Todd Foley: Hello, and welcome to the CDO Magazine interview series. I’m Todd Foley, CDO and CISO with Lydonia. Today, I have the pleasure of talking with Karima Zahrir, Director of Data Analytics and AI at Louisiana Pacific Corporation. Karima, thank you for taking the time to talk to us today. Now, data governance is not a new challenge, but it certainly seems to be a continual one across every organization, and even something that people feel they solve at a point in time but then have to go back and remediate a few years later. How are you approaching it? And is there any aspect of the newer technologies that makes that easier or harder than it used to be?
Karima Zahrir: That’s a great question. Data governance is really a very important and often forgotten area most of the time. From my perspective, I look at it as twofold. There is the process and business stewardship part of it, where we need to identify and work with the business to ensure our data is secure and flows properly. But then there is the technical aspect of it with the data lineage, data cataloging, and all of those wonderful things that we used to think we could get away with doing manually. With all these tools, it’s impossible. It became essential to ensure that we have a technology framework to manage that, and we are in the process of reviewing some vendors. We obviously have our priorities, and we’re reviewing those with the vendors, making sure that whatever tool we choose, it will integrate with our existing tools. So that’s something that we’ve put as one of the top priorities for 2025, and we’re looking forward to getting that set up.
Todd Foley: How is the business engagement from a data governance standpoint? It’s one thing to ask somebody to own the quality of data; it’s another to expect them to review exception reports on a regular basis or to make actual process changes. Do you find that there’s a strong partnership there, or does it vary?
Karima Zahrir: I believe we have enough partnership to get started with this initiative. Like I said, I am not an all-or-nothing type of person. It’s always a phased approach. We’re always going to come back to that. So, I’m happy to report that we do have very strong allies with whom we can start working. And I truly believe that as we showcase our success, all those people who are not 100% bought in will see the value and come on board. So, that’s how we’re approaching it at this point.
Todd Foley: I like that. It’s my ethos as well: perfection is the enemy of good. You always want to improve things, but you can’t expect to get to perfect overnight, usually. I think you mentioned security too. There was a point in time where, while we were very cognizant—certainly in any kind of regulated industry—we paid a lot of attention to data security. Things have changed quite a bit, and there’s more attention on it than ever. Where we used to be able to address it with just encryption solutions or other simple approaches, we’re seeing most organizations move to a model, whether you call it zero-trust security or trustless security or any of the other coined words, really. Where every access to data has to have contextual awareness and must be validated and authenticated in unique ways. Are you seeing that as something that’s hindering your acceleration of modernization, new architectures, and business initiatives, or do you have a strong partnership with security? How are you approaching the challenge in general?
Karima Zahrir: That’s a great question. And I have to say, if you had asked me this question probably at my previous employers, I would have given you a different answer. But it’s been wonderful teaming up with our CISO and the security team to ensure that we are putting in a complete solution that’s going to help our business do their core work or grow, but at the same time, it’s safe and secure. I don’t mind a few extra steps to ensure that what we’re putting in is going to be solid. I hate technical debt, going back all the time to rethink solutions because we’ve found a vulnerability. So, I would say I truly look at security as an important and integral part of providing full-scale enterprise solutions.
Todd Foley: That’s fantastic, and I’m glad it’s such a positive experience now at LP. Karima, you have a very broad background, and you’re tackling, at Louisiana Pacific, pretty much every one of the top ten things that we talk to other CDOs about as priorities. Do you have any advice for your peers on approaching all of these things? And are there any lessons learned that you can share?
Karima Zahrir: Well, that’s actually a great question. I have to say, one of the things that I truly believe in is being flexible. The CDO’s role—you can either succeed or fail very quickly. And in order for you to succeed, you need to have the backing of the business. They need to understand the value that the data will bring to them. So, I would suggest that there is a strong relationship and collaboration with the business—that’s number one. Number two, I would say listening—listening and making sure you receive the feedback well and adjust accordingly. Because what we might think is right from the data perspective, if we don’t understand the business and where it’s wanting to go, like I was mentioning earlier about starting with the metrics that are important, then building your strategy accordingly. You don’t just come with the IT mandates; you need the collaboration. The other thing is training and making sure you have allies and champions, what I call in my world as “data citizens.” These are the people who are going to help you share the knowledge and ensure the best practices. So, some of these things are very important. And the last thing is really working with the IT leadership. Security is a real threat. Make sure that we have good governance frameworks for our inner operations. So, it’s just a very nimble role where you need to wear multiple hats, like you said, depending on the situation. And, if you’re rigid, maybe this role is not for you.
Todd Foley: Thank you, Karima, for joining us today. For those listening, please visit cdomagazine.tech for additional interviews. Thank you.
Karima Zahrir: Thank you.
