Welcome to the Phantom CDO
The No-BS Newsletter on all things Data, AI & Leadership. Coming soon...
Welcome to Phantom CDO — where we talk about what it's really like to lead data transformations in large, complex enterprises.
This newsletter isn’t written by a fresh-faced consultant or a vendor pushing their latest tool.
It’s written by me, a real Chief Data Officer with 20 years of experience leading data, analytics, and AI transformations in large, complex enterprises.
I’ve delivered real value and transformed businesses. I’ve made hard mistakes. I’ve driven data transformations in financial services, utilities, industrials & consulting — in organisations where political savvy often mattered more than technical brilliance.
Why this newsletter?
I couldn’t find anything I liked that was written by a practicing CDO for practicing CDOs — so I started writing the newsletter I wish I’d had access to.
No fluff. No theory. No vendor or analyst spin.
Just brutal, battle-tested lessons from the frontlines of enterprise data. I’ll write about:
War stories from the CDO frontlines
Playbooks that actually work in large complex organisations
Practical advice on AI, analytics, strategy, and culture
Who is this for?
You’re in the right place if you are -
An executive wanting to use data to drive real business transformation
A Chief Data Officer or Chief Technology Officer tired of surface-level conversations
Or an aspiring CDO who wants to understand what this job actually takes