Neetu Shaw ─ an eloquent rainmaker and thought leader bringing data and AI to customers.
November 10, 2020 • 3 Minute Read
Updated September 15, 2022
Neetu Shaw
Partner and Americas Leader for Data & AI Enterprise Strategy
IBM
Are you looking for an over-achieving rainmaker with deep Data and AI experience, who is also an eloquent thought leader? We know the person ─ Neetu Shaw!
Neetu has dedicated the last decade of her outstanding career to building Big Data and Analytics consulting practices from scratch. Now working as a Partner and Americas Leader for Data & AI Enterprise Strategy at IBM Consulting, Neetu is helping customers navigate all phases of Data & AI from initial business visioning to ROI justification through execution. Please meet this IT Wondrous Woman™, Neetu Shaw!
Our 10 Questions for this IT Wondrous Woman.
Fun Facts
1. What’s the one thing about you that your business colleagues don’t know about you?
I am an obsessed brand collector of shoes and bags!
2. Before the pandemic, how many air miles/KMs did you flying annually?
140,000 miles or more.
3. What is the most adventurous food you have eaten and what city/location did you eat it?
Whale, shark and colt surf and turf in a tiny coastal town in Iceland! Sorry, animal lovers…It was just this one time and, believe it or not, the dish was crazy delish!
Your Career
4. What are the top two experiences, achievements or failures that shaped your journey as a successful leader?
A highly accomplished woman gave me the opportunity for my first foray into executive leadership by tasking me to create a global data and analytics organization from scratch within the heart of a publicly-traded half a billion-dollar company. Along with all the growth and knowledge this experience gave me, it also allowed me to create some amazing opportunities for women in Data & Analytics around the globe!
At my next company, I built further on that leadership experience and, as a one-woman army embarked to create a couple of verticals from scratch, focused on everything Data and Analytics. This is where I really got to understand the intricacies of psychology and culture intersecting performance and their collective impact on building high-performing organizations. This last piece has shaped my strategic thinking and core leadership style.
5. Did you have a mentor in the early part of your career and, if so, what is the biggest lesson you learned from your mentor or influencer?
I had a wonderful mentor and learned to be curious, be constantly learning and networking incessantly!
Walking In Your Shoes
6. What is one piece of business or career advice you would give to your younger self?
Be emotionally resilient and agile while being curious and hungry, in order to continuously learn, reinvent and grow.
7. As a leader, how do you remain a resource for people early in their careers?
I coach young minds at the local community center and mentor junior staff at work.
Today’s Business Environment
8. What is the most interesting project you have worked on in the last few years?
In 2018, I helped shape the data and analytics transformation journey of one of the largest mortgage companies in the US. This multi-year initiative touched every aspect of their business and, in turn, helped propel their brand resurgence.
9. What skills are you currently developing or refining (in yourself) that will make you a more successful leader in the digital economy?
Artificial Intelligence is my focus these days. It is the next critical stage for understanding and bringing about effective human-machine collaboration in order to create human-centric and sustainable AI Solutions.
10. What is your greatest business challenge today?
Helping clients understand that as humans and machines continue to work together, more effective explanations for AI will need to be developed. A big challenge for businesses is the need to consider a responsible approach to AI – from AI Governance, design, reskilling all the way to security, privacy and public trust!
