A Structured Framework for Building Successful Data Solutions

Most big data initiatives fail. In this episode of The Data Playbook, Kris talks with Frederic Vanderveken about a practical framework to make sure you’re building the right data solutions before a single line of code is written.

Instead of starting from tech (platforms, LLMs, tools), Frederik shows how to:

• Align with business strategy first

• Find a small, motivated customer team (e.g. marketing, operations)

• Run problem discovery interviews that reveal real pains, not just annoyances

• Map the current journey and treat existing workarounds as your competition

• Identify value gaps along dimensions like simplicity, integration and automation

• Prioritise solutions with five lenses: customer, growth, money, pragmatic, differentiator

• Use the scientific method and experiments (MVPs, fake backends, low-code) to validate assumptions

• Build a quantifiable business case and define clear success metrics upfront

If you’re a Head of Data, CDO or data product owner tired of “cool” projects that don’t deliver value, this episode gives you a concrete playbook to select and validate your next big data initiative.

🎧 Listen to more episodes of The Data Playbook for real-world stories on data platforms, GenAI, data products and cloud independence from Europe’s leading data practitioners and leaders.

🌐 More at https://www.dataminded.com/resources and subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxi05zIoV9bm69OAUmRoUDQ?sub_confirmation=1