
LEADERSHIP COURSES
Data Leadership Programme
Get the knowledge and skills you need as a leader to maximise the value that your organisation can get from data
Data drives massive gains in productivity, efficiency and innovation. Our Data Leadership programme has been specially designed to give you the tools you need to boost your data knowledge. It focuses on the leadership skills needed to design, resource and implement a data strategy that will enable and empower organisational change.
The programme is not technical and it is not industry-specific. It is for leaders who know that data represents a key opportunity but who wonder what data can achieve for them, and what their next steps are. The course brings together in-person and remote sessions to cover themes like data analytics and strategy, innovations in data and AI, recruiting diverse data talent and much more.
Who is this programme designed for?
The programme is designed for leaders in the UK, working across businesses or organisations of any size who want to enhance their data skills, their teams, and outputs to influence and inspire change. Everyone can benefit from having leadership that understands the power and influence of data. It is open to all industries and all sectors.
Examples of who this programme is suitable for include:
- Leaders or senior staff in a large firm or organisation who play an influential, strategic role
- SME owners or managers with a high-level responsibility
- Someone tasked with delivering change and leveraging the opportunities provided by data
Why enrol?
During the course, our data and strategy specialists will help you build the knowledge and confidence you need to:
- Leverage the power of data to help deliver your business goals and ambitions
- Understand key issues in areas such as corporate culture, governance, ethics, strategic thinking and technology
- Develop a dynamic data strategy and a plan for its successful execution
- Attract, train and nurture the data talent you need
- Ensure your business uses data optimally to innovate
Application timetable:
Applications for our next cohort open in June.
Register your interest at the bottom of this page to be notified of intake dates.
Location
Sessions will be delivered in a hybrid format, with our forums taking place online, and our monthly leadership summits taking place in Edinburgh.
Autumn 2023 Cohort Programme Schedule:
Welcome call – 10am – 11:30am, 13th September 2023
Leadership Summit 1 – 9:30am – 5pm, 27th September 2023
Online Forum 1 – 10am – 11:30am, 4th October 2023
Leadership Summit 2 – 9:30am – 5pm, 25th October 2023
Online Forum 2 – 10am – 11:30am, 1st November 2023
Leadership Summit 3 – 9am – 5pm, 15th November 2023
Online Forum 3 – 10am-11:30am, 29th November 2023
Leadership Summit 4 – 9am – 5pm, 13th December 2023
Key elements:
1 x online welcome call
This initial session will give you the opportunity to meet your fellow participants ahead of the first in-person summit. It will cover goal setting and expectations.
90 mins
4 x in-person leadership summits
In-person leadership summits will take place once a month in Edinburgh at The Scotsman Hotel. These interactive sessions will include:
- Workshops run by The Data Lab or by one of our partners to introduce a series of headline data themes.
- Masterclasses delivered by subject matter experts and practitioners that deep-dive into the details of each data theme.
- Leadership circles where the programme cohort is encouraged, as a group of experienced individuals, to share challenges and help each other overcome them.
- Fireside chats provide a relaxed touch-point for you to get to know your other cohort members and hear from network experts.
1 full day
per month
3 x online community forums
Our online community forums take place in between our leadership summits. These forums bring the group together with industry practitioners to demystify some of the issues related to each month’s topic.
1 x 90-min
session per month
How much does the course cost?
£2500 (VAT exempt) which includes all training costs, catering (tea, coffee and lunches at The Scotsman), and the graduation ceremony and reception.
Programme outline
Wanting to dig deeper into what exactly you’ll be covering? Read on for our month-by-month topic breakdown…
Month 01 Defining Data Success
- Driving value from data & AI
- Importance of a data strategy
- Innovations in data & AI
Month 02 Dimensions of Data Leadership
- Data ethics and governance
- Introduction to data architecture
- AI and responsible innovation
Month 03 Delivering Data Value
- Creating a data culture
- Data visualisation and storytelling
- Recruiting diverse data talent
Month 04 Embedding Data Success
- Building a data team
- Successful execution of a data strategy
- Graduation and reception
Register your interest
Your instructors
The programme is led by our team of Associates who are data specialists and practitioners. They bring a raft of industry expertise and experience that you can draw on.

Craig Paterson
Associate
Craig has more than 25 years of industry experience working in Utilities and Financial Services. He brings this to bear in his role as a strategy advisor and coach with specialisms in Business, Data and digital transformation. He is particularly interested in strategy leadership, people development and ethics. Craig is the author of the online course Driving Value from Data.

Margery McConnell
Associate
Margery’s experience spans many roles, from global and UK businesses to a scaling-up FinTech. A passionate Data evangelist, she recognises that for every business, real transformation depends on effectively combining the potential of advanced technology with the capabilities and enthusiasm of individuals.
Don’t just take it from us…
We’ve welcomed many learners through this course who have now graduated into fully-fledged Data Leaders. Hear first-hand what they have to say about their experiences.
“I wouldn’t have the same awareness of the potential of data without the programme. Having gone through it, I understand the value in data work and data roles.”
Data Leader
Class of 2021/22
“Where it’s really succeeded is that fundamental positioning of me as a Data Leader – I underestimated my data skills, but really it’s about interpreting information and knowing what to do. So I felt out of depth to start with – but as it progressed, I realised it was often just a matter of terminology.”
Data Leader
Class of 2021/22
“’I have the confidence to talk about data a lot more than I did before. I have come away from the course thinking about bringing on data placement students, and what data roles we’ll have within the business in the future.”
Data Leader
Class of 2021/22
Explore more learning opportunities from The Data Lab
Find out more about the power of data:
-
Scottish Canals: Regeneration of canals improves community health
Scottish Canals is the public corporation of the Scottish Government responsible for managing the country’s inland waterways and is determined to bring these once vital trade routes back to life. It has invested more than £84m in regenerating the Forth and Clyde Canals as part of its Millennium Link project. Funded by The Data Lab, […]
-
Driving Value from Data Case Study: NatureScot Supporting a Net-Zero Future
Biodiversity and nature play a key part in meeting climate change and net zero goals. NatureScot is Scotland’s nature agency responding to the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. They work to protect and restore nature by inspiring everyone to value our natural world. Philippa Vigano, Innovative Technologies Programme Manager, recently completed our […]
News about our courses:
-
Scottish Labour leader sees pioneering AI solution for epilepsy diagnosis
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar had the opportunity to view a pioneering AI software solution that could transform the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy during his visit to the William Quarriers Scottish Epilepsy Centre (WQSEC). The research was undertaken at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU), thanks to funding from The Data Lab and the William Quarriers […]
-
New English partnership extends reach of The Data Lab
The Data Lab, Scotland’s innovation centre for AI and data science, has signed its first partnership agreement south of the Border. It will work with The Data Shed – a leading Leeds-based data engineering consultancy focused on delivering data transformation projects that reduce business risk and on understanding the potential of data. The partnership will […]
-
The data of Zelda and the future of the gaming industry
By Marta Monellini, Marketing and Communications Assistant From Hogwarts to Hyrule – the entertainment industry has a new king! Until last week Hogwarts Legacy held the crown for the biggest boxed video game release of 2023, despite active boycott pledges and controversy. However, on Friday, Nintendo released Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, bringing the crown […]
Sign up to our newsletter
The Data Lab Community is a digital community created to enable data and AI professionals, academics, students and other enthusiasts to connect, collaborate, develop and learn.
Join our thousands of members for free today!