George Firican

The University of British Columbia

Director, Data Governance & Business Intelligence

Led a team of wonderful and highly skilled people in the areas of:
- Finance
- Human Resources
- Information Systems
- Gift Processing 
- Operations
- Strategic Projects
- Prospect Research & Analytics 
- Data Governance & Business Intelligence 

To support the goals of the fundraising and alumni engagement portfolio across the university.

Chief Advancement Operations Officer (Interim)

Director of Information Technology (Interim)

• Lead the Data Governance/ Quality program and the strategy development of Development and Alumni Engagement’s (DAE) data acquisition, maintenance and dissemination while fostering innovation and long term strategic vision
• Lead the efforts to develop a business glossary as well as a business intelligence (BI) framework and program that provides user-friendly access to the right information for the right people at the right time
• Directed the development and enhancement of standards, procedures, processes, policies related to the improvement and/or maintenance of quality of data within the Blackbaud Enterprise CRM database
• Created and fostered strategic partnerships and influential relationships with DAE senior management, the broader UBC community, campus stakeholders, vendors, and external universities to secure the success of DAE’s data governance, business intelligence and information quality efforts
• Collaborated with Information Technology to manage the development of automated data validations, data cleanses, data quality issue reports, and deployment of new tools and enhancements to aid in the preservation of data quality
• Advanced the data governance and business intelligence profession by participating in professional organizations, acquiring or maintaining required accreditations, publishing articles, and giving presentations at professional events

Associate Director, Data Governance & Business Intelligence

I proudly took part of UBC's "Start an Evolution" campaign (https://startanevolution.ubc.ca/), campaign which raised $1.5 billion dollars for students, research and community engagement and to double the number of alumni involved annually in the life of the university by 2015.

• Established and led an award winning Data Governance/Quality Program to support the university’s $1.5 billion fundraising campaign and sustainable alumni engagement strategy
• Provided oversight of the Data Governance/Quality Program and kept it on track by managing the development of standards, procedures, processes, policies related to the acquisition, management, and dissemination of enterprise data impacting the Blackbaud Enterprise CRM database while leading the Advisory Council
• Developed an award winning Tracing Program through which the returned mail percentage of Development and Alumni Engagement’s Portfolio has been reduced to less than 1%
• Managed the development of business performance metrics and scorecards to monitor and communicate the status and improvement of service of the Records department
• Achieved a 92% address and phone number accuracy for Canadian records, an improvement from ~64%
• Communicated to and educated internal and external stakeholders on the results and initiatives of data governance, quality, master data management, information delivery and advised stakeholders about best practices; was the first and only department to achieve 100% on the annual client satisfaction survey on communication delivery and content

Data Quality Manager

LightsOnData

- Educational Content Creation: Develop and deliver comprehensive courses, workshops, and webinars on data governance, data management, data quality, AI, and more.
- Brand Amplification: Collaborate with data companies to enhance their brand visibility and thought leadership in the data community.
- Engagement and Outreach: Host the Lights On Data Show podcast, featuring industry leaders and experts to share their insights and experiences.

Founder

Pearson

Course Instructor

O'Reilly

iData Quality Academy

Developed course content for iData Quality Academy
- Data Profiling
- Data Quality Costs

Instructor

Self employed

• Provided project management and business analysis expertise to various projects across the different industries (BaniPePost.com, JT Business Group, SMAWS, 8p8, Ashenzi, NetPress Consulting, LTS, AHACommunity, etc).
• Designed and developed unique, highly professional web and print designs, branding and e-learning solutions as well as developing and configuring custom websites (e-stores, online communities, content management systems, blogs, brochure websites, etc.).
• Accumulated experience as a web master by installing, upgrading, performing backups, managing migrations and maintaining a series of complex websites.

