#224: The role of a CTO in driving a data-driven enterprise, transformative technology strategy and the human side of an agile culture. With KFC Canada’s CTO, Nastaran Bisheban

Data Futurology - Leadership And Strategy in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science

This week’s guest on the Data Futurology podcast is a 30-year veteran of technology, across many different segments and roles. Nastaran Bisheban, now CTO of KFC in Canada, has previously held roles at Rakuten Kobo, Canadian Tire, and RIM. She additionally sits on the Board of Directors for the CIO Association of Canada.

One of the biggest changes that have occurred over the course of Nastaran’s career is the deeper integration of technology roles into the broader business. As she explains in the interview, Nastaran completed an MBA at Harvard Business School because her role has become an even 50/50 split between managing technology and interacting strategically with the rest of the C-suite and groups within the business. Having that broader understanding of business has been enormously valuable to her career.

Beyond that, Felipe and Nastaran discuss the role that AI and machine learning is playing in KFC Canada’s operation, how executives are encouraged to spend time “on the floor” in restaurants to learn the day-to-day challenges in operation, and how the company is looking to align its business strategy and data practice to drive growth across the operation.

Ultimately, as Nastaran stressed, technology is there to support the human element of the company. Technology that is used to help identify blind spots or notice trends that can be addressed, is an example of technology that has been deployed effectively. For instance, KFC Canada recently completed a significant transformation project to allow for all the delivery and ordering apps to integrate into its systems. It was Nastaran and her team’s human-centric approach to the application of that technology that allowed the project to succeed.

Enjoy this in-depth and insightful podcast!

Thank you to our sponsor, Talent Insights Group!

Connect with Nastaran Bisheban, Chief Technology Officer at KFC Canada: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nastaranb/

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What we discussed:

00:00 Why you need to follow the problem (opening quote)

03:17 Nastaran shares her role and remit at KFC.

04:41 What is Nastaran’s vision for a data driven enterprise in her role as a CTO?

05:47 “Following the data” – what are the projects that KFC has undertaken with this mission in mind?

09:18 How data can be collected as an asset, but become a liability.

10:41 How AI and machine learning is being leveraged to unlock innovation at KFC Canada.

13:09 Is there a point in a technologist’s career where they make the transition to focusing more on the human side of technology?

16:55 How KFC Canada is looking to align the business strategy and data practice to drive growth through the organisation.

20:06 What makes a good CTO?

23:14 What should a technologist do to learn about the business, outside of the technology?

25:37 How organisations can prepare technical people for business roles.

28:13 How an organisation of the scale of KFC Canada looks to balance out the need for innovation with the need for stability.

31:27 Clearing technical debt is important, but how can a technology team determine what areas to focus on first?

32:49 How Nastaran and her team overcomes resistance and gets buy-in to their projects.

34:44 How KFC Canada built and managed its technical team culture.