Why Most Data Platform Failures Happen Before Build Starts
Hosted by Dheeraj Saxena
Wed, Jul 1, 2026
4:30 PM UTC (45 minutes)
Virtual (Zoom)
Free to join
Wed, Jul 1, 2026
4:30 PM UTC (45 minutes)
Virtual (Zoom)
Free to join
What you'll learn
Why skipping Discovery and jumping to HLD breaks programmes
Understand the real cost of skipping Discovery — in rework, delays, and lost stakeholder confidence.
How to identify show-stoppers before the budget is committed
Learn techniques to identify red flags, validate requirements, and develop estimates during high-level discovery.
Learn how architecture principles save programmes
Real case study: how wrong Discovery questions set programmes up to fail — how architecture principles prevent this.
Why this topic matters
Committing $500k+ to a data platform without doing a proper Discovery is how large data initiatives fail. A 2-3 week, $30-40k Discovery can surface show-stoppers before they become expensive — saving hundreds of thousands in rework and sunk spend.
This session gives Lead Architects a proven method for conducting Discovery right — illustrated through a real UK retail case study.
You'll learn from
Dheeraj Saxena
Chief Data Officer, and Enterprise Architect at Datawhistl.com
- Principal Architect & Data Consultant: 25+ years of cross-sector leadership in CRM, Marketing Data, and Complex Systems Integration for Tier-1 organizations
- Former Senior Consulting Lead: Held high-impact advisory and delivery roles at IBM, TCS, Wipro, Digitas, and Serco, managing large-scale global technology transformations
- SME in Salesforce Data 360 & CDP Ecosystems
- Independent Advisor via Datawhistl.com: Partnering with Data & AI-focused marketing departments for building global scale data platforms
IBM, Homebase, Kraft Foods, Unilever