Freelance Consultant

Sauder School of Business, UBC

• Served as internal Project Manager for the evaluation, build and deployment phases of a custom-built, scalable web payment gateway (WPG) that complied with the PCI standard requirements and reduced Sauder Finance’s operational time for the allocation and reporting of revenue received via card payments by 75%
• Managed the deployment of a FIPPA compliant e-newsletter tool (Industry Mailout) selected to achieve a standard for design and operational support while reducing expenses by $15k/year
• Planned and managed the development and release of a new service for personal/academic blogging through the use of the WordPress MU environment for faculty members and current Sauder students
• Managed the development of an improved content publishing process to account for 15 digital signs, each with audience specific content & emergency broadcasting capabilities
• Served as the internal project manager for the development and deployment of the Canaccord Learning Commons web presence comprised of a WordPress based website and a BuddyPress student interaction environment
• Developed solutions for integrating the business environment with web 2.0 technologies such as WordPress 3 based sites, online communities (Ning, Moodle), and collaboration tools (MediaWiki, Project Spaces, CoMapping) while providing expertise and system support for these platforms
• Identified customer requirements, analyzed and reviewed product features, integration, security, scalability and performance requirements for projects such as PPM Tool, a collaboration tool to be used between the Center of Health Care Management and BC health care authorities, Desktop Blogging Client Solution, ECM Society Online Presence, Faculty Master Calendar, Form Building Tool, Event Registration, PCI Payment Forms Conversions, and several online presences for different business areas and conferences

Project Manager / BA

Everest iTech

• Promoted to Project Manager for the Showtime Models website and web application and the All Ears accounting software development project due to excellent interpersonal, communication and leadership skills in the relationships with the client and internal development team
• Led the development of several e-commerce sites (ex: SkyHook Solar, Expressive Designs Florist, JT-Autotech) and dynamic websites (ex: Mailinglist System, Informant Zone) and also helped architect their databases
• Increased the employees' knowledgebase by developing e-learning modules and user manuals for the use of the company’s payroll and accounting software
• Enhanced the online awareness of the company’s brand by 40% by creating a new content strategy and redeveloping its website in a WordPress, SEO friendly environment
• Minimized the cost of online advertising by developing free distributed widgets that increased incoming traffic by 5k visitors/ month

Project Manager / Lead Web Developer

Event Technologies

• Developed customer support standards and procedures for the company’s e-store business and helped transition a staff of 12 to this new environment through training sessions and a knowledgebase wiki.
• Minimized the installation time of new systems by 80% by creating and managing standard desktop images based on the employees’ job roles.
• Reduced search time of hardware and software information by 50% by developing a standard for filing all the technical documentation on hardware equipment and software.

IT Consultant

WGOA

• Demonstrated strong leadership skills by acting as the team leader of a software developer group in order to successfully implement and deliver an interactive Go learning application two weeks ahead of deadline and within budget.
• Coded the backend interaction of a merchandise inventory application with a barcode scanner and also contributed to developing the MySQL database and reporting. 
• Facilitated the team members to work remotely by implementing a VPN solution and integrated the use of Subversion to enable software versioning and revision control.

Software developer

💬 Founder of LightsOnData.com and LightsOnData YouTube Channel
Focused on providing informative content such as ONLINE COURSES, templates, guides, best practices, articles, white papers, and other useful resources to help you with your data governance and data management questions and challenges

💬 Creator of online courses that are engaging, new, and thorough. 
Courses: Building an Award-Winning Business Glossary, Data Governance Maturity Models, Data Governance Fundamentals, etc. - check them out here: https://www.lightsondata.com/courses/

💬 Providing LinkedIn content strategy for data-focused companies and products, as well as those with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI), business intelligence (BI, data science, data management, and data governance areas.
Connect with me today and ask how I can help you reach the data audience.

💬 Host of Lights on Data Show - a podcast and LinkedIn Live weekly show that provides insights into the data world and showcases people that help to shape it.

💬 Get some fun data merchandise here: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/lightsondata/all

💬 International key note speaker, conference speaker, and panelist (spoken at over 60 different conferences).

💬 I love being on camera, hiking, surfing, filming, and video editing
YouTube: @LightsOnData


🏛 My experience and specialties: 
• Expertise in data governance, information quality, business intelligence & data management
• Extensive background in web and application development with experience of the full life-cycle of a project
• Strong leadership capabilities, organizational and communication skills

Specialties: 
• Enterprise information management: Information quality, data governance and stewardship, master data management, business intelligence, business process improvement
• Development: Web and application development, relational database design and development
• Planning: Budget and resource planning, agile and waterfall project management, team development and leadership
• Tools and Applications: Collibra, Tableau, MS Visio, MS Project, Premiere, Photoshop

George Firican 💡

Here is my recommendation for this week.
If Agentic AI is on your roadmap, checkout this ebook  👇

It breaks down what many overlook: AI success depends on the maturity of your data architecture.
Here's what else you can find in it:
• Clear explanation of what a modern, AI-ready architecture looks like
• Practical guidance on data quality, cataloging, lineage and governance
• A real example of how a bank scaled agentic AI by modernizing its foundation

So if you are leading data initiatives or planning for AI adoption, this is a good resource to read.

Until next time, let's keep putting the Lights on Data!
-George 
#data #AI #partnerpost

💡 Award Winning Data Governance Leader | Content Creator & Influencer | Founder of LightsOnData | Podcast Host: Lights On Data Show | LinkedIn Top Voice

Modernize Data Architectures for  Agentic AI Success

What are the biggest misconceptions business leaders still have about AI?

I sat down with Stijn (Stan) Christiaens, Co-founder of Collibra, at Data Citizens to unpack what AI readiness really means for organizations. 

Here are 5 takeaways from our chat:

1. Many leaders still see AI as “a chat in the cloud.”
2. Organizations need the right foundations around AI
3. AI ready data requires more than quality
4. Unstructured data is no longer optional
5. Unified governance is becoming essential

If you want a clear picture of what it truly takes to prepare your organization for AI, this interview delivers.
Full conversation in the video below.

Until next time, let’s keep putting the Lights On Data.
-George Firican

#data #datagovernance #AI

Every December I look ahead… and this year, one prediction feels very safe:

I'll be attending Subsurface Live on December 10, coffee in hand, curious about how Agentic AI and open lakehouse patterns will shape 2026.

The agenda lines up well with questions many of us are exploring right now:
➡️ How will agent-based execution reshape data workflows?
➡️ What signals are emerging around performance, formats and multi-cloud patterns?
➡️ Where is the Apache Iceberg ecosystem pushing innovation next?

For anyone designing data systems or planning next-year priorities, this feels like a valuable moment to absorb ideas and future direction.

Registration is free: https://lnkd.in/gmDPiaES
Where: Virtual
Date: Dec 10, 2025 
Time: 8AM - 2PM PT / 4PM - 10PM GMT / 5PM - 11PM CET

See you there!

#data #AI

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

-	Work in concert with finance to ensure accurate monthly reporting and forecasting by analyzing actual portfolio delinquencies, losses and balance against budget, refining estimates, as needed.

-	Produce monthly and quarterly executive presentations, including updates on loan performance trends and competitive intelligence comprising key metrics to inform strategic decision-making.

-	Analyze economic indicators and maintain risk inventory to support quarterly credit loss allowance estimates. Compile results into formal memo with findings and recommendations for executive leadership.

-	Oversee team governance and controls for CECL, Risk Appetite and BCBS workstreams, ensuring regulatory and audit compliance. Recognized for audit exam contributions, leading to a "Strong" rating.

-	Serve as SAS Viya migration & Tableau Sustainability team lead, as well as DEIAG volunteer, supporting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for Loss Forecasting organization.

Key Skills: Data Preparation & Analysis, SAS, SQL, Teradata, Excel, Tableau, Python, AWS, Business Process Optimization, Project Management, On-Time Project Delivery, Remote Stakeholder Collaboration, Industry Regulations Adherence

VP, Modeling Analytics — Credit Loss Forecasting

Gateway Financial Solutions

-	Collaborate with the C-suite and cross-functionally to create reporting and interactive visual analytics that improve line of sight to portfolio performance and profitability; aided credit risk review and reinforced confidence in company management with partners and investors.

-	Recognized for developing new reports for the Sales and Originations teams that made required data easily accessible; decreased the time and resources needed to identify more targeted sales leads and eliminated the need for an external vendor, driving substantial organizational savings. 

-	Lead the automation of existing Excel reports in Tableau and the creation of new Tableau reports across the business; results have streamlined efficiency, driven cost savings, and facilitated data driven decision making enterprise-wide.

Key skills:  Business Intelligence, Tableau, SQL, Snowflake, Microsoft Excel, Data Visualization, Gathering Business Requirements, JIRA, Sharepoint, Executive Presentations, Training

Principal Business Intelligence Analyst

-	Assisted Originations Risk Policy team with transition to new machine learning-based decisioning model; contributions included providing legacy methodology and code, context for new variable mapping and presenting the platform changes to OEM partners.

