Data is arguably the key to modern enterprise success. It has become almost a cliche of the digital age, and one that the current pandemic has made extremely obvious: As digital natives and remote-focused industries post profits, their non-digital counterparts are having to transform fast to keep afloat. But just like a radio without a clear signal returns static, adopting cloud technology without a clearly defined data management protocol impacts a company’s ability to gain quality insights.

“The cornerstone of any digital transformation is data transformation,” said Christal Bemont (pictured), chief executive officer of Talend Inc. “Data is the competitive advantage. It is the thing that will put people on a different trajectory.”

Bemont joined John Furrier, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, for a digital CUBE Conversation on the importance of trustworthy data in the digital economy.  (* Disclosure below.)

This week, theCUBE spotlights Christal Bemont in our Women in Tech feature.

Bringing in the billions by capitalizing on data

Taking the reins as chief executive officer of data integration company Talend in January of this year, Bemont accepted the challenge of growing the company’s cloud business from millions into billions of dollars. “The way that Talend shows up to drive outcomes for customers that are tangible, that are quantifiable, and that are game changing was something that interested me,” she said.

Taking the challenges of transitioning during the start of the pandemic in her stride, the former chief revenue officer has already made her mark. The company’s first quarter earnings report showed annual cloud recurring revenues up 154% year-over-year on a constant currency basis. This success comes from Talend’s focus on data, and the ever increasing need for secure, trustworthy data management solutions, according to Bemont.

Before joining Talend, Bemont spent over fifteen years with Concur Technologies Inc. where she rose from regional sales executive to chief revenue officer, overseeing $2 billion in business transactions across over 90 countries. The importance of having quality data became clear to Bemont during her time working with the SAP Concur platform and seeing the growth of software as a service. “When I thought about where I’d spend the next stage in my career, I knew it was going to be all about the data,” she said at the onset of her Talend journey.

Data is a competitive weapon

Data is “a competitive weapon … an operational accelerant, and … an innovation catalyst,” Bemont stated. But, as with any weapon, it needs to be in expert hands to be wielded for ultimate effect. This is where Talend’s platform comes to the fore. Named an industry leader in the Forrester Wave Enterprise Data Fabric Q2 2020 report, Talend has established itself as an authority in helping businesses manage data resources.

“Having a lot of data is not always the answer,” Bemont stated. “You’ve seen a lot of times where there’s a question about the quality of the data, the accuracy of the data and who’s providing the data.”

At the heart of data management is trust, according to Bemont. Proper data governance, regulatory compliance and transparency are critical; and these are areas in which Talend is focused. “We want to make sure that data is accessible when you need it, where you need it,” Bemont said. “It takes a lot for an organization … to put the information in the hands of the right people at the right time.”

Having that data in the right hands at the right time gives businesses the ability to get to time to value as quickly as possible, according to Bemont. Citing global drug company AstraZeneca PLC as an example, Bemont said: “Their highest cost is clinical trials. … How fast they can bring those clinical trials to bear is saving them hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Another customer success story is Domino’s Pizza Inc. The company is “a great example” when it comes to re-inventing and re-instrumenting a business under the restrictions of COVID-19, according to Bemont. “[Companies] have to be able to be instrumented in a way that [they] can make quick decisions,” she said. Domino’s was ahead of the curve in that “they were the first pizza delivery to try out drones for pizza delivery and have gaming devices where you can order pizza.”

Beyond data quality to transparent and trustworthy management

Adapting to the new way of doing business means that companies need to re-invent to “show up differently for their customers and support people in a different way,” Bemont said. This means looking at operations from a social as well as a financial perspective.

This is highlighted in healthcare, where collaboration on COVID-19 research has forced the question of how to safely share medical data for the common good. Acts such as Europe’s general data protection regulation and the USA’s health insurance portability and accountability act provide necessary oversight. But they complicate and slow the process of getting data where it needs to be, when it needs to be there. This means that established data privacy practices can impede the research process, and slow the race to a COVID-19 cure or vaccine.

“We now want to collect data that was formerly considered private, and maybe something that would be regulated,” Bemont said. “You’re starting to see this interesting conversion of challenging the fact that we’ve got at least be able to support people in their governance of data, but take that a step further.“

As data is opened and made more accessible to share, transparency and trust increase in importance. And Talend aims to be part of making that happen. “We feel responsibility to make sure that we’re part of helping [personal data] become easy and identifiable, and really taking it to the next step beyond quality,” Bemont said. “Because all the time we spend, all the money that’s spent on collecting the data is really only as good as the ability to say I can emphatically trust it, and I can tell you why.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s CUBE Conversations. (* Disclosure: This segment was sponsored by Talend Inc. Neither Talend, the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE