to a decade at data powerhouse experience, then Mindtree, Bed Bath & Beyond, and later Chief Analytics Officer at Fluent.
Unhurried FT conversations about bosses, burnout and the office.
Best-of compilation episode featuring four data science executives discussing what made them successful.
Bill Franks speaks with Chris Donovan, EVP and Chief Data and Information Officer at Medical Mutual, about a 30-year career that started in Cleveland Clinic finance and cost accounting.
Bill Franks introduces Frances Boykin of AT&T and follows a career that has moved through IT project management, data science, marketing compliance, consumer marketing, global supply chain analytics, and now advanced analytics leadership.
Data Science Perspectives episode features Keyur Desai, a 30-year veteran of data analytics who co-founded MicroStrategy after being inspired by founder Mike Saylor's vision.
Bill Franks interviews Satish Patiyar, Divisional VP of Data and Analytics at HCSC (Blue Cross Blue Shield family, $50B+ revenue).
Bill Franks frames this Data Science Perspectives episode as a season wrap-up on career advice for students, drawing on executives from Inova International, Northwestern Mutual, McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, Amazon Web Services, AT&T, Pilot Flying J, Anthem, and Tenarity.
Bill Franks interviews Nathan Ghadirifard, director of the Chief Data and Analytics Office at WellStar Health System, about how healthcare analytics shapes operations, patient care, and data governance.
Bill Franks hosts a second best-of episode of Data Science Perspectives around the question, “what’s one thing you wish that someone had told you before you started work?” Russ Pierce of Intercontinental Hotels Group says analysts should stop showing their homework first and start with the answer, while another speaker says storytelling and presentation skills matter as much as technical work.
Bill Franks talks with David Sommers about a long analytics career and the turns that shaped it.
Bill Franks interviews Hatem Sellami, founder and CEO of Cognira and RetSci, about how a Georgia Tech statistics class, a former classmate at Retek, and more than 20 years in retail analytics shaped his career.
Bill Franks interviews Don Boo, Chief Data Officer at Northwestern Mutual, about a career that runs from a computer camp at age 12 to MLB Advanced Media, WeWork, and a Fortune 100 insurer with 34,000 employees and $30 billion in revenue.
Bill Franks interviews Dwight Specht, Vice President at Bridgestone Americas, about his career journey from early data engineering to consulting and client-side roles.
Joe DeCosmo, chief analytics and technology officer at Enova International, traces a career that runs from Argonne National Laboratory and telecom pricing models to direct marketing, consulting, and public-company leadership.
Bill Franks talks with Scott Radcliffe, Managing Director of Emory University’s Master of Science in Business Analytics program, about a career that moved from sociology and SAS in graduate school to Nextel, Cox Communications, IBM, Home Depot, and Emory.
Bill Franks hosts Sasha Verbitsky, the Senior Vice President of Data Analytics and Digital at Simon Property Group, and traces a career that moved through Land's End, Panera Bread, Marriott International, Nike, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Victoria's Secret Direct.
Bill Franks welcomes Erica McBride and follows her path from Paychex to Dow and then to Tenarity.
Bill Franks hosts a best-of episode of Data Science Perspectives focused on executives who moved across industries and business functions, including McDonald’s, UC Davis, AT&T, Travelers, Emory University, and Work Capital Group.
Bill Franks opens with Melanie Murphy's path into analytics.
Bill Franks speaks with Mabby Amui about his path from data scientist to Assistant Vice President of Enterprise Data and Analytics at Norfolk Southern.
Bill Franks opens with Beverly Wright’s background and her long connection to the Atlanta analytics community.
Bill Franks speaks with Divyas Patel about a career that has moved through healthcare, analytics, and innovation.
Bill Franks interviews Carole Piovesan, founder of INQ Law and INQ IQ Consulting, about AI governance, legal risk, and why she moved from litigation to data and AI law.
Bill Franks welcomes Chris Miller, an AstraZeneca leader whose career began in math and statistics and then moved steadily through pharmaceutical R&D.
Bill Franks interviews Doug Hague, the Executive Director of Corporate Engagement at UNC Charlotte and the university's first Executive Director of the School of Data Science.
Data Science Perspectives: Season 8, Episode 5 is a best-of compilation on what executives look for when hiring analytics and data science talent.
Bill Franks interviews Patrick Moore, AVP of Human Health Data Strategy & Governance at Merck, about a 30-year career that began in quantitative psychology and moved from health services research into pharmaceutical commercial analytics.
Bill Franks hosts Steve Butler on Data Science Perspectives, where Butler traces a career that started at Anderson Consulting, moved through Teradata and other firms, and now leads analytics, insights, and automation for Philips North America.
Bill Franks opens Data Science Perspectives with a best-of episode on executives' thoughts on leadership, then moves through viewpoints from Warren Hearns at Cardlytics, Mano Manochar at Travelers, and Melanie Murphy at Fluent.
Kira Barclay comes in through a career timeline.