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

The Ravit Show

Host of "The Ravit Show" I love to interview folks on my LinkedIn and YouTube Live. Anything and everything that's trending can be a topic on the show.

Founder and Host

Gartner

Gartner Ambassadors are active leaders who are eager to drive the discussion, share their knowledge, make new connections, and build their personal brand.

Gartner Ambassador

EM360

Board Advisor

AtScale

I look after social media, content, podcast production and community!

Head Community Evangelist

Story by Data

Affiliate Member

Open Data Science Conference (ODSC)

Packt

Senior Content Marketing Editor

As a Content Marketing Editor in the Expert Network team and look after content marketing materials produced by and for Expert Network authors and their titles. I am responsible for a portfolio of content marketing assets for each title, liaising with Producers, Technical Editors, and the wider EN team, and individual authors and technical reviewers as necessary. I am also responsible for liaising with other teams in the business to make appropriate marketing content available, on a title by title basis, as requirements arise, and sourcing further material where there are gaps.

- Create a repository of content marketing assets for each title, visible and available to other stakeholders
- Maintain and develop further content marketing assets as required in support of the individual title marketing for each EN author
- Ensure the completeness, accuracy, and availability of all promotional title information and materials for Expert Network titles.
- Create and maintain the Expert Network forthcoming catalogue to share with internal and external partners.
- Create, source, and curate content for the Outreach team, PTN team, Direct marketing team, and social channels.

Responsibilities:

I work with the Producer and Technical Editor of a title, and other team stakeholders, to pre-emptively produce or curate the following assets for each title across the lifecycle of the project:

- Content articles for the Hub and other partner channels in phases right from pre-pub to post-pub.
- Generate podcasts for authors to talk about the topic and promote the book.
- Providing a suggested social content plan across Expert Network titles, for integration and execution by the Packt social team
- An early pre-release extract, a “sneak preview” in the month before launch, and a highly shareable article immediately post-launch.
- An article based on an author interview with questions provided by the editor.
- The content and images for an Amazon A+ page, based on the author interview.

Content Marketing Editor

- Primary and secondary research on new development in the field of tech
- Getting insights from an industry expert on your projects to give an edge and value to your project making it unique
- Preparing questionnaires for the authors and the clients on our product line
- In-depth market forecasting and analysis of various sectors
- Creating roadmaps while working closely with multiple stakeholders on different projects in accordance with the TAT
- Prepared market engineering sheets at regular intervals that help you visualize complex data via MS Office Tools
- Internal and external stakeholder management including presentation to CXOs
- Understanding the business need, evaluating various processes and controls present in the organization, communicating control deficiencies and other issues encountered during the research process
- Keeping a tap on the commercial viability of the products

Associate Category Manager

S K Patodia & Associates

- Look after different domains of the business with accordance to the clients
- Managing team and preparing questionnaires for the training of research
- Handling accounts and budgets related to the projects
- In-depth primary research related to the projects
- Handling clients PAN India, while closely associating with internal stakeholders
- Forecast new areas in terms of commercial viability

Assistant Manager Research 

Hexa Research Pvt. Ltd.

- Prepare reports on different domains such as media, ICT, Chemical, Tech, FMCG and consumer insights
- Handling client reports while closely working with different internal and external stakeholders 
- To prepare reports with accordance with the client requirements from across the United States, Europe, APAC, Middle East
- Market forecasting considering the factors affecting the industries by Primary Research
- Understand the budget aspects as per the client's requirement
- Training the team and finishing the projects in given turn around time

Research Associate

Reliance Industries Limited

Working for Indirect Taxation on CENVAT credit input.

Finance Intern

Founder & Host of "The Ravit Show". I love to interview Data/AI Leaders on The Ravit Show. Hosted 500+ Data Science/AI leaders on The Ravit Show.

Ravit Jain is well known for --

- Hosting live events
- Data Community Building
- Community Evangelism
- Product Marketer
- Share free resources with Community
- Helping Data Science/AI Community

As the Founder & Host of The Ravit Show, my mission is to illuminate the intersection of media and technology by engaging with Data and AI leaders. With a focus on new business development and compelling communication, I've established a platform that resonates with industry professionals and enthusiasts alike.

I leverage my expertise in B2B influence to foster thought leadership and community building. Our team is dedicated to sharing knowledge, driving conversations, and creating meaningful connections within the tech community, with a special emphasis on the burgeoning fields of Data and AI.

You can reach out to me at Ravitjain0909@gmail.com for The Ravit Show queries :)

Ravit Jain

This week at AWS re:Invent. I got a chance to visit one of my favourite database companies, MongoDB. I got a VIP Tour of the booth, and it was great to see how fast they are innovating. I got a chance to look at their, MongoDB Atlas on AWS, Voyage AI, Intelligent Agent Memory and much more!!!! 

It was also great to see build gen AI-powered apps with Atlas and AWS. Super excited to follow MongoDB and how it's catering to enterprises and developers.

Can't wait to interview Chirantan "CJ" Desai soon!!!! 

Thanks to May Petry, Michael Lynn, Toni Bird, 👩🏻‍💻 Mikiko B., Morgan Glier and Team!!!!

#data #ai #aws #reinvent2025 AWS Partners #databases #agents #agenticai #mongodb #theravitshow

Winning AWS Storage Partner of the Year does not happen by accident. It happens because real customers see real value. Commvault did it!!!! At AWS re: Invent, I spoke to John Drake, Head of WW AWS Storage Data Protection at AWS, and Elliot Hujarski, VP, Global SaaS GTM at Commvault, to talk about how this partnership actually works behind the scenes.

