The One Skill That Separates Good Data Leaders From Great Ones With Asia Faulds

If you run a data team, you already know that the hardest part of being a great data leader isn’t always the technology. In this episode of A Class Act, host Michael Young chats with Asia Faulds, Head of Data Science at Booksy. Asia has built data science teams from the ground up at the BBC, Trustpilot, and now Booksy, and she’s seen first-hand why brilliant technical teams still fail when prioritisation breaks down. In this conversation, they get into: ✅ Why most data teams don’t fail technically ✅ What it’s actually like building a data science function from zero at Booksy ✅ How Gen AI has expanded the scope of the data science role and what hasn’t changed ✅ Why producing 200 dashboards instead of 2 doesn’t mean your team is more productive ✅ The difference between activity and progress, and how to tell which one your team is doing ✅ Why sometimes a well-written SQL script beats a neural network ✅ How to protect your team’s energy and focus as a data leader ✅ The one thing Asia says every listener should do this week Guest Information Asia Faulds is Head of Data Science at Booksy, the two-sided marketplace connecting beauty and wellness providers with consumers. She’s building the company’s first data science and applied AI function from scratch, defining the strategy, hiring the team, and establishing ML infrastructure. Before Booksy, Asia spent five years at Trustpilot, progressing from individual contributor to management across product and go-to-market data science. Before that, she built recommendation engines for BBC Sounds at the BBC. She holds a Master’s in Physics from the University of Edinburgh and writes The Data Pragmatist on Medium. Connect with Asia Faulds on LinkedIn:   / asia-data   Read The Data Pragmatist on Medium: medium.com/@thedatapragmatist About Your Host Michael Young is the Managing Director of MBN Solutions and host of A Class Act: Conversations in Data & Leadership. With nearly two decades of experience helping organisations build high-performing data, analytics, and AI teams, he brings frontline insight into what makes exceptional talent and leadership. Please note: The views expressed by the guest in this episode are their own and do not reflect those of their current or former employers. Subscribe & Follow Enjoying the series? Don’t miss an episode. Follow A Class Act wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to help more listeners discover these conversations in data and leadership. Connect with MBN Solutions If you’re hiring for data or AI leadership roles, scaling AI capability, or rethinking how talent supports your AI strategy, the team at MBN partners with organisations to build data and AI teams that actually deliver. MBN Solutions on LinkedIn – Explore industry updates, groundbreaking projects, and the latest in data and analytics talent. Join the conversation and discover how MBN Solutions is shaping the future of data leadership. Visit the company page here. For questions, guest recommendations, or to connect: Email: [email protected] Visit MBN Solutions website at www.mbnsolutions.com Chapters / Timestamps 00:00:00 Welcome & Introduction to Asia Faulds 00:01:10 Asia's Journey: Physics PhD, BBC, Trustpilot & Building From Scratch 00:04:00 What Booksy Does & Building Data Science From Zero 00:05:51 Why Most Data Teams Fail at Prioritisation, Not Technology 00:08:22 Hiring Capability vs Hiring Leadership & Influence 00:10:05 Confusing Activity With Progress: 200 Dashboards Nobody Looks At 00:12:00 What Gen AI Has Changed in Data Science And What It Hasn't 00:14:10 AI Engineering vs Data Science: The Job Title Confusion 00:17:32 Staying on Top of a Field That Moves Faster Than Ever 00:21:04 Reframing Crisis to Avoid Burnout 00:24:41 Saying No & Protecting Your Team's Bandwidth 00:26:35 Ship Early, Iterate Often: Why V1 Beats Perfect 00:27:25 Protecting Team Energy & Focus as a Leader 00:30:50 Sometimes You Don't Need AI: SQL Scripts & Glorified Workflows 00:32:08 How to Choose Your Next Career Move as a Data Leader 00:34:02 One Takeaway 00:35:34 The Belief Asia Wishes She'd Had 10 Years Ago 00:38:06 Where to Find Asia: LinkedIn, The Data Pragmatist & Coaching data science, data leadership, head of data science, data team prioritisation, AI strategy, Gen AI data science, data science hiring, building data teams, data science career, Booksy, BBC data science, Trustpilot, machine learning, AI productivity, data science management, MBN Solutions, Michael Young, data pragmatist, AI leadership 2026, data science burnout