Vision and Foresight
Turning down a bundled BI tool to build the right data platform instead.
Problem
A software vendor offered a BI tool bundled into a larger package, but it didn't align with the organization's long-term vision for data-driven decision-making. Meanwhile, customer expectations were shifting toward mobile and self-service, and the organization was underutilizing its own data.
Role
Set the technology vision and made the call on which platforms to build around.
Action
Canceled the bundled BI tool and championed Tableau as the enterprise BI platform instead. Spearheaded the piloting of two mobile ticketing platforms to meet growing demand for self-service fare payment. Began evaluating no-code/low-code platforms to let business users build applications without heavy IT involvement, and started consolidating key datasets into centralized databases to support future analytics and machine learning.
Outcome
Built out a robust suite of dashboards that empowered the Safety and Operations divisions with data-driven insights. Improved the rider experience through mobile ticketing adoption. Positioned the organization to harness deeper analytics capabilities going forward.