Data & AI Imperative: Designing Strategies for Exponential Growth

by Lillian Pierson

Overview

Unlock predictable bottom line growth through tailored data and AI strategies.

In The Data & AI Imperative: Designing Strategies for Exponential Growth, celebrated data-driven growth leader, Lillian Pierson, delivers a masterclass in developing custom strategies to harness the full potential of data and AI within your organization. This book offers a clear, actionable roadmap for leveraging your company's data and technology assets to drive significant, reliable growth.

With over two decades of experience, Pierson unveils her proprietary STAR framework through which you'll learn to survey, take stock of, and assess your company's current state. Finally, you'll be guided on how to recommend strategies that drive growth via the execution of optimally positioned data- and AI- intensive projects or products that directly improve your business bottom line. From conception to execution, learn to:

• Identify high-impact opportunities for data or AI interventions within your business.
• Assess your organization's readiness and data literacy to ensure successful outcomes.
• Implement practical, effective tactics for overseeing your data-intensive projects, from strategic plans to profitable realities.
• Develop and deploy AI and data strategies that exceed your business goals.

While ideal for executives, managers, and other leaders of data- or AI-intensive companies, The Data & AI Imperative is also invaluable to data and technical professionals who aspire to elevate their impact by turning technical expertise into strategic leadership success.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781394251957
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	01/02/2025
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Lillian Pierson, P.E., is an industry-renowned data- and AI-driven growth strategist, advisor and fractional CMO for B2B technology companies. She’s also a licensed professional engineer who’s supported the expansion of 10% of the Fortune 100 whilst educating over 2 million learners on topics of data strategy, data science, AI, and growth marketing.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

About the Author xi

Introduction xiii

Part I The Data & AI Advantage in Modern Business 1

Chapter 1 Leveling the Playing Field with Data and AI 3

Chapter 2 Introduction to Data Strategy 17

Chapter 3 Types of Data-Intensive Use Cases Based on Business Objectives 32

Chapter 4 Data- and AI-Driven Product-Led Growth 49

Chapter 5 Amplifying Growth Marketing Outcomes with Data and AI 66

Chapter 6 Validating Product-Market Fit for Commercial Data and AI Products and Services 83

Part II The Data & AI Trifecta: Ethical Considerations, Deployment Tactics, and Competitive Analysis 105

Chapter 7 Complying with Regulatory and Ethical Standards 107

Chapter 8 Practical Tactics for Successful AI Deployments 121

Part III The Technical Foundation for Growth 139

Chapter 9 Surveying Your Industry and Organization 141

Chapter 10 Perform a Technical Assessment 160

Chapter 11 Stakeholder Engagement and Data Literacy 176

Chapter 12 Assessing Your Current State Organization 193

Chapter 13 Assessing Your Current State AI Ethics and Data Privacy 215

Part IV Formulating and Implementing an AI Strategy 235

Chapter 14 Selecting and Scoping a Winning Use Case 237

Chapter 15 Evaluating All Relevant Resources 249

Chapter 16 Data Strategy Recommendations for Reaching Future State Goals 277

Chapter 17 Finalizing Your Strategic Plan 299

Index 320

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This book is solid gold. This content is a must for teams upskilling their knowledge of data and AI builds.”
—DR. JOAN PALMITER BAJOREK, Founder of Clarity AI and author of Your AI Roadmap

“In Data & AI Imperative, Lillian Pierson masterfully breaks down the complexities and challenges of data and AI strategy. The book offers practical guidance like the STAR Framework, as well as real-world examples, that are essential for any leader looking to stay ahead of the fast-moving curve of AI.”
—JOE REIS, Bestselling author of Fundamentals of Data Engineering and Data Practitioner

“AI projects fail because they did not have a proper data strategy. In Data & AI Imperative, industry veteran Lillian Pierson highlights what companies need to be successful. In many cases, the issues plaguing beleaguered startups is not the tech: it’s bad market fit, misunderstanding the customer, over promising, and under delivering. But by reading this book, companies can get it right from the get-go.”
—JORDAN GOLDMEIER, author of bestselling Becoming a Data Head

“Data & AI Imperative emerges not just as a guide, but also a pivotal narrative for the modern marketer and product leader in this new landscape.”
—MADHUKAR KUMAR, CMO, SingleStore, and named ‘Leading CMO to Watch in 2024’ by USA TODAY

“A must read for those who don't want to get replaced by AI.”
—ARJUN SAKSENA, Founder/CEO, Humanic AI

“Sometimes you just need a smart person to really think through a new and challenging subject from A to Z, so that the rest of us can get a head start. Lillian has done that with the Data & AI Imperative and provides an actionable roadmap for organizations who want to do business in the 21st century."
—ULRIK LEHRSKOV-SCHMIDT, Global expert on B2B SaaS pricing, author of The Pricing Roadmap, and Managing Partner, Willingness To Pay

“Lillian Pierson has collected her many years of insights gained working with data-drenched organizations who are trying to keep up with the data and AI revolutions. The result is this comprehensive book, Data & AI Imperative, which provides frameworks, assessments, guidelines, and growth-focused actions that are both strategic and tactical. This is a must-read for anyone leading data-driven transformations in their company."
—KIRK BORNE, Ph.D., Founder and Owner, Data Leadership Group LLC

“This book is a valuable resource for anyone advising organizations on how to turn data and AI into a sustainable competitive advantage; An essential read for business consultants who are working to navigate the complexities of AI-driven transformation.”
—JIM HARRIS, Leading Keynote Speaker at the WEF and AI Consultant to Fortune 500 Companies

“A goldmine for anyone looking to drive value with AI.”
—MARIA VECHTOMOVA, Manager & MLOps Tech Lead, Ahold Delhaize

"An in-depth guide on how modern product, engineering, and GTM teams can harness data and AI: from discovering product-market fit to utilizing product analytics for PLG strategies, plus all aspects of modern marketing and sales use cases... This book covers it all."
—GURURAJ PANDURANGI, CEO, ThriveStack

“Data & AI Imperative is a must-read for data leaders who want to make real business impact with AI. She breaks down complex strategies into simple, actionable steps, making it easy to align AI projects with business goals.”
—KATE STRACHNYI, Founder, DATAcated and author of ColorWise

"The Data & AI Imperative offers keen insights into the value proposition of investing internally and partnering externally to deliver near-term business value and sustained business growth with data and AI/ML.”
—HEATHER A. SMITH, MPA, PMP, CSM AI/ML, Innovation Leader, and former Associate Managing Director, Innovation & Data Science

“With the Data and AI Imperative, Lillian is addressing an important problem that many companies are now facing, how to derive value from Data and AI in practice. By reading this book, companies will have a better chance at deriving this value.”
—ULRIKA JÄGARE, Head of AI, Data and Architecture at Scania

“An essential resource for anyone looking to harness the full potential of data and AI in their company.”
—HANA KHAN, CEO, Trending Analytics