Biography
Bradley Watts is a Chief Data Officer with more than 20 years of experience in technology innovation, data science, and business transformation for public and private companies in diverse industry sectors. As a trusted advisor to C-suite, boards of directors, and senior leaders, he brings a trifecta of technical, business, and financial acumen to optimize business models and spend, mitigate corporate risk, operationalize digital accelerator initiatives, and empower technology teams to optimize user experiences. He also holds deep knowledge in technology strategy and transformation, data governance standards and protocols, enterprise data infrastructure, and change management.
Bradley began his career as a systems analyst and lead programmer for digital media and news companies, specializing in enterprise program management, solutions architecture, and software engineering. From there, he leveraged his deep technical knowledge and broad business acumen to advance into multiple progressive leadership roles at Cummins, a Fortune 150 manufacturer of power generation products. At Cummins, Bradley spearheaded a wide range of projects involving information technology compliance, data analytics, strategic sourcing, contract negotiations, cloud adaptation, and IT service management. His work earned him multiple awards and accolades, including The Chairman’s Award, Emerging Leader Award, and selection into the Cummins MBA Cohort.
In his role as the director of advanced analytics at Cummins, Bradley built and led a team of two dozen data engineers and data scientists to support the launch of Cummins’ digital accelerator programs, incorporating digital innovation, telematics, machine learning, and predictive analytics into revenue generating products. Additionally, he served on multiple committees that reported to the board of directors for digital accelerator initiatives, compliance, and risk.
Following his 13-year tenure at Cummins, Bradley joined Ivy Tech Community College in 2019 as its Chief Data Officer to develop its data and analytics strategy, data science function, and business intelligence operations. He led the rollout of a new Salesforce CRM, representing the largest technology change in Ivy Tech’s history, and continues to drive innovation and disruption while also ensuring the security, compliance, and integrity of entrusted data.
Bradley holds a Bachelor of General Studies and an MBA from Indiana University Bloomington.