073 — Mike Dickson: Successful Salesforce data strategy!

Tune in to hear everything from why data projects are chronically underestimated at the exec level, to what a proper data strategy actually looks like when you strip away the buzzwords. Mike gets practical on data migrations, data cleanup, and the hidden gotchas that trip teams up when they start handing control to agentic AI. 

Before finding his way into Salesforce consulting, Mike Dickson cycled solo across Canada, studied mechanical engineering, and cut his teeth on some of the most data-rich implementations in the nonprofit space. That analytical, problem-solving mindset shapes everything he has to say about why so many organisations are sleepwalking into their AI ambitions without the data foundation to back them up.

Mike and Jack close things out with a thread about what commercial organisations can learn from the nonprofit world when it comes to relationships, relevance, and not being noisy.

00:01 Intro & Meet Mike Dickson
00:13 Why Data Is So Important in Salesforce
01:47 Mike's Background: Mechanical Engineering & Cycling Across Canada
05:12 Lessons from the Road That Still Apply Today
07:53 10 Years in the Ecosystem: The Rise of Data
08:17 Starting in the Nonprofit Space & Why Nonprofits Were Data-Rich Early Adopters
12:25 Data Migrations: Why They're Harder Than Anyone Thinks
15:58 Is the Complexity of Data Projects Misunderstood at the Exec Level?
19:01 What a Solid Data Strategy Actually Looks Like
22:08 Start With the Business Objective, Not the Data
23:13 How to Approach a Data Cleanup Project
26:49 The Hidden Gotcha: Records That Can't Be Saved Anymore
27:04 Don't Boil the Ocean — Chunk It Up
30:14 Data Migration Tips & How to Avoid Disaster
33:22 The Right Tooling for the Job
35:36 Data Doesn't Sit in a Vacuum
36:05 What Nonprofits & Commercial Orgs Can Learn From Each Other
40:15 Where to Find Mike & Speediful