Robert J. Abate, CCDO, CDMP, CBIP
Meet the data whisperer for America’s biggest companies
An innovative, self-motivated, tenacious, out-of-the-box thinking, forethoughtful, certified (MIT CDO, Data Management, and BI), and energetic data executive who enjoys working on challenging projects and collaborating with peers to solve difficult issues while building high-performing teams to tackle the impossible.
DATA LEADER | GLOBAL INDUSTRY THOUGHT LEADER
A solutions-driven and accomplished hands-on data expert with 30+ years of proven excellence in delivering visionary data and analytic solutions via strategic collaboration with partners/customers and a focus on advanced technologies. Excels in combining a deep technical understanding of leading-edge tools, architectures, and best practices to drive a competitive edge, empower decisions, and improve business agility through data utilization. Adept at leading and guiding cross-functional teams to deliver actionable solutions. A known expert in digital transformation and in the data democratization and monetization of information assets.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Executive Leadership | Data Strategy | Enterprise / Data Information Management | Data Governance / Compliance Data Quality Authority | Agile Program Mngt. | Privacy Law Expert HIPAA/CCPA | Hybrid & Cloud Architectures | Team Building & Hiring / Supervision | Analytics Strategic Direction | Secure Data Integration | Business Intelligence | Data Lakes | Visualizations | Data Warehousing | AI & Machine Learning | Data Science Expertise | Data-Driven Evangelist | Data Insights CoE | Data Monetization | Vendor Relationship Management | Data Ethics Expert | ISCDO Board | MIT CDOIQ Director | Data Storytelling | VR/AR Data Immersion | Data Democronization | Data Cataloging | Data Discovery, Profiling, Classification and Cataloging utilizing Machine Learning | Data Ethics Author | Data Integration Utilizing Services Author |
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- Designed and created the highly applauded and innovative Walmart Collaborative Analytics Facility for Enterprise (Data CAFÉ) for immersive & collaborative data storytelling, receiving the Walmart Technology Innovation Award in 2014
- Recognized both widely and internationally as an Expert, Speaker, and Executive specializing in Analytics, Data Science, AI, and Big Data, and served as a Key Advisor to executive teams, boards, and the government in utilizing data to its fullest
- Built strategic partnerships with diverse organizations – including prominent Fortune 100 companies thereby integrating project and vendors while saving tens of millions of dollars with data democronization and standards
- Known as a thought leader in immersive data storytelling using VR/AR analytics, data catalogs, data governance, business glossaries with significant experience in data science and data strategy for customer segmentation, as well as model implemetation
- One of the first to publish on Services-Oriented Architecture in 1996 and on the Abate Information Triangle in 2004, in addition to authoring the ‘Big Data & Data Science’ Chapter for DAMA’s DMBoK Publication and recently two examples in Bill Frank’s Book “from the experts” on data ethics every data scientist should know
- Served as Key Advisor to the United Nations ‘Oceans Data Alliance’ project in spring 2019 and chaired three CDO and two CAO Forum
- Co-Chair the MIT CDOIQ Symposium (’20), Program Committee (’21) & Europe Director/MC (’22), MIT CDO Certificate Program Instructor (’20,’21) including presiding and presenting at data conferences and the leading global CDO Conference – while presenting numerous webinars and contributing to over 10 publications
- Skilled in recruiting and developing world-class data talent and teams with extensive success and history in staff training, remote leadership, and career coaching, culminating in the formation of high-performance agile teams
Early on
I was truly fortunate to be the son of Dr. John E. Abate, a famous AT&T Fellow who invented the communications system for NASA, picture-phone and became the globe’s expert on digital synchronization; and Mary P. Abate, Dean of Students at a University. I began my career working at Bell Telephone Laboratories writing C-code for the UNIX operating system (with Kernighan & Ritchie) in the early ’80s. From there I moved into progressively larger roles including a lead architect at UPS (1990-95). From here I moved into data and worked as a Senior Director at Ralph Lauren prior to the company going public. I then broadened my global experience by working in Australia (6 months) and as a Sr. VP & NA CTO of ICICI Bank in Mumbai, India. I moved into big data management, governance, and advanced analytics consulting in 2005 and became a big data consulting leader for EMC when they purchased Greenplum in 2010. The rest is history…
Currently
I have been actively assisting organizations in understanding the challenges and opportunities that big data poses: Data ecosystem understanding including using machine learning to get a handle on organizational data assets; Data privacy including obfuscation; Data democratization and making data available for all to utilize; Data monetization; Analytics collaboration; Immersive and collaborative data storytelling; and Data Governance and compliance (GDPR, CCPA, etc).
Data is an ecosystem and an asset that should be utilized by the right people, at the right time, with the right (governed) data, for the right purpose, and with the right intent.
Data should drive every business decision and a data-driven business innovates and beats its competition every time because they see the trends and anticipate the changes ahead of laggers.
Website Links:
ISCDO Webinar – 1/27/2022
3D Data storytelling for data-driven decision-making and culture
Forbes Magazine Quotation – 1/6/2022
A Lesson in Flawed Metrics Design: The New Global Supply Chain Pressure Index
CDO Magazine – 5/11/2021
Your First 90 Days As CDO (ISCDO Artifact)
Nathan Eckel Live (Facebook Interview on United Nations ODA) – 2/6/2019
Be the Talk Interview – UN Oceans Data Alliance “Industry Data Expert”
The Cube MIT CDOIQ Interview – 8/1/2019
MIT Chief Data Officer and Information Quality Symposium (CDOIQ) 2019
Toggle Magazine – 7/6/2017
Meet the data whisperer for America’s biggest companies
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science (BS) in Electronic Engineering · Monmouth University · West Long Branch, NJ
CERTIFICATIONS
International Society of Chief Data Officers & MIT Program: CDO-1 Certification – 2019
TDWI & ICCP Certified Business Intelligence Professional (CBIP) – 2004
DAMA & ICCP Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) – 2008
TECHNICAL ADVISORY POSITIONS
International Society for Chief Data Officers (ISCDO) – Board
MIT CDOIQ Symposium – Co-Chair (’20), Programs (’21), Europe Director/MC (’22)
MIT CDO Certification – Instructor
Nielsen Technical Advisory Board – Past Member
CDO Forum Governing Body
CAO Summit – Expert Advisor/Panelist
DAMA International – Ex-Board Member, Frequent Speaker
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS & AFFILIATIONS
MIT CDOIQ Symposium – 2020 Event Co-Chair, 2022 Event Executive Team
MIT CDOIQ Symposium Europe – 2022 Event Executive Team & Master Ceremonies
International Society of Chief Data Officers [IsCDO] – Board Member & Contributor
CDO Insights Conference – Host (3 cities), Speaker and Panel Member
Chief Analytics Officer [CAO] Conference – Speaker
Data Management Association International [DAMA-I)] – Board advisor & contributor
Insurance Data Management Professionals [IDMP] – Conference speaker
GLOBAL DATA REGULATORY & PRIVACY EXPERTISE
BASEL 2 & 3, BCBS 239, CCAR, CCPA, FCRA, FINRA, FRTB, GDPR, MiFID II, SOX, HIPAA, HCQIA, CHIP, HRRP, PSQIA, ARRA