Kyle Winterbottom

6 years....

Monday 14th September 2020

Orbition Group was born from my mother-in-laws back bedroom, during Covid lockdown

Sat between the laundry basket and sewing machine!

The business has definitely evolved over the years

But one thing I am super proud of is staying true to what we always wanted to stand for

There were 2 things that I was adamant about

1️⃣ We would build something that is different, and genuinely respected for having the subject matter expertise to truly help organisations to deliver value from Data, Analytics & AI (that goes way beyond hiring)

2️⃣ Our entire business model would be built around connection and collaboration of the Data, Analytics & AI industry. To be the epicentre of knowledge sharing with the fundamental goal of improving the industry.

What started as a 'Search Business' has evolved into various services spanning 'intelligence' and 'advisory'

And of course, a separate brand in what is today recognised as Driven By Data Productions which has become it's own Media & Community business

From the Podcast, Mentorship Programme, Events, Magazine, Resources (whitepapers, research reports, webinars, etc) Women to Watch campaign and Coaching.

Plus, sharing the love at external events

We've helped hundreds of organisations to hire the leadership teams around the world that will deliver ROI from their investments in DAAI

Many of these organisations major global brands that you will recognise

A huge thanks to everyone involved in this journey thus far

From the organisations that have trusted us to deliver, to the individuals that trusted us with their careers

To the community of people that trusted us to create better environments for learning than anyone else

To all of our staff, existing and prior! I've been blessed to be able to hire some fantastic humans, none more so than Catherine Dowden-King

There's more to come. A lot more.

But for now, thank you! ❤️

Looking for your next Data/AI Leadership opportunity?

I'm getting 30+ messages a week from Data Leaders who are "looking for a new opportunity"

They all want to know "how is the market?"

So here it is:

Genuine CDO roles are almost gone. That strategic responsibility has (typically) been handed to the CIO.

There are more Head of/Director roles out there, at any one time, than I've seen in 15 years doing this.

That said, there is still way more supply than demand. Which is frustrating people because the market feels busy, because it is, but it's crazy competitive.

Only a small % of those roles are for the Enterprise role. Ie: leading the entire D&A value chain across an org.

Most of those roles are now largely delivery focused. Ie: building the technical capability. The "impact" part is being done elsewhere.

Most are domain specific; Governance, Architecture & AI, etc.

Despite that, commercial acumen, communication and influencing skills are being sought after, more than ever before.

In the UK, average salaries are ranging from £120-200K. The large majority at the bottom to middle of that range.

There's not a lot kicking about north of that.

Bonus and LTIPs range WILDLY!

We've seen somewhat of a trend where some orgs are consolidating the CDO, CAIO ans CIO roles into one, under the banner of 'Transformation' & 'Innovation'

But, in reality that is just the CIO role, rebranded (as most CIOs now have the Data, Analytics & AI remit anyway).

Make of that what you will. I hope it's useful.

Ask any Qs you have below. I'll do my best to answer them.