From Netflix to the Cloud, in Conversation with a Data Visionary

Shankar Vedaraman, VP of Data & Analytics at Salesforce and former Head of Data & AI at Netflix, shares insights on the evolution of data architecture through his leadership at two transformative companies. At Netflix, he helped drive the shift from a DVD-shipping model to a data-centric streaming platform, where data became a first-class asset. Leadership decisively separated legacy operations from the new model, enabling a focus on user experience, performance, and real-time insights. Every employee, from the CEO down, aligned around data-driven decision-making, A/B testing, and delivering fast, actionable insights.

At Salesforce, Shankar now leads one of the world’s largest Snowflake implementations and drives AI enablement at scale. He introduced the concept of zero copy architecture, which allows data to be shared across platforms without duplication. This streamlines governance and improves compliance in sensitive industries like healthcare and finance. His approach to AI focuses on embedding metrics like productivity…