Now the sun has set on Good Data Day 2025, one message remains clear...
While the language, technology and approaches around data and AI change, the core challenges organisations are facing remain consistent.
Amplifi’s Good Data Day transformed London’s Sea Containers into a hub for more than a hundred senior data leaders, architects and product owners determined to push data and AI from boardroom theory to real-world delivery.
Flying the banner “Beyond Theory to Delivery,” the fast-paced mix of experience-led talks and hands-on breakouts laid out how clear ownership, lightweight governance and iterative releases turn ideas into products that cut costs, earn revenue and build trust.
Strategy, culture and capability still define success, but every session highlighted the need stop theorising and start doing, regardless of whether you’re starting your data journey or scaling existing initiatives.
Key takeaway - Getting started with AI: Culture first, then strategy
If the data leaders in attendance took one thing from Good Data Day 2025, it was that you don't need to be "ready" to start using AI. Just start. The biggest blockers are culture, confidence and clarity, that can all be addressed with the right approach.
- Focus on small, meaningful wins that show real value.
- Gain executive support by proving impact, not perfection.
- Make sure data and marketing teams collaborate, because budget follows influence.
- Define clear guardrails for AI use and stay ahead of evolving regulations.
To quote Andy Pope from Specsavers; “As soon as the board starts using the word ‘data’ correctly, the better.”
The goal isn’t to boil the ocean. It's to start where you are, use what you've got and build a data-literate culture that can grow with the technology. Choose a single, high impact use case, wrap it in sensible guardrails and begin. Momentum follows action.
Read on to hear highlights of the individual agenda sessions from Good Data Day 2025. If you feel like you missed out and would like to know more, you can request a free consultation on any of these topics at the bottom of this article, or get in touch here.
Good Data Day: Agenda playback
After the opening keynote by Sam Goss, COO, and Elliott Clarkson, VP of Global Marketing, the invitation was simple: use the talks, working groups and conversations to leave the room with one idea you can try right away.
Finding the Right Solutions to the Right Problems
To kick off the day’s talks, Amplifi’s Stuart Squires, SVP Strategy & Consulting, & Arun Chandar, VP Strategic Service Development, donned their aprons and used food preparation to present two ways to solve the same data problem. Transformation only succeeds when you’re honest about your starting point, appetite for change and available skills.
The pair used Amplifi’s Data Decision Canvas, which allows decision makers to assess and understand what they already have, and what they need to invest in to reach business goals. Look here to learn more about our Data Strategy services and read some recent client case studies.
Responsible Innovation
Chris Colyar, CTO, David Neil, Consulting Director and Lee Morgan, Principal Consultant at Amplifi explored how to build and adopt AI responsibly. Through three rich scenarios, they captured the problem-solving conversations that many businesses are having and offered some best practice solutions. They shared how guardrails, transparency and upskilling build trust faster than any toolset, and if hiring, how use AI to widen the talent pool rather than shrinking it. The session distilled a simple playbook that frees teams from grunt work while keeping domain experts in charge and it might change how you scope your next pilot. Hold tight for the recording which will be available shortly! For now, have a read of our guide ‘6 expert tips for driving business value with AI'.
AI-Powered Product Experience Management (PXM) in Digital Retail
Customer journeys now start and finish on algorithm-driven platforms. That makes product data the first, and sometimes only, sales assistant a shopper meets. So, what happens when that assistant slips up? Catherine Cherry, Amplifi, pressed TikTok’s Simon Hofmeister, Specsavers’ Andy Pope and Stibo Systems’ Miriam Molino Sánchez for answers.
Product data can make or break a marketing campaign, especially when the bulk of a marketing budget goes on visuals and promos. If you miss the mark early, the investment is wasted. Clean, enriched product data supports brands adjusting to new marketplaces and emerging channels such as TikTok shopping without losing accuracy or agility.
The speakers also touched on why disciplined governance is the hinge on which AI-driven retail now swings and why tomorrow’s automated ad platforms will depend on it. While TikTok’s Symphony engine and Meta’s drive toward fully AI-curated ads sparked plenty of buzz, the discussion kept circling back to three stubborn obstacles:
- Inconsistent product attributes coming in from suppliers
- Feedback loops that never make it back to the master data set
- Regulatory limits that collide with personalisation goals
These thorny issues, the panellists agreed, can derail even the smartest automated campaign long before it reaches a customer’s feed.
The Magic of Human Connection
The post-lunch slot belonged to magician and award-winning speaker Ben Hanlin, who shook off any afternoon slump by reminding everyone that that people, not platforms, pull the real rabbits out of the hat. He revealed a handful of tips and tricks to building genuine connections but, as any practitioner will remind you, a magician never reveals his secrets, so you had to be in the room to pocket them.
Progress Beats Inaction
Slide-deck strategies don’t move KPIs; working prototypes do. Guy Bradshaw, Client Director at Amplifi, put Howe Gu, Microsoft, and Derek Hardy, Profisee, on the spot: how do you turn “AI-ready” talk into momentum you can measure?
Gu traced Microsoft’s own pivots from PC era, to Azure, to an AI company, and how no company will be perfectly prepared for AI, you just need to start using it by starting small and simple. Teams win confidence by shipping a minimum-viable solution in weeks, not years. Supporting his point, Hardy shared a sports-apparel client’s journey where focusing on one high-value data domain unlocked conversational commerce and gave the wider PIM overhaul instant credibility, gaining stakeholder by in.
Culture carries the change pointing to skills, mindset and a shared data vocabulary as the real differentiators. Gu added a timely warning: if leaders stall on offering sanctioned AI tools, employees will reach for unvetted software, opening the door to shadow IT. The audience was then presented with a straightforward closing challenge, which can be seen in the recording (watch this space!).
NCFE: A Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Purview Case Study
Emily Heath, Director of Integration, Engineering & Architecture, Amplifi spoke with Nick Evans, Director of Tech, PMO & Data, NCFE to explain how Amplifi helped NCFE tame its data in the wake of multiple acquisitions and an ERP overhaul. NCFE’s systems had become fragmented, and subject-access requests were piling up.
Amplifi began with a governance audit, confirming NCFE’s controls were sound. That freed the team to focus on four sprint pillars: accuracy, freshness, ownership and visibility. Through introducing Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Purview, they unified NCFE’s data platform, cut regulatory response times, and laid a scalable foundation for future growth.
“We’re ready to move forward because we’ve got the foundations right.” - Nick Evans, NCFE. Read the full case study here: NCFE | Strengthening architecture and governance capabilities with Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Purview.
