Susan Walsh, Founder & Mistress of Data at The Classification Guru, is a globally recognised expert in data classification, cleaning, and transformation who has spent over a decade helping organisations across many industries resolve their "dirty data" issues.  

In 2017, she founded The Classification Guru Ltd to provide innovative solutions to data problems, particularly in procurement, where clean and accurate data is critical. Since then, Susan has successfully worked with over 90 clients worldwide, unlocking the true potential of their data. Beyond being an entrepreneur, Susan is an influential thought leader, global speaker, and advocate for clean data and the author of the acclaimed book, “Between the Spreadsheets: Classifying and Fixing Dirty Data,” a practical guide for professionals tackling data issues. 

In this fantastic episode, she joins Sam to discuss the importance of data quality in Procurement for insights, efficiency, & AI excellence, the challenges that Procurement teams face with their data, how teams can best clean & harness the power of their data, and more!
Connect with Susan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanewalsh/ 

Learn more about Kodiak Hub’s SRM platform: https://www.kodiakhub.com 

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:39) - Introducing Susan Walsh

(01:40) - What does Sourcing & Procurement mean to Susan today vs. 3-5 years ago?

(03:08) - What does Susan think that Procurement is getting wrong?

(04:26) - What is Susan’s mission and offerings with The Classification Guru?

(05:13) - What is the end state of Procurement data that Susan helps teams to achieve?

(06:40) - Where does data play a role in Procurement driving value for their business? 

(08:18) - What are the barriers that teams have to fix their data?

(09:40) - What are the eras of data management in Procurement that Susan has seen in her career?

(11:47) - Are centers of excellence and data ops essential for successful Procurement teams of today and tomorrow?

(13:49) - Where does Susan see teams struggling most to get the most value out of their data?

(14:27) - Can Data Analysts make the transition to being a solid hire in a Procurement team?

(15:00) - Why would Data Analysts struggle to work in Procurement? 

(18:00) - Can AI drive value for Procurement without clean, complete data?

(19:00) - Will teams with clean procurement data be able to harness the value of AI?

(19:38) - Where does Susan see AI making the biggest impact in Procurement?

(21:05) - Does Susan think that technology can do more complex actions like strategic work?

(22:23) - Susan talks about her book “Between the Spreadsheets” and her upcoming follow-up 

(25:00) - Susan explains her COAT Methodology  

(27:43) - How does Susan get businesses to focus on fit-for-purpose accuracy in their data?

(30:25) - What is a data horror story that Susan has seen?

(32:38) - How did Susan solve her data horror story?

(36:01) - Where does Susan see that Procurement teams can get started with their data cleaning and classification?

(39:17) - Susan answers our quick-fire round of questions