`Minority Report' is a 2002 Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster that brought together Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg. The story happens in 2054. In an iconic scene in the movie, a GAP store advertisement scans Tom Cruise's retinas and starts talking to him: "Welcome back to the Gap, Mr. Yakamoto, how are those assorted tank tops working for you?" Even though Spielberg's prediction of the future of customer engagement was spot on, his timing was off by more than three decades since big data & analytics already help organizations connect with their customers on a personal level.

Over the past decade, demand generation has undergone a paradigm shift. Gone are the days when demand generation professionals worked off assumptions or gut feelings. Today, marketers and Chief Business Officers (CBOs)turn to the most reliable source of information: Customer data. By now, we all know that Data helps to gain better clarity about the target audience and equips CBOs with the ability to build stronger connections with potential customers.

Most importantly, when the entire consumer market demands unique experiences with every transaction, CBOs can devise and offer personalized suggestions relevant to them. This leads to higher conversion rates, greater customer loyalty, more new customers, increased customer satisfaction, and more. However, the challenges are equal to it. Having a large number of data sources at your disposal makes pulling the relevant data together an arduous challenge. None theless, investing in an in-house data team would be an excellent place to start. In this issue, we have gathered a few stories about some of the excellent CBOs around the world. Do let us know your thoughts.