We spoke about
	•	What it took for Commvault to be named Global AWS Storage Partner of the Year and the journey behind that recognition
	•	How the Commvault and AWS partnership is structured and what each side brings to the table
	•	The concrete ways customers are benefiting, from data protection and backup to cyber recovery and resilience on AWS
	•	How this partnership helps customers simplify complexity while keeping their data safe and ready for AI and analytics
	•	What is coming next and how they plan to expand the joint value for customers in the months ahead

If you care about how to protect and manage data at scale on AWS, this one will be useful.

#data #ai #awsreinvent #aws #agents Amazon Web Services (AWS) AWS Partners AWS Events #awspartners #awscompetencypartners #agenticai #theravitshow

Gartner has named K2view a Visionary in the 2025 Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools, and they have moved up inside the Visionary quadrant. This is a big signal for anyone who cares about data and AI in the enterprise.

I had to cover this news in person and what better place than my friend, Ronen Schwartz’s home in Palo Alto, talking to him about what this actually means. 

We did not just speak about a report. We spoke about whether data integration still matters in an AI world and why K2View’s approach is getting attention right now.

Here is how I see it.

- First, data integration is more relevant than ever. Your AI agents, copilots, and analytics are only as good as the data foundation behind them. K2View’s bet has been simple to understand. Give every business domain a clean, real time, governed view of its data, and make it available to any use case, including AI.

- Second, the move up in the Visionary quadrant is about more than a label. It reflects how K2View is executing on this idea of “AI ready data,” not just talking about it. They are helping customers move away from scattered pipelines to a consistent way of delivering trustworthy data products into AI, analytics, and operations.

- Third, when you compare their position with the large leaders, you see a different angle. The big platforms are broad. K2View is sharp and focused.

They model data around real business entities, not just tables

They support real time views without forcing you into one storage pattern

They are designing with GenAI and agentic AI in mind from day one

Finally, the strategic outlook. Ronen is very clear that this is not about selling “yet another integration tool.” It is about being the data layer that lets enterprises move faster with AI while staying in control of privacy, compliance, and performance.

For leaders who are serious about AI and tired of slideware, K2View’s move in the Magic Quadrant is one of those signals worth paying attention to.

#data #ai #gartner #gartnermagicquadrant #agenticai #agents #k2view #theravitshow

Breaking news from Salesforce!!!!

Salesforce’s Agentforce 360 Platform is open for entrepreneurs to build upon. For the first time, anyone from software companies to dental practices to farmers can use the Agentforce 360 Platform as the foundation for their own agents and agentic applications, instead of building everything from scratch. #SalesforcePartner

Why this matters

For years I have seen founders and product teams spend most of their time on plumbing

- Infra, data, security, workflows, compliance
- Only a small slice of effort goes into the real value
- Your industry logic and customer outcomes

With this move, Salesforce is basically saying
Use our stack as your starting point
Bring your expertise on top

What partners get access to

- The Agentforce 360 Platform and Data 360 as the AI and data backbone to white-label and commercialize their solutions

- Trusted services, identity, automation, and workflows that already run Salesforce apps at scale

- Flexible pricing, including consumption models, so you can align with how your customers buy

- Accelerated distribution through AppExchange and go-to-market insights from Salesforce Ventures and 16K partners in the Salesforce ecosystem

Salesforce is calling this the biggest expansion of its platform for partners since Force.com.

For anyone who wants to build an AI-native product on top of a proven platform, this is a clear signal.

If you are a startup founder, product leader, or domain expert sitting on years of industry knowledge, this could be the moment to turn that expertise into a real AI business.

Check out the details -- 
Salesforce Opens Agentforce 360 to Power a New Generation of AI-Native Partner-Built Companies -- https://lnkd.in/gTr9AwVG

#Data #AI #SalesforcePartner #ad #Agents #DataGovernance #Salesforce #TheRavitShow

Finally, it’s time to read interesting books in Data & AI. This one is huge!!!!

I have spent over a decade working in data and AI. I have seen hype cycles, failed #AI projects, and leaders wondering why nothing moves despite heavy investment.

This is why Data as the Fourth Pillar by Siddharth Rajagopal  and Sujay Dutta and really landed with me.

Both authors are friends, but more importantly, they have lived the same realities I have. This book is not theory. It is ground truth. Sorry guys it took long for me to read this one but finally I did and loved it!!!!

The core idea is simple. If data is not treated as a core business pillar, AI will never deliver real value. Not someday. Not later. Never.

What I liked most is the honesty. The book talks about data quality, trust, speed, and ownership in plain language. No buzzwords. No overpromising. Just practical thinking that leaders can actually act on.

I have personally seen teams build great models that failed because the data foundation was weak. This book explains why that happens and how leaders can fix it by changing how they think about data, not just tools.

This is not a book for engineers only. It is for CEOs, board members, and business leaders who want data and AI to drive outcomes, not decks.

Proud of what Sujay and Sidd have built here. This book deserves a place on every leadership bookshelf.

My own takeaway after years in this space is simple. AI does not fail because models are weak. It fails because data is treated as a side project. Until leaders own data the same way they own revenue or people, nothing changes. This book reinforces that belief in the most practical way possible.

#data #ai #agents #theravitshow

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