Join DSI’s iCubed Seminar Series to learn about real-world uses of data science and opportunities with DSI Industry Affiliates.

Guest Speaker

Zehra Syeda-Sarwat, Senior Director Business & Innovation Strategy Design and Planning, Microsoft

Moderated by: Jessica Rodriguez, Industry Engagement and Outreach Officer, Data Science Institute

Event Details & Recording

Friday, March 3, 2023 (1:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET) – Virtual

The event recording may available for Columbia University faculty and students. Please contact datascience@columbia.edu for inquiries about accessing the recording.

Talk Information

From Derailment to Success: Identifying and Removing Hidden Data Biases that Hinder Strategic Results

Most enterprises today are moving to cloud solutions so they can transform into a data driven organization and harness the power of data to deliver disruptive innovation and exponential business growth. However, data that is not scrutinized and evaluated for biases can distract organizations from their objectives and ultimately derail their path to success. In this session Zehra Syeda-Sarwat, Senior Director Business & Innovation Strategy Design and Planning at Microsoft, will share key best practices and mechanisms that her team has implemented to identify, evaluate, and address biases across data research, analysis and insights.

Bio: With over 20 years of experience, Zehra has led Strategy Design, Go-To-Market, Product Management, Global Transformation initiatives, and Fortune 500 C-Suite customer engagements across the largest Tech companies in the world including IBM, Fujitsu, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft. Currently at Microsoft, Zehra leads Business and Innovation Strategy Design and Planning, where she is responsible for building the Business Development and Strategy Function that delivers inimitable competitive advantage, exponential growth, and disruptive innovation that is deeply rooted in data and customer obsession. She leads a team of experts across market research and insights, strategy definition and planning, innovation strategy, and program management, all focused on driving cross organizational transformation that established Microsoft as the world’s most disruptive and customer centric organization. 

Previously at Amazon Web Services (AWS) she led AWS Transformation Guide Product Management, and built global Go-To-Market strategy for enterprise segment focused on digital transformation. She has led hundreds of C-Suite customer engagements across Fortune 500 companies, providing prescriptive guidance on how to leverage technology to drive innovation, customer success, and accelerate business outcomes. 

Zehra also led Inclusion and Diversity global initiatives and founded Women@AWS: a CEO and S-team sponsored initiative dedicated to increasing gender diversity in technology. Zehra is a notable public speaker who has participated in various global events including She Tech Summit, Columbia University Data Science iCubed Seminar, AWS Reinvent, GraceHopper, and more. She is also a Start Up advisor, a seed investor, and a recipient of several honors and awards including Microsoft Champion 2022, AWS Diversity and Inclusion Champion Award, Women Innovator Speaker at She Tech Summit, Fujitsu Infinity Award. She has also published several blogs and co-wrote Chapter 2.4 of the book Reaching Cloud Velocity, focused on how enterprise executives can effectively measure and realize business value through cloud adoption.