This week, Rachel Hassall, Head of Data Analytics at SSE, drops into the Hypercube podcast to share her insights on how SSE is tackling data analytics and what the future holds for the organisation and the energy sector as a whole.

Rachel walks us through the nuts and bolts of how SSE is approaching data analytics, the transition from a centralised to a federated model, and how her team is helping enable the company's vision of leading in low-carbon, localised energy infrastructure solutions.

We get Rachel’s take on a wide range of topics, from the foundational need for data quality to the future and the need for tools like time series forecasting. Rachel shares her perspective on current environmental issues and the need for sustainability to become as important as cost when looking at optimisation.

In this episode, we discussed:

• Insight into how SSE is approaching data, from the tech stack to future projects.
• The importance of quality data as a foundation for all data initiatives.
• How rising interest in energy and sustainability is positively impacting recruitment.
• The importance of avoiding distractions on your data journey and linking to business strategy.
• The sustainability challenges of data centres and how they impact the green agenda.

The weekly Hypercube podcast sits down with leaders in the energy and utilities sectors to explore how data analytics can help businesses make smarter decisions and accelerate business growth.

Chapter Markers

[0:29] Rachel gives an overview of her role as Head of Data Analytics at SSE, her career journey to date and the evolution of data analytics within SSE.

[5:45] Adam asks Rachel to give some insight into the tech stack within SSE and asks about the customers and end-users they serve.

[8:26] Rachel explains some of the challenges of communicating forecasting and model performance and ways to approach presenting technical findings.

[9:38] Rachel walks through how forecasting tools have changed and what this looks like within SSE.

[10:48] Rachel and Adam discuss the increasing interest in forecasting and the energy market more generally, and how this has impacted recruitment.

[12:37] Rachel highlights some of the upcoming exciting projects at SSE, including full microgrid optimisation.

[14:10] When asked about market challenges, Rachel emphasises the need for reliable data quality, data access, and data interoperability.

[15:24] Rachel shares her advice for organisations and individuals who are on their own data analytics journey.

[16:16] Rachel shares thoughts on how the next generation will view attitudes toward data storage.

[17:51] Adam asks Rachel to share her view on the big trends over the next five years.

---

If you want to explore how data and artificial intelligence can be used to help your organisation make smarter decisions and accelerate business growth, get in touch by visiting the Hypercube website: https://wearehypercube.com/