 Live from Stanford University, it's theCUBE, covering the Women in Data Science Conference 2017. Welcome back to theCUBE, we are live at Stanford at the second annual Women in Data Science Conference. I'm Lisa Martin, joined by one of today's speakers from the event, Stephanie Gottlieb. Stephanie, welcome to theCUBE. Thank you. You had a very interesting talk, which we'll get to in a minute, but you are currently the president of Agilio Sports. We want to talk about that as well. You've been in the software and technology industry with oil and gas for a very long time. You've got a bachelor's, master's, PhD, just a few years. Okay, thank you. You've got expertise that many people would desire. So we'd love to understand what your talk was about today with respect to oil and gas data, digital transformation in oil and gas. You said data is the new oil, which I just love that. Talk to us about that. What does that mean with respect to digital business transformation and that industry? Yeah, so first of all, I think data science is definitely an area in which women, which is, I think, one of the main topic of today, will have a huge opportunity to move the needle. It's, I mean, when you look at some numbers in, I started my talk with this example in France, what is the proportion of women entrepreneurs involved in technology startups? And the answer is in the range of eight to 12%. Wow. I mean, in France, right? I mean, okay, economic-wise, it's not perfect, but we have a long history. I think human rights are there and so on. We are open. And to still be at this level, it's not dramatic, but to be honest, a lot remains to be done. And data science, it's a fantastic opportunity for women to change that drastically in the future. So that was cool to be invited to this presentation and see the huge potential that all those women represent for the future. So having said that, now, regarding my talk, what I wanted to bring on the table was about to put all the main foundational story to move into this new digital world. I mean, for industries which have been very conservative for a long time with all legacy aspect in it, moving to this digital world is not trivial. And you have three main components to handle with, which they have to address a bit differently, which are about the goals they have to adapt, their way to think about what are the new goals now, which is mainly about asset utilization and maximizing the efficiency, the cost efficiency, the effectiveness, the safety, reliability, and so on. How to integrate all of those technical new stuff? I mean, we are talking about Internet of Things with plenty of new sensors everywhere on the field, HPC, high performance computing, for heavy computation, et cetera, et cetera. So that's some big topic, right, to digest for those industrial guys. And the last pillar, which is for me the most crucial one, is about the cultural change. Because beyond everything, you know, technical stuff, it's matter of time, it's easy. But the cultural aspect is really essential. If you don't get the culture right and to instill some change management, you will likely fail. And the successful and valuable transformation comes with organizations that have learned how to involve all of their entities, not just technical, but legal, HR, accounting, sales, marketing all together to be aligned and to go to it. That's such a great point. Cultural evolution is critical. It's so hard, right? You talk about whether it's a big oil company or a big tech company or another company that's large in another industry. But are you seeing, though, I completely agree with you that that cultural change is the essential component. In the oil and gas industry, how have you seen data, data science, drive or influence cultural transformation? For sure, I mean, the data now is in the center of everything. When I said, and you repeat it, data is a new oil, you know, until a recent past, we were driven by product-centric approach. Today, it's all about services and it's all about data. And that is a different paradigm that we need to integrate in the industry and in the oil and gas that I know better to get the best benefit from it. So it's a challenge, but it's a fantastic and very passionate challenge to handle in the future. So that's why we have opened a center actually here, for example, in the Bay Area to be close to the heart of what is happening in data science. Oh, fantastic. One of the things that you also said in your talk was that transformation through data analytics is equally as relevant on the operational side of a business as it is on the financial side. Expand upon that a little bit. Yeah, actually, on the financial side. So the operational exploration production aspect, I think it's more or less understandable. On the financial side, it's a bit more hidden. But for too long, our industry, I mean the oil and gas industry, have been substantially blind by not understanding how to best use their commercial data in a holistic way. And now new startups actually have instilled some new way to think about that, instill and develop new products based on machine learning, combining machine learning, financial analysis, et cetera, et cetera, together to gain in accuracy, to gain in predictability and a key factor is to get access to this information in a much faster time. And you know in our, in any industry, but in oil and gas industry, time and precision cost a lot of money. Absolutely. What are some of the things that you would recommend to some of the young girls that are here, young women that are here, in terms of being able to influence an industry and elicit cultural change from an education perspective? Is it just