Why Your CEO Still Doesn’t Understand Data, and What to Say Instead
It’s not that they don’t care.
It’s that we keep talking in schemas instead of outcomes.
Why the CEO Still Doesn’t “Get” Data
Your CEO isn’t dumb.
They understand cash flow, brand risk, and quarterly targets better than anyone else in the building. They see the whole board. They make tradeoffs you don’t even know exist.
But when it comes to data?
You say “source of truth.”
They hear “expensive back-end project.”
You say “reference architecture.”
They hear “IT is slowing us down again.”
There’s a gap.
And it’s not because the C-suite doesn’t care.
It’s because we keep framing data in a way that makes them tune out.
What They Hear vs. What You Mean
Let’s break this down.
You say:
“We need to consolidate to a single master domain for customer entities.”
They hear:
“We need to rebuild everything because the data nerds said so.”
You say:
“Our architecture lacks a formal data governance operating model.”
They hear:
“We don’t know who to blame when things break.”
You say:
“We’ve decoupled the pipeline stages using a message broker.”
They hear:
“You spent money on something and I still can’t get a clean report.”
We’re not aligning to what they care about.
They care about business risk, customer impact, speed to insight, and cost control.
Say This Instead: How to Reframe the Message
You don’t need to dumb it down. You need to map it to outcomes. Like this:
Instead of:
“Master data needs to be governed.”
Say:
“Right now, two teams are sending two versions of the same number to your exec dashboard. We can fix that permanently.”
Instead of:
“We’re implementing a semantic layer across our reporting tools.”
Say:
“You’ll stop getting 4 different answers to the same question. That’s what this gives you.”
Instead of:
“We need architectural standards to enforce consistency.”
Say:
“We can cut onboarding time for new systems in half if we do this the right way.”
It’s not about simplifying.
It’s about translating.
Shift the Conversation from Schema to Strategy
To the board, data isn’t a technical asset. It’s a risk lever.
Bad data shows up as:
- Regulatory exposure
- Poor customer experiences
- Delayed decisions
- Missed revenue
Good data shows up as:
- Faster sales cycles
- Confident forecasting
- Clean metrics that help teams move faster
That’s what they need to hear.
So don’t show them your schema.
Show them the cost of confusion and the upside of clarity.
Bring Master Data Into the Boardroom
If you want support for MDM, don’t talk about golden records.
Talk about the cost of bad records.
How many refunds are caused by mismatched customer IDs?
How many shipments go wrong because “New York” and “NYC” aren’t linked?
How many reports delay action because no one trusts them?
Give numbers. Show trends. Use screenshots.
Tie it to sales, churn, or compliance.
When you do that, you’re not pitching data governance.
You’re defending revenue.
What to Do Next: A Tactical 5-Slide Play
Start with one recurring business issue caused by bad or confusing data.
Build a short slide deck that covers:
- What the issue is costing
- What causes it
- How master data or better ownership would prevent it
- What the next 30 days could look like if approved
Keep it to 5 slides.
Use screenshots.
Use their language.
Then bring it to your boss. Or the CFO. Or the COO.
Get them saying it before you take it to the CEO.
Momentum is earned inside the org, one win at a time.
Final Word: Speak in Outcomes, Not Architecture
Your CEO doesn’t need to understand data.
They need to understand why it matters.
That’s your job.
Not to build the stack.
But to bridge the gap.
And that means switching from schemas to outcomes every time you speak.
