Foundational acquisitions of The Data Lodge and CDO Magazine will serve chief data officers and their organizations in the era of generative AI
Growth Catalyst Partners (GCP), a middle-market private equity firm focused on investing in information, marketing, and tech-enabled services, and B2B information industry veteran Doug Llewellyn announced the launch of a new company to serve CDOs and senior data, analytics, and AI leaders across the globe. The new venture aims to provide a premier peer leadership community; workforce development platform; and rich, timely research and resources.
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Forming the nucleus of the company are:
- The Data Lodge, the world’s only provider of Data Literacy Program Bootcamps and Certification serving the public, private, and non-profit sectors
- CDO Magazine, recognized as one of America’s fastest-growing privately held companies in 2023 with its trusted CDO network and resource base
The rapid rise of artificial intelligence and its application in everyday use creates a new mandate for organizations and their employees to understand how to leverage the technology and the underlying data that drives it. Recent research suggests that about two-thirds of available data goes unutilized, and less than a quarter of business decision-makers feel fully confident working with data. The human side of data continues to challenge companies—with cultural factors reported as the greatest obstacle to delivering business value from data investments, according to Fortune 1000 senior data executives (Data and Analytics Leadership Annual Executive Survey, 2023).
The global CDO community is working through pain points ranging widely from data and AI strategy to change management and workforce training and development. The need for support and guidance has never been greater. “We could not be more thrilled to be creating a platform that will serve CDOs, data leaders, and their organizations on their data journey,” said Doug Llewellyn, CEO. “The Data Lodge’s offerings are essential to cracking the culture code for any enterprise leveraging data ethically in the era of AI, and CDO Magazine is the leading peer-to-peer community, event platform, and thought leadership resource for data and analytics executives reaching over 200 countries.”
“The confident use of data for informed decision-making, from the break room to the board room, is pivotal. It is the new differentiator,” said Valerie Logan, the group’s Chief Strategy Officer, Founder of The Data Lodge, and former Research VP with Gartner’s CDO Advisory team. “As data becomes the core of decision-making, organizations must commit to intentionally fostering a shared language and literacy as a new cultural norm,” she added.
According to Steve Wanamaker, Founder and Publisher of CDO Magazine, “GCP’s experience and capital investment will serve as a catalyst for CDO Magazine to continue to scale our community globally and serve senior data professionals through market-leading insights, research, and events.”
Also joining the team as a strategic advisor is industry veteran and 5th Generation CDO Salema Rice. “We are at a critical time in the market where CDOs need trusted guidance and resources to help them foster a data culture throughout their organizations,” Rice said. “It is the perfect time to join forces with this team to build the leading platform helping CDOs along their journey.”
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Adding to the new company’s deep bench strength will be Evanta Founder Bob Dethlefs, who serves on the Board of Directors for the GCP ownership group. At Evanta, Dethlefs and his team built the largest community of C-level executives in the world.
“We are thrilled to partner with Valerie, Steve, Doug, and their teams to launch this new venture, said Scott Peters, GCP Managing Partner and Co-founder. “The CDO Magazine team has built an incredible business that, combined with The Data Lodge, will serve as the backbone of what we think will be an invaluable resource to organizations across the globe. We’re excited to welcome them to the GCP portfolio family.”
The company’s portfolio is expected to expand through a combination of organic product development and a series of highly targeted acquisitions and partnerships.
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