data science, or what are some of the other skills and backgrounds you think they need to have to be able to drive such change? Yeah, I think the conference was touching this point for, since this morning, and there is no clear answer obviously. There is no recipe, but for sure, I think many industrial today are still mirrored in their old ways. And they really need some fresh input, some fresh insight to really drive the culture right, the strategy right that is necessary to move on a valuable and successful transformation. And this fresh input, this fresh insight, I think can be completely an opportunity for women to jump into this jobs or this aspect of the story. And with either a technical angle or a managerial angle, I think it can be both, right? And it's not exactly the same soft skills that are behind. So, skill-wise, you know, let's be passionate. If you love the data, if you enjoy playing with the data, I think you will be perfect. Doesn't matter if you are a man, a woman, I mean, you are just a data scientist at the end with skills, and it's all about what you can bring and value to the company that you will work for. So, go for it. I mean, the data science world is an oyster, right? For women, so go for it. I mean, really, it's a fantastic opportunity. It is, and some of the things that we heard today from a skill perspective is kind of opening it up or maybe broadening it a bit. Absolutely, the core data science skills are essential. The, you know, blend of hackers, statistician, mathematicians, scientists, but also looking at some of the softer skills, creativity, communication. Correct. And being able to understand enough of the business. Correct. To bring and really marry those two together. Have you seen that trend in kind of this ideal background coming up in the oil and gas industry? Yeah, of course. You know, at the end of the day, you perfectly summarized all the skills said that a good data scientist needs to have. And this curiosity for the domain of application, because data science, either if you can work for a university and then you can approach data science from an academic and fundamental thinking. But to be honest, most of the time and most of the jobs are using data science for a purpose and for an application. So then you need to adapt yourself and to be sure that you will have this curiosity. You need to adapt yourself to the knowledge world and not the opposite. So this ability of adaptation, of curiosity, of passion for the type of problems or challenges, issues that you will have to address through the data science world will be key. And it's really up to everybody to analyze if they want to go for it or not. I think that's a great point that you brought up, that adaptation. And we've actually heard that a number of times today. That person needs to have the skills but also the adaptation, the flexibility. Along those lines, adaptation, maybe talk to us about what your current role is at Agilio Sports. Yeah, so with no real transition, I moved, I quit Schumerger a few months ago. My job, I love my job, but you know, I still live in France. It was difficult to be abroad so often. Anyway, I decided to change life. But still, I tried to stop working and I almost died. So I decided to move forward to another challenge, really. And the new challenge is to combine and reconciliate my two passions, which are digital and sports. I love that, tell me more about that. So the idea is to raise a fund, which will be the first independent fund in France, venture capital fund, I mean, addressing the sport and technology vertical. So domain, market, industry. And you know, sport, to make the link with what I expressed today, in fact, sport is almost an industry like any other one. And the transformation of sport with the integration of all of these new tech have to be addressed and everything has to be done. So when you think how to revolutionize the way sport is handling, either on the professional side or on the amateur side, you know, and the more I am digging into this new market for me, but it's amazing. The opportunities are tremendous. And so we are pretty close to close our fund and to be ready to get ready to invest in some fascinating startups, dynamic startups on this topic. I've just closed some partnership as well with Inale, where Sport Tech is already booming. So it's going on and it's quite an exciting new different, but challenge that I am taking right now. It sounds so interesting and wrapping things up, but you bring up a great point that you've adapted, but you've also been able to recognize the linkage between your favorite passion sports and technology and digital. And these days especially, you know, we're a bit biased living in Silicon Valley where every company is a tech company, car companies, et cetera. It's a really great message for the younger generation to understand, follow your passion. There's technology there and we're going to need those diverse perspectives to help bring it to life and evolve it. Absolutely. So I think I realized that it's a luxury at the point to have a choice to decide what you like to do in life, but it's also true that you have to address one in your early stage, early years, and giving you the maximum opportunities for the future is important. And then you can have this luxury effectively to decide for your passion and to be driven by your passion. There's the Nirvana, exactly. Well, Stephanie, thank you for those wise words of wisdom. Thanks so much for stopping by theCUBE today. It's been a pleasure having you on. Me too, thank you. And we were going to be right back. We are live at the Women in Data Science Conference. Stick around, coming right back.