90: Data Is a Leadership Problem, Not a Technical One — A Playbook for CTOs
From The CTO Playbook by Adam Horner
April 6, 2026 · 38 min · Episode 90
About this episode
The episode discusses how data is fundamentally a leadership problem rather than a technical one, featuring insights from Nic Granger on decision-making in the context of data and transformation.
Most teams don’t have a data problem; they have a decision problem. Build your own CTO Playbook at www.theCTOplaybook.com — the leadership platform built for the full CTO journey. Coaching, podcast, and community to help you lead with clarity, confidence, and strategic impact. Nic Granger, Chief Information and Financial Officer at the North Sea Transition Authority, joins me to share her perspective from the intersection of data, finance, and transformation in a highly complex, regulated industry. Nic leads a multidisciplinary portfolio spanning digital, data, and core services, with a focus on enabling better decisions across the energy transition. We get into why data strategy is fundamentally a human challenge, not just a technical one, and how data-driven decision making only works when people can actually access and trust the data. You’ll hear how data leadership shifts when the goal isn’t dashboards, but real-world outcomes like energy security and decarbonization. We also unpack why jumping straight to AI in business often misses the point, and what it really takes to build strong data foundations that support scale. If you’re responsible for digital transformation or…
People in this episode
Host: Adam Horner
Guest: Nic Granger
Topics covered
- data leadership
- decision making
- digital transformation
- energy transition
- data strategy
Keywords
- data leadership
- decision problem
- digital transformation
- energy security
- decarbonization
- data strategy
- AI in business
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: North Sea Transition Authority, theCTOplaybook.com
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