One of the most relevant conversations at this week’s Informatica World asks, where is data going? The digital transformation and shift to enterprise and cloud currently sweeping virtually all manner of companies and their information technology organizations is hot news, but there are still questions to be asked about the future of data-driven industry.

Finding out how Informatica Corp. is seeking new ways to leverage data efficiently is why many organizations are attending this year’s event, according to Mel Kirk, senior vice president and chief intelligence officer at Ryder System, Inc.

“This was one of the conferences that … I wanted to come to because I wanted to learn more about where Informatica is going in terms of leveraging data,” Kirk said. “We’re on a journey to try to figure out … the best way of using that data to improve business outcomes.” Kirk is using his time at the conference to learn more about the tools and applications Ryder can use to its operations.

Kirk spoke with Peter Burris (@plburris), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live-streaming studio, during the Informatica World about how Ryder is trying to find new ways of leveraging its enormous amount of data, the importance of metadata and how the role of the chief information officer is evolving. (* Disclosure below.)

Finding new ways to leverage data

Companies across the industry that are generating large amounts of data are wondering how to extract value from that data in the best way possible.

“It’s really about that journey of trying to figure out how do you get better value out of the investment that you make and understanding, cleansing [and] liberating your data,” Kirk said. “And for us, again, that’s creating … new products from the data that we have, and it’s improving productivity and efficiency in our operations.”

At this year’s show, Informatica unveiled its Intelligent Data Platform that delivers metadata-driven artificial intelligence, aimed at improving efficiency across the enterprise. These new metadata-driven solutions are helping Ryder understand its data in a more complete way by creating an environment where the same data is available to every business unit, anywhere on the enterprise, Kirk explained.

“We’ve got multiple business units right that are operating with elements of data that are not associated across the enterprise,” he said. “And so getting more deliberate about understanding the data at the metadata level will help us as we try to bridge everything together across our enterprise.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s independent editorial coverage of Informatica World 2017. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Informatica World. Neither Informatica Corp. nor other sponsors have editorial influence on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE