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 💡

It was a pleasure delivering my presentation on “Data Governance in the Age of AI” at The University of British Columbia’s Symposium 2025.

Great sessions, networking and knowledge sharing all around. 

Thank you again to the PrISM team for the invite and for putting together the month-long series of events to celebrate Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Let’s keep putting the Lights On Data, Privacy, and Security!

—
Special thanks to Trevor Carpenter, Larry Carson, Zoe Armer and everyone involved behind the scenes to make this happen.

Thank you also to all the wonderful speakers and presenters such as Scott Baker, Maliheh Oliver, Salman Shahid, Dr. Gail Murphy, Mark Montgomery, Gráinne McElroy, Gurm Dhugga, Mawuena G., Waii Chow, Julie Le Hegarat, PhD, Tim Szigeti  and many others.

#data #privacy #AI

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

What if “data governance” wasn’t a checklist, but a way to ADVANCE your organization?
Here’s the 7-pillar framework I use to make it simple 👇

A – Accountability: Assign clear owners so decisions actually get made
D – Definitions: Create a shared language through glossaries and standards
V – Value Alignment: Tie every governance effort to business goals
A – Adaptability: Use governance as your engine for change
N – Necessity: Start where the value is highest and scale from there
C – Collaboration: Build cross-functional trust and shared goals
E – Education: Empower people to see governance as an enabler

If you could only strengthen one pillar right now, which one would move your organization forward the fastest?

And if you want to go deeper, my Practical Data Governance: Implementation course walks through how to apply each one (includes templates and examples): 
https://lnkd.in/gwBcYQg5

Let’s keep putting the Lights On Data.
-George Firican

#data #datagovernance #datastrategy

7 pillars of data governance

Great energy, amazing sessions, wonderful networking here at the Big Data & Analytics West Summit.

It was a pleasure catching up with the local data community, seeing old friends, and meeting new ones.

Let’s keep putting the Lights On Data!
-George Firican  

#data #ai

No alternative text description for this image

What are your thoughts on AI generated videos or art?
Here’s a good example, in my opinion, on what happens when human creativity and AI-powered implementation come together.

Credit: Le Voyage (Paint World 28)


#ai #artificialintelligence

Tomorrow I’ll be at the Big Data & Analytics West Summit, and there’s something I’m genuinely looking forward to:

I love conversations that bring clarity to where data and AI are headed next, and IBM is putting a spotlight on a topic I care deeply about:
 👉 How organizations can build reliable AI by strengthening their enterprise data foundation.

A major highlight for me will be hearing Paul Zikopoulos share practical lessons and thoughtful perspectives on:
✅ Preparing enterprise data for agentic AI applications
✅ Combining retrieval approaches to improve AI reliability
✅ Real-world strategies for scaling trusted AI across teams 

Paul consistently brings insights that elevate how we think about data and AI, and I’m excited to learn from his session.

These are the kinds of insights I’m excited to learn from, explore, and share.
And of course the discussions, networking, and the exhibitor lounge where there’s always something new to discover.

You can explore the agenda here: https://lnkd.in/gkDXmrnq

If you’re attending #BDW2025, please let me know as I’d be happy to connect.
You’ll find me capturing moments throughout the day, and yes, I’ll also be hanging out at IBM’s booth as their #ibmpartner for the event.

#data #IBMCanada

IBM Big Data Analytics West George Firican

If you want to climb the ladder quicker in your data management profession, checkout my courses at https://LightsOnData.com 

On another note, what type of medium do you like to consume content in?

A) Video
B) Audio only
C) Text
D) Memes 😁
E) Other

#data #datamanagement

Oh wow, what a day!
Excited to have been part of the Big Data Analytics West Summit in Vancouver as an #ibmpartner for the event.

Grateful for the energizing discussions and sessions, especially the great session on preparing enterprise data for AI from Paul Zikopoulos (VP, IBM Technology Sales).

It was great catching up with fellow data professionals and having a day of learning.
Thank you again IBM! 

#AI #IBMCanada #data

I took a photo of my latte this morning.
A simple image…
Completely unstructured, yet full of information if you know how to look at it.

Here is the interesting part…
Unstructured data is everywhere in our organizations:
- Images
- Screenshots
- Videos
- PDFs
- Logs
- Messages

All of them packed with value
But without metadata, that value stays hidden.

Metadata tells us:
- Who created the content
- When it was captured
- What it represents
- How it should be used
- Where it fits in our ecosystem

Suddenly an image is not just an image.
It becomes
- Searchable
- Discoverable
- Reliable

This is why unstructured data is such a huge opportunity.
The insights are already there.
Metadata is what turns those insights into something we can trust and act on.

Curious to hear from you:
Where do you see the biggest metadata gaps today?
- Search
- Ownership
- Retention
- Context
- Priority
Or something else entirely

Let’s keep putting the Lights On Data and its Metadata!
-George Firican 

#data #metadata #dataquality

As organizations deploy AI, how should master data management and data governance programs evolve, or be reinvented, to stay relevant?

Join George Firican and Bruno Billy, President of APGAR North America, and Ken Brown, Head of Customer Success as they will explore how MDM and Data Governance are being redefined for a world shaped by machine learning, generative models, and data products.  
Drawing on APGAR’s experience helping organizations define, build, and run their enterprise data programs, Bruno and Ken will share how AI is transforming the purpose and practice of master data management and data governance.
Tune in to hear how leading organizations are using AI to strengthen their MDM and Data Governance foundations. And why these disciplines could be even more important than before.

#datagovernance #AI #MDM

How Is AI reinventing MDM and Data Governance?

Kate Strachnyi

DATAcated

DATAcated® to helping clients share their stories through content creation and amplification. Providing custom 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 for companies focused on innovating in the data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence space.

Managing the DATAcated Speaker Hub, a platform dedicated to connecting top data, analytics and AI experts with event organizers. I oversee speaker recruitment, manage client relationships, and ensure a seamless booking process for in-person events & virtual conferences, webinars, and corporate events. Enabling speakers to expand their reach while helping event organizers find the perfect experts for their audiences. We also provide amplification services to spread the word about the events!

Manager of DATAcated Speaker Hub

Writing the 'Running DATAcated' book on substack - with a goal to turn the blog articles into a BOOK about the journey of running the media company + running / hiking adventures.

Running DATAcated Writer

You can find prior LinkedIn live shows (and future ones) on the DATAcated On Air podcast - https://anchor.fm/datacated

Podcast Host - DATAcated On Air

The DATAcated Expo will provide the community with an opportunity to explore and discover innovative technologies in data science & analytics.

Hear from expert speakers that will provide real-life case studies and demos of technologies across a variety of data science & analytics processes. Speakers will provide 10-min lightning talks and we’ll take questions from the live audience.

The presentations will be centered around the data analytics process and will take participants on a journey from identifying the business use case to collecting, cleaning, exploring, visualizing and ultimately communicating insights.  

This live event will provide several opportunities for networking and building relationships in the data community.

Host - DATAcated Expo

The conference is packed with incredible insights from the very best speakers!
Speakers will deliver 10 min ‘lightning’ talks and will stay on for a few minutes for some live Q&A.
The conference is hosted on LinkedIn Live and is FREE to attend!
We’ll have plenty of fun giveaways provided by our Community Partners.

Host - DATAcated Conference May 18-19, 2021

Run Wild AI

Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer

O'Reilly Media

Author of ColorWise: A Data Storyteller's Guide to the Intentional Use of Color

Author

LinkedIn

Having a strong personal brand can help you stand out from competitors and colleagues and attract relevant opportunities.

LinkedIn Learning Instructor

IADSS

Advisory Board Member

Deloitte

Chief of Staff - Head of Commercial Business

Program Manager | Data Analytics

Insights Strategy Manager & Tableau Developer

- Assessment of risk governance practices measured against relevant bank supervisory guidance and leading practices (e.g. Enterprise Risk Assessment Process, New Product Approval Process, Risk Reporting, Committee Structure, etc.)
 - Prepared periodic program status/progress reports. Assisting with building out roadmap of future phase deliverables and maintenance of project plans. Escalating issues & risks to ensure timely remediation
- Provided assistance with writing responses to regulatory letters (MOUs, MRAs, MRIAs)
- Developed an inventory for regulation W requirements (including Dodd-Frank Act impact), and assessed the applicability of the regulation to each business line within a large financial institution 
- Assisted large foreign banks with Foreign Enhanced Prudential Standards (FEPS) implementation (including Governance, Data, Risk Management, Implementation Plan, etc.,) 
 - Revised current or establishing new policies and procedures as well as ensuring that various departments/functions have relevant policies, procedures and guidelines which reflect current business practices

Manager, Risk Mgmt / Regulatory Compliance

Bank Leumi USA

- Involved in the establishment of the Operational Risk Policy & Procedures (per Parent Company guidelines, U.S. regulations, and Basel Directives)
- Provided assistance to Risk Champions on how to assess Operational Risk and how to use the Management of Operational Risk System (MOR)
- Risk Control Self-Assessment (RCSA)- took part in the establishment of methodology,  interviewing business units (surveys) and setting risk mitigation plans for High risk items
- Assisted CRO in quarterly reporting to the Risk Management Committee of the Board (Risk Dashboard)
- Assisted CRO on the annual submission of Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP)  
– Developed New Products Approval Procedure and New Products Committee Charter
Basel II/III - Performed gap analysis on Basel II & III Directives 
- Reviewed and revised Risk Management Manual Operating Procedures (MOPs)
- Participated in KMV Moody’s Project to calculate credit risk metrics (PD & LGD)
- Assessed and tracked audit items (Internal Audit, Parent Company, & Examiners)
Committee Participation 
- Participated on Operational Risk Management Committee & Basel ICAAP Steering Committee

Risk Analyst for Chief Risk Officer

Global Association of Risk Professionals

-Managed a sales process by qualifying prospects, establishing relationships & identifying opportunities. 
-Assisted with the planning and development of direct marketing and data-related projects. 
-Handled client relationship management process through the use of CRM tool (SalesForce) and used existing relationships for cross-selling opportunities.

Business Development

FGI FINANCE

Developing Credit Committee reports - financial statement analysis and accounts receivable aging report analysis to determine lending structure.

Underwriter

First Investors Financial Services

Involved in setting up appointments with prospects (cold calls), and creation/maintenance of client records using B.O.S.S. (CRM tool)

Financial Services Rep

DATAcated™ | Branding | DataIQ100 | Marketing | Media | ColorWise | DataVenger

Ask not what influencers can do for you… ask what happens when they’re DATAcated influencers!

YAY - I'm so excited that you saw my profile and wanted to get to know me better!

As the founder of DATAcated, I help companies amplify their brand and expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science.  I'm a content creator with over 300k followers across LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and other platforms. I also run a DATAcated Plus program with 35+ influencers that can be hired to 'make a splash' on social media.  Oh yea, I also manage the DATAcated Expert / Speaker Hub where we have over 50 engaging speakers and experts that you can hire for conferences, webinars, books, blogs, and more.

I have been recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice in Data Science and Analytics and as a DataIQ USA100. I am also the author of ColorWise: A Data Storyteller's Guide to the Intentional Use of Color (published with O'Reilly). 

Connect with me on social media and explore the DATAcated website for more resources and opportunities. datacated.com

DATAcated® to helping clients share their stories through content creation and amplification. Providing custom 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 for companies focused on innovating in the data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence space. 

This might be the group therapy we all need before 2026 AI planning starts.

Here’s the link to sign up: https://lnkd.in/ez6qrpSR

BARC just analyzed 421 organizations to find out what separates the top AI performers from everyone else.

The difference comes down to how companies operationalize AI, govern it, and measure actual results.

On Dec 3, 2025 (11am ET), BARC’s Shawn Rogers and Merv Adrian will unpack the findings from their Lessons from the Leading Edge study. They’ll be joined by:

Eleanor Treharne-Jones, CEO at Bigeye (data observability done right)

Jeff Fried, Director of Platform Strategy & Innovation at InterSystems (bridging architecture and outcomes)

Amandine Mely, Senior PreSales at Board (turning AI insights into real decisions)

Covering AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas. influencer marketing agency | data & AI content creation & amplification | speaker & expert placement

Check out what Nexla just launched!!! It's actually super cool! https://lnkd.in/eeH9bYBp

influencer marketing agency | data & AI content creation & amplification | speaker & expert placement

Nexla just launched Express, and it basically turns data engineering into a conversation. You tell it what you want, like “Connect Shopify and get my 

Open article: Express: Your first pipeline is just one prompt away by Kate Strachnyi • 1 min read

Express: Your first pipeline is just one prompt away

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The Battle

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