Data Flops to AI Wins: Sandwich Secrets from Walmart's Data Bridge

The podcast, “The Data & AI Compass: Navigating Insights with the Sandwich Framework,” features guest Amit Shivpuja, Director of Data Governance and Strategy, Walmart, discussing his journey in data and AI, including his “sandwich framework” for understanding data, tools, processes, people, and security. The host is Vandana Sharma, Senior Director AI-Powered Solutions & Impact, InfoBeans.

The key takeaways:

Focus on Business Problems: It’s important to understand the business problem first and then determine if AI is the right solution, rather than trying to apply AI to every problem.

The Sandwich Framework: Amit Shivpuja introduces a “sandwich framework” for understanding data and AI initiatives, which includes domain, data, tools/algorithms, processes/governance/strategy, people, and security/compliance.

Real-time Data Usage: Not all data requires real-time processing. It’s crucial to understand the business context and use case before implementing real-time data solutions to avoid user frustration and negative impacts.

Importance of Data Governance: Strong data governance, including single sources of data, documented descriptions, clear metadata, and human verification, is essential for successful AI implementation and to prevent “garbage in, garbage out” scenarios.

AI Literacy: In today’s world, AI literacy is a must for everyone, especially in tech jobs. Individuals should understand what AI can do, its limitations, and its pros and cons, even if they don’t know the internal workings.