Seize the Data #12 - Banking on BI: From Outflows to AI with Amir Akleh
We get into multi-tool sprawl across Tableau, Power BI, and Cognos, measuring ROI with relationship pricing, and what prompt-driven BI could unlock once data foundations are in place.
What does BI leadership look like inside a bank during real volatility?
Amir Akleh, VP of Business Strategy, Growth & Insights at First Citizens Bank, traces his path from PIMCO and Schwab to SVB and into his current role. He shares how he tracked weekly deposit outflows before the collapse, why BI remains essential, and how AI is cutting build times and lowering the learning curve for business users.
We get into multi-tool sprawl across Tableau, Power BI, and Cognos, measuring ROI with relationship pricing, and what prompt-driven BI could unlock once data foundations are in place.
Seize the Data is an initiative by Datalogz to host conversations with data leaders to gather and share insights about what's happening and what's to come in the space. Find out more about us here: https://www.datalogz.io.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this topic, answered.
How do banks use BI tools to track deposit outflows and financial volatility?
Banks use BI platforms to monitor weekly deposit movements and identify early warning signs of instability. Amir Akleh, VP at First Citizens Bank (formerly SVB), describes tracking weekly deposit outflows before the collapse using BI dashboards. This type of real-time visibility requires well-governed BI environments with reliable data foundations.
How is AI changing business intelligence development time and accessibility?
AI is significantly cutting BI build times and lowering the learning curve for business users. According to banking BI leader Amir Akleh, prompt-driven BI interfaces allow non-technical users to interact with data more directly, though this requires solid data foundations to be effective. Organizations are seeing faster time-to-insight when AI augments traditional BI workflows.
How do enterprise banks manage BI sprawl across multiple tools like Tableau, Power BI, and Cognos?
Large financial institutions often run multiple BI platforms simultaneously, creating multi-tool sprawl that complicates governance and increases costs. Datalogz helps enterprises manage this challenge by providing unified observability across Tableau, Power BI, and other platforms—currently governing over 720,000 BI assets across customer deployments. This cross-platform visibility is essential for banks trying to standardize reporting and control licensing costs.
How do you measure ROI on business intelligence investments in banking?
Banking BI teams measure ROI through metrics like relationship pricing impact and business decisions enabled by analytics. Amir Akleh from First Citizens Bank emphasizes connecting BI outputs to tangible business outcomes rather than vanity metrics. Platforms like Datalogz support this by tracking actual usage patterns, helping teams identify which dashboards drive decisions versus which sit unused.
What skills do BI leaders need to navigate financial services analytics today?
Modern BI leaders in financial services need experience across volatile market conditions, multi-platform tool management, and emerging AI capabilities. Amir Akleh's career path through PIMCO, Schwab, and SVB illustrates how exposure to different financial environments builds the judgment needed to lead BI during uncertainty. Understanding both technical foundations and business strategy is increasingly essential.