Axiata Digital's ADA names Simon Samuel head of data analytics

Axiata Digital's ADA has brought on board Simon Samuel (pictured) as head of data analytics to lead a team of close to 50 data scientists, software and data engineers. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Samuel and his team will support ADA regionally across eight other markets – Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka – and provide end-to-end management from data engineering through to software engineering.

Samuel reports to CEO Srinivas Gattamneni and replaces George Chua, who was previously responsible for the same scope of work as head of data science and engineering.

Simon has been consulting in the ASEAN region since May 2018, working with some of the region’s largest organisations prior to joining ADA, by helping embed data science competences within their organisations. Before that, he led the consumer data science division at international energy services and solutions company Centrica, driving value, monetizing data from smart meters, and IoT connected home data.

Simon’s experience expanded across industries and geographies following his move to Deloitte Digital, in addition to exposure in markets across South Africa, Europe, and North America. His initial experience was in financial services, delivering marketing and pricing optimisation for Lloyds Banking Group.

In a statement to A+M, Samuel said his vision is to drive the commercial value for clients through data and analytics. "The team will enable ADA colleagues and clients to understand the value of their own data, third party data, and to develop and analyse the data to help them drive value and win," he said.

He added that data science can be perceived as an academic capability and most organisations fail to deliver or even derive value from data science. Quoting a Gartner report, Samuel said that 60% of data science projects fail. However, given his experience of over 20 years, he has the understanding of what’s needed to successfully drive value from data science.

"Everyone understands that data is valuable, now even more so than ever with the existence of Facebook and Google – it has transformed the way every organisation interacts with its customers," Samuel said. According to him, this trend has been characterised by an increase in automation and personalisation. As a result, there is a need for marketeers to become increasingly analytical and data-driven.

"However, we should also be mindful of data privacy regulations as well as the ethical use and handling of data. The marketers who will succeed are those who are able to engage in value exchange with their customers – essentially the customer needs to know what’s in it for them by using their data," he added.

While data provides valuable insights, some might argue that the gut feel and experience still play an important role in understanding the consumer. When asked how marketers can strike a balance between being data driven and gut feel or experience, Samuel said gut feel cannot be ignored, in fact it should form the starting position of analytics.

"However, gut feel will be limited to that individual’s experience. Data science needs to expand on this, finessing intuition, expanding insights to all consumers (the long tail), and automating the process to provide personalisation efficiently," he explained.

Meanwhile, Gattamneni said ADA is thrilled to have Samuel on board and lead the team in Malaysia and regionally with his wealth of experience.

"I am certain that great things are in store for our clients as we help them navigate the complex world of data science and analytics – we are here to enrich their digital marketing strategies with precise targeting to yield better results and business outcomes," he added.

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