Staging environment

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

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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

Tata Consultancy Services
Wipro
Serco Group
Essity
NHS
See all products from Dheeraj

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