Rising Star: Tanya Mathur
Fostering a data-driven culture requires a daunting variety of skills, yet Tanya Mathur seems to have them all. She created the Tennessee Valley Authority's Enterprise Analytics group, which now supports virtually every TVA business function — including power generation and transmission, financial services, human resources, and environmental compliance.
She recruited and trained employees, created operating and engagement models, identified and acquired the appropriate technology, developed analytics products and self-service strategies, and cultivated partnerships internally and externally to move the effort forward.
In addition, she established the Data and Analytics Center of Excellence, which offers employees a chance to develop analytical skills and promotes interdepartmental collaboration and innovation. To demonstrate the center's business value, Mathur used her technical background in energy forecasting to quickly deliver analytics products that reduced operating costs, increased power reliability and brought other process efficiencies. Her success helped build stakeholder support and set the stage for bigger initiatives now in the works.
Mather has aggressively communicated TVA's vision to local universities, data and technology companies, and government agencies. Those partnerships are helping provide the talent, expertise and technology necessary to power TVA's transformation.