-	Managed local and offshore team during unexpected remote environment and challenging macroeconomic period; owned and developed originations, delinquency, default and credit policy strategy analytics for 6 large private label vehicle partnerships. 

-	Chaired Credit Risk Policy & Governance Committee; coordinated bi-weekly meetings with cross-functional executive representation, presented business cases and due diligence for funding policy changes, documented on SharePoint, ran meetings, oversaw key deliverable progress, monitored business impact and made credit policy recommendations following testing and analysis. Enabled dealers to expand borrowing opportunities for clients and reduce friction.

-	Improved data comprehensibility by facilitating the adoption of data visualization best practices within the organization and educating team on the benefits; guided them through the implementation process, resulting in tangible and positive changes. Received recognition from management for enhancing the design and user experience of presentations.

-	Nominated by organization leadership to attend rigorous Credit Risk Management Training. Selection based on outstanding potential at the organization.

Key Skills: Data Preparation & Analysis, SAS, SQL, Teradata, Excel, Tableau, Partner Needs Assessment, Business Process Optimization, Data-Driven Strategy Development, On-Time Project Delivery, Remote Stakeholder Collaboration, Industry Regulations Adherence, On-The-Job Coaching.

VP, Strategic Analytics - Private Label Captive Finance

Skopos Financial

-	Proposed and oversaw company-wide transition from SugarCRM to Salesforce; trained all departments on platform and served as Salesforce administrator.  Magnified customer engagement by re-strategizing digital marketing. 

-	Developed and executed marketing plan encompassing email marketing, marketing automation, social media and SEO to strengthen brand and drive business in new markets; increased social media followers by 10x+ YoY.

-	Built “Roadmap to Success” report that utilized RFM segmentation analysis to help sales reps improve dealer prospect targeting and scheduling; created custom dashboards in Salesforce that provided visibility to critical, real-time KPIs and used Python to geocode sales rep and dealer locations to optimize travel time to dealerships.


𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁

-	Automated KPI reports for department heads utilizing SQL, SSRS and Visual Studio, assisted Head of Knowledge Management with establishing a cohesive data warehouse and supported organization-wide reporting needs through data table management.

-	Lauded for developing 30+ reports for business units and CXOs; boosted sales by 70% and reduced monthly board report packet from 200+ to 90 pages.

Key Skills: Data Analytics, Business Intelligence, Reporting Design & Development, SQL, SSRS, Excel, Python, R, Sales Territory Identification & Optimization, Salesforce, Tableau, Consumer Behavior, Complex Problem Solving, Decision Making, Data Source Refinement, Digital Marketing, Digital Analytics, E-mail Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Project Management, Thought-Leadership, Training & Development, Strong Domain Knowledge, Outstanding Oral & Written Communication Skills.

Strategic Marketing Analytics Manager

McKesson

-	Managed a department and built analytical solutions in concert with sales team and vendors, synthesized disparate data to develop meaningful insights and mechanized manual lead identification process to better predict sales outcomes.

-	Orchestrated transition of San Francisco team responsibilities to newly formed Irving team over a 3-month period, while supervising retail pharma and health system data governance, sourcing, integration, and analytics; facilitated move by conducting 1-on-1 training to address knowledge gaps and strengthened relationships with predecessors to further knowledge transfer.

-	Imparted coherency into the homegrown database by cataloging data from siloed legacy systems; established communication channels with multiple departments to synergize database to common organizational goals.

Key Skills: Marketing Analytics, Complex Problem Solving & Decision Making, Benchmarking & Customer Demographics, Data Mining & Predictive Analytics, Data Science, SAS, Salesforce, Excel, Process Improvement, Project Management, Sales Territory Design, Machine Learning, Cross-Functional Leadership.

Senior Manager - Marketing Analytics

GM Financial

-	Excelled as a Senior Credit Risk Analyst, overseeing the development, administration, and ROI measurement of a new pre-approval direct mail program; based on demonstrated leadership, handpicked by the Head of Dealer Services to establish promotional analytics framework and consult on market research for new dealership loyalty program.

-	Directed a cross-functional team comprised of internal and external stakeholders to create legally compliant direct mail pieces customized to each dealer; boosted lead engagement by making data-informed campaign decisions.

-	Steered traffic to dealerships by automating and administering targeted email marketing campaigns commensurate with regulatory requirements; analyzed open and click through rate statistics to gauge effectiveness.

