Ryan den Rooijen

While I find it hard to believe, I am now more than a year into my Chief Ecommerce Officer role! As they say, time flies when you are having fun, or at least when you have ambitious top-line targets to hit. At the same time, when I consider how much

If you are someone who is interested in data, lucky you! You live in a wonderful time; a time when wondering about hourly reporting and statistical significance no longer makes you a target for sitcom ridicule. While not all data and tools have been democratised, at least discussions about data

This is an abridged version of the keynote I gave at LEAP 2022 in Riyadh. Organisations find themselves in a rapidly evolving environment. Geopolitical disruption notwithstanding, in a market like Saudi Arabia a combination of rapid economic liberalisation, ambitious government megaprojects, and long-awaited sociocultural changes is reshaping the enterprise landscape.

Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, we were supposed to have things figured out. How to roll out vaccines, how to return to the office, how to adapt our business models. Yet from new virus variants and inconsistent policy responses to looming market volatility, it does seem like those

Amidst the misery of 2020, there was a silver lining for those in ecommerce. As stores around the world closed their doors and furloughed their staff, consumers turned to the Internet to satisfy their cravings. What set this shift apart was that it engaged audiences who had never before shopped

While some find inspiration in quiet meditation, majestic nature, or beautiful music, this article was inspired by a recent journey through airport security. Bear with my logic, but this reminded me of digital program governance. Who exercises control over investments, who defines gates and dates, and who get to decide

When you think of having the courage to make a difference, what comes to mind? Tackling an intractable problem, investing sleepless nights in a rush towards your goal, maybe making the impossible happen at the moment suprême? Or do you think of encouraging incremental changes, establishing new routines, and working

It is a truth not universally acknowledged, that people rarely reflect on their first 100 days on the job. Yet despite the temptation to simply plough ahead, it can be valuable looking back. In part one, I considered some of the challenges I had faced since starting my new job,

This article was originally written for Data Leadership Collaborative. If You Want Meaningful Change, Hire ChallengersBe brave enough to hire people who will challenge your business. That’s the recruiting advice of Ryan den Rooijen of luxury retailer Chalhoub Group.Data Leadership CollaborativeRyan den RooijenOrganizations that are looking to become

Last month, I shared my thoughts on moving from Chief Data Officer to Chief Ecommerce Officer. Now eight weeks in, I have roughly completed half of my first 100 days in the role. While many books have been written on what one should achieve during this period, I have found

More than two years ago, I started this blog by posing the question: "How can we move from simply having data to using it to deliver positive impact?" As I shared in The Data Leader's Dilemma, there is no clear answer. Data leaders are often torn having to decide which

There is a misconception that people working in the field of Data, Analytics, and AI are academic types. This conjures up images of rarified enclaves of computer science minds, debating how to design the optimal model to crack some arbitrary performance benchmark. While it is true that data scientists can

When defining their key performance indicators (KPIs), organisations are increasingly incorporating metrics around diversity and inclusion. While this is a laudable effort given historical inequities, it also makes a lot of business sense. Study after study has demonstrated that diverse organisation are more profitable. Given the evidence, why then is

Ah, data quality: almost as popular a topic as tax returns. While people will gladly converse about the weather at company events, try to bring up data quality more than once and you can find yourself struck off the guest list. Yet data quality is critical. Organisations need to avoid

The paradox of the difficult periods of our lives is that while we are keen to bid them farewell and forget them, they are often sources for some of the richest lessons. In that regard, 2020's pandemic was no different. Whether it relates to the depth of personal resilience, the

When I joined my current employer, one of my first priorities was to identify and understand how I could support any psychological safety initiatives in the organisation. Since then, I have had multiple people comment on how nice it was of me to volunteer my time. Little do they know

I am frequently asked how our data, analytics, and AI team at Chalhoub is organised. While data leaders generally agree on roles such as data engineers or data analysts, what their teams' structure and operating model should look like is less clear. Do you stick all the architects together? Where

If there are two activities that have spiked during the Covid-19 epidemic they are digital advertising and social media. It is interesting to note that in theory these are two great antidotes against lockdown malaise. Digital advertising to help companies reach their customers despite distancing and social media to facilitate

The GCE Advanced Level qualifications, or A Levels, are the most important school leaving qualification in the British school system. They are a critical determinant of whether a student will be accepted by their chosen University. Usually hundreds of thousands of students would be celebrating their results in August, but

If there is one term newscasters seem to enjoy it is "the new normal". Crying fake news seems a bit passé, but I struggle with the proliferation of this phrase. Normal implies a sense of equilibrium, a modicum of order and proportion having been restored. We are not there yet.

As some countries are slowly reopening, albeit with major concessions to the post-pandemic reality, organisations face a challenging future. Even the most lucrative technology companies are not spared as they struggle with the cultural and mental health implications of employees' prolonged isolation and dispersion. While humans have a tendency to

While analysts prefer to keep a watchful eye on the Coronavirus infection numbers it is important to acknowledge the mental impact of the pandemic alongside the physiological. Many are separated from friends and family, facing sudden financial pressures, or struggling to come to terms with a world that is greatly

Over the past years, many organisations have jumped on the analytics bandwagon in a quest to become more data driven. Whether they promoted senior leaders to champion data across the company, or visibly embarked on the development of data science functions, this was undoubtedly a fertile domain. Yet tales of

With the US reporting more than 100,000 people infected with COVID-19 as of March 28, it is clear that things are going to get much worse before they get any better. Knowing what we do about the lack of consistent testing and data collection – with symptomatic patients even getting

The past week has been marked by differing levels of government responses. While some announced decisive policies, others went back and forth on the most appropriate course of action. Since COVID-19 was first acknowledged in December 2019 more than 10,000 people are confirmed to have died as a result