S3 | E16: The Data Strategy Divide: Why Reports Aren’t Enough

Ed Vincent, host of the Risk Intel Podcast, welcomed Jeff Fink back to the show for part three of the Data Strategy Series. This week's insightful conversation dives deep into a critical misconception plaguing many financial institutions: the idea that producing reports is the same as having a data strategy. Watch or Listen to the full episode below and if you missed Part 1 or 2 of this series, please click the links below to catch up.

• Part 1: How to Start a Data Strategy From Nothing: Make the Mind Shift From Stuck to Start
• Part 2: Defining a Data Strategy: What a Data Strategy Is - And Isn't

Why Reporting Does Not = Strategy

“Reporting [is] more reactive… I need this, I want to understand that… it's really about that moment in time." - Jeff Fink

Reports are necessary. They’re how teams respond to board requests, meet regulatory expectations, or provide snapshots of performance. But as Jeff points out, reports are outputs - tactical responses to immediate questions. Their value diminishes quickly because they aren’t built to evolve.

Too often, community banks confuse the ability to run reports with the ability to manage and use data strategically. But reporting, by itself, doesn’t improve data quality, foster innovation, or scale with growth.

‍Data Strategy: A Living, Breathing Framework

In contrast, a data strategy is not reactive, it’s proactive, dynamic, and forward-looking. It’s a framework that evolves with your business and continuously unlocks value from your data.

“Data strategy [means] putting a framework in place…realizing our needs are going to change over time.”

This kind of forward-looking approach sets the stage for long-term insights, helping institutions address questions like:

• How will we use data to drive loan growth or reduce credit risk?
• What are the future data needs of our institution?
• How do we ensure that every user—from risk to lending to marketing—has access to the right insights, at the right time?

At its core, a strategy ensures that data is organized, accurate, complete, so teams aren’t scrambling to clean or locate information when it’s needed most. It becomes a foundation for scalable, repeatable insight generation, not just for today’s problems, but for tomorrow’s growth opportunities.

From Static Reports to Speed and Empowerment

Another key benefit of having a strategy in place is speed, the ability to generate insights without reinventing the wheel each time.

“Our strategy is to put tools in place that allow us to continue to leverage those data assets… and build new reports that don’t take a week—or even a day—to build.”

That means selecting the right tools and aligning them to users’ roles, responsibilities, and skill levels. By reducing the time and effort needed to create each new report, institutions can shift from slow, manual work to agile analytics, ultimately delivering insights faster and freeing up teams to focus on value-added activities.

Culture First: Strategy Begins With People

Perhaps the most impactful part of Jeff’s message is this: a true data strategy starts with culture (not technology). He emphasizes that building a data-driven organization means enabling people to understand and trust the data they work with. That includes:

1. Creating common definitions and language through glossaries and catalogs
2. Improving data literacy across departments
3. Empowering non-technical users to explore data and ask better questions

‍“That’s a stronger institution when you have that… where every user can understand what they’re looking at and how it’s being measured.”

If you don't make a cultural investment, teams risk becoming passive consumers of static reports, rather than active users of data who help shape strategy. As Jeff put it best, without strategy and clarity, teams end up becoming “data collectors and report builders” instead of strategic thinkers.

Insight Leads To Action. Action Leads To ROI

The ultimate outcome of a strong data strategy isn’t just better reports, it’s better decision-making.

“Insight… really means I’m able to glean something to better serve my customers, better understand our organization and our people.”

A strong data strategy delivers a single source of truth, empowering teams to act on facts rather than assumptions. It enables institutions to surface the right insights, drive performance, and identify new opportunities for growth, risk mitigation, and customer experience improvement.

Why It Matters?

“You don’t create culture through creation of a report. You create that culture by having a strategy and an approach.” - Jeff Fink

Reports tell you where you’ve been, but strategy helps you decide where to go next. And when culture, tools, and people are aligned under a common strategy, data can become one of your most powerful assets. If you are in the middle of creating a data strategy or struggling to get started - contact us we are here to help.

Stay tuned for the final episode of this series, where we explore how community financial institutions can take practical steps to go “from stuck to start” and put their strategy into action.

Again, here are Part 1 and 2 of this Data Strategy Series to catch up:

• Part 1: How to Start a Data Strategy From Nothing: Make the Mind Shift From Stuck to Start
• Part 2: Defining a Data Strategy: What a Data Strategy Is - And Isn't