Key Skills: Campaign Analysis, Analytical Solutions Development, Market Research, Salesforce, Excel, SAS, Marketing Strategy, Project Management, Quantitative Analysis, Result-Oriented Focus.

Sales and Credit Operations Analyst II

Enterprise Spectrum (Omnicom)

-	Created high-visibility dashboard reports, analytic deliverables and C-level presentations; liaised with large telecommunications client and internal groups to gather, analyze and translate complex, multi-layered campaign metrics. 

-	Reduced analyst team workload by automating certain analytical processes using online tool; reviewed and analyzed campaign data to maintain foresight and context of upcoming promotion activity.

-	Improved KPIs and historical reports utilization and access; guided clients on self-serve web-based analytics and reporting tool.

Key Skills:  Advanced Excel, Data Visualization, Data Dashboards, C-Level Presentations, Campaign Analysis, Campaign Optimization.

Senior Analyst

FedEx

-	Spearheaded market analysis, channel and value proposition development to drive sale of business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) media solutions in diverse markets. Prepared quarterly business reviews for the entire product area.

-	Led market research to understand outsourcing vs. insourcing and customer demographics across different product dimensions. 

Key Skills: Market Analytics, Business Decision Validation, B2B & B2C Growth

Senior Marketing Specialist

Santander Consumer USA

-	Evaluated credit risk metrics during company acquisition by European bank; researched macroeconomic, demographic, and psychographic factors.  Enabled the board of directors to make informed decisions on risk management strategies.

-	Teamed up with Sales and Marketing departments to drive new products; partnered with the Legal and Compliance department to conduct disparate impact analysis.

-	Orchestrated new revenue channel to identify and purchase other banks’ struggling portfolios in concert with C-level management. Coordinated the due diligence on loan portfolios and analysis of assets.

Key Skills: Demographic Data Analysis, Risk Mitigation, Marketing Analysis, KPI Data Visualization, Business Plan Creation, Project Management.

Marketing Analyst

MCI - Skytel  (Now Verizon)

As a Channel Manager, I established and maintained partnerships with value-added resellers to facilitate fleet management tracking device sales; successfully managed complex master distributor relationships.  Implemented strategic plans that drove new business and increased revenue.

Channel Manager (Remote)

Business Intelligence & Analytics Leader specializing in Credit Risk, Marketing and Sales | Data Mining & Analysis | KPI Development & Reporting | Data Visualization

I’m passionate about transforming data into actionable insights that drive strategic growth, optimize risk management, and unlock new opportunities. With years of experience in SQL, SAS, Tableau, and more, I thrive not only in managing analytics teams but also in getting hands-on with the data when needed.

What sets me apart is my blend of technical expertise, diverse experience, and ability to communicate complex analytics clearly. While I currently focus on credit risk, I previously spent several years in marketing analytics, producing data-driven campaigns that boosted sales and drove top-line growth. This versatility allows me to approach problems from different perspectives, providing valuable insights that span risk mitigation and business expansion.

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞:

𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑: Oversaw development of a machine learning model that identified key customer lifetime value attributes, enabling sales teams to better prioritize leads and improve targeting.

𝑰𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏: Led the creation of auto finance pre-approval programs at Santander Consumer USA and GM Financial, improving sales conversion rates by building targeted lists from credit bureau data.

𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑨𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒚𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔: Delivered data-driven campaigns that bolstered sales and drove growth by working closely with cross-functional teams to understand consumer behavior and segmentation.

𝑬𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: Automated Excel reports in Tableau, streamlining operations, cutting costs, and improving visibility of key data across the organization.

𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕: Created "Roadmap to Success" report using RFM segmentation to enhance sales rep productivity. Custom dashboards provided visibility into real-time KPIs.

Though I excel in leadership roles, I’m equally excited to dive into the data. Whether it's coding queries in SQL or creating impactful visualizations in Tableau, I enjoy using my technical skills to solve complex problems. My experience in both credit risk and marketing analytics has shaped me into a versatile professional ready to make an impact.

Let’s connect if you’re looking for someone who can lead data initiatives and turn insights into action!

taplio

The Battle

George Firican 💡

Jennifer Cooper, MBA

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreGeorge Firican 💡's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

George Firican 💡

Jennifer Cooper, MBA

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}George Firican 💡's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreGeorge Firican 💡's LinkedIn Performance