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In this episode of Data Analytics Chat, we welcome Erica Howard, Head of Consumer Data Ownership at TD. Erica has spent 18 years at the bank, starting in the call centre before working on TD's early data governance model in 2012, moving into analytics, and returning to data management to bridge the gap between technology and the business. Today she works with business segments to embed data management practices and owns the bank's customer master data.

Erica shares how data governance in banking took shape after the 2008 housing crisis, when regulators began asking not only for reports but for proof of how they were produced. The discussion examines why ownership, rather than technology, is the biggest hurdle, how she has built a hub model with segment data owners across the business, and the challenge of telling the data story in a language business leaders understand.

The data topic explores why AI raises the stakes for getting data foundations right, from bias in historical credit data to the careful use of synthetic data. Erica also explains why data management should be a recurring strategic investment rather than a one-off project, what good data ownership looks like in practice, and what she would advise leaders to do in their first 90 days.

01:15 Introduction to Data Analytics Chat
04:09 When Data Governance Became Critical
07:28 The Problems Exposed by the Housing Crisis
09:14 Why Governance Wasn't Already in Place
12:45 The Biggest Hurdle: Ownership, Quality or Access?
15:51 When the Issue Wasn't the Technology
17:59 Getting the Message Across to Business Leaders
21:37 Building Stronger Data Ownership with a Hub Model
25:11 Is AI Helping Data Governance?
26:43 Changing How People Think About Ownership and Accountability
29:12 Lessons Other Organisations Can Learn
31:46 What Has Been Harder Than Expected
32:42 Why AI Raises the Stakes for Data Foundations
37:26 What Good Data Ownership Looks Like
39:48 Impact on Customer Trust and Business Value
41:11 Advice for Leaders Starting Out: The First 90 Days
42:40 Will Data Governance Become a Major Investment Area?

Connect with our guest:
Erica Howard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-m-howard-65850527/

Thank you for listening!