From Risk to Speed with Aimee Cardwell - The New Data Economy
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From Risk to Speed with Aimee Cardwell - The New Data Economy

Aimee Cardwell has spent her career inside some of the most regulated industries in the country, from American Express to UnitedHealth Group, and she brings that vantage point to a candid conversation about what it actually takes to compete in the new data economy. She unpacks why treating data as a true asset (not just a byproduct of doing business) is the difference between companies that lead and companies that lag, and she explains the concept of consent events, a practical way for regulated companies to build direct, permissioned relationships with their customers.


The conversation also digs into how boards have shifted their thinking on AI over the past year, moving from a posture of pure risk avoidance to one that weighs the existential risk of moving too slowly. Aimee shares real world examples from healthcare, financial services, and her own board experience, along with candid advice for leaders trying to balance compliance with the need to move fast.


Takeaways:

  • Treat data as a strategic asset rather than a byproduct of serving customers, especially in industries with fragmented, acquisition heavy data environments
  • Build consent events into your customer relationships so you earn the right to communicate directly, opening the door to new products and offers down the line
  • Recognize that many companies are only using a small percentage of their data because they are unsure how to get proper consent, and that is a solvable problem
  • Understand that different data types (care data versus marketing data, for example) come with different rules, so know what each dataset is actually cleared to be used for
  • Put a prompt redactor in place before scaling AI use so you have auditability and confidence around PHI and PII without shutting down experimentation
  • Recognize that legacy review processes (security, legal, vendor evaluation) were built for a slower era and may need to be redesigned to match the speed AI now demands
  • Reframe the boardroom conversation from "what is the risk of moving fast" to "what is the risk of not moving fast enough"



Quote of the Show:
  • “It's a distinction without a difference, really. If you're being really safe and if you're going really slow, then you're losing out because your competitors are going faster." - Aimee Cardwell

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