Dr. Sebastian Wernicke is a data scientist, strategist, and author of Data Inspired. With a background spanning bioinformatics, strategy consulting, and data science, he has spent much of his career helping organizations turn data into business value.

His work explores a fundamental question: why do some organizations succeed with data while others struggle despite investing heavily in technology? In Data Inspired, Sebastian argues that the biggest barriers to unlocking the potential of data are often not technological, but organizational and cultural.

In this episode, Sebastian and Subbu explore why being data-driven is no longer enough, how organizational culture determines whether data leads to better decisions, and what leaders must understand about the opportunities and limitations of AI.

We explore:

• Sebastian's journey from bioinformatics to strategy consulting and data science
• Why the hardest data problems are often organizational rather than technological
• The difference between data-frustrated, data-driven, and data-inspired organizations
• What a world-class violinist performing in a subway station teaches us about data and context
• Why data is not as objective as we think, and how human interpretation shapes decisions
• Why organizations risk becoming “data-decorated” rather than genuinely data-driven
• Whether evidence can challenge the opinion of the most powerful person in the room
• How data literacy, digital mindset, and culture work together to enable transformation
• What the world's “most wanted song” teaches us about the dangers of managing purely through metrics
• Why Google's famous experiment with 41 shades of blue reveals both the power and limitations of data-driven decision-making
• Why AI's greatest strength—filling in the gaps—can also produce mediocre, standardized results
• What AI can and cannot do when it comes to creativity, judgment, and original thinking
• Why the rise of agentic AI makes human intent, oversight, and judgment even more important