“Every company is going to need a Data Czar, a data leader, a Chief Data Officer, over time,” says Splunk CEO Doug Merritt. “One of the big points of digitization is you now get a bunch of data that you didn’t have before so that you can actually begin to act in real-time on these different signals. That needs somebody that understands data and guides data across an organization.”

Doug Merritt, CEO of Splunk, discusses how big data has spurred the need for every enterprise company is ultimately going to need a Data Czar:

Big Data Drives Society Forward

Almost everything in the world has got some type of WiFi or network connection so there is a ton of data that is flying around the stratosphere at this moment. The difficulty is being able to capture that data and begin to make sense of it so you can serve customers more effectively, reduce costs, optimize your supply chain, and hear signals from your employee base.

All the different capabilities that if you understand big data, and cloud certainly helps dramatically there, you can actually drive society forward. It’s what we call turning data into action, bringing data to every question, every decision, and ultimately into every action, so that we can keep our organizations and our society moving forward.

Every Company Needs A Data Czar

Every company is going to need a data Czar, a data leader, a Chief Data Officer, over time. One of the big points of digitization is you now get a bunch of data that you didn’t have before so that you can actually begin to act in real-time on these different signals. That needs somebody that understands data and guides data across an organization.

That pull from corporations is what pulls companies like Splunk and others forward to help the technical population within those organizations to actually make sense of data. We also help the sales, marketing, and finance departments, and any people in organizations that are leaning more heavily on data gathering and data science in making sense there.