Employee Spotlight: Q&A with Molly DeJohn, Director of Data & Analytics at Nasuni

Nasuni caught up with Molly DeJohn, Director of Data & Analytics, to talk about her unique career journey and how AI is transforming the world of data analytics.

Molly is a data and analytics leader with over 15 years of experience across enterprise analytics, AI/ML solutions, and BI strategy for high-growth SaaS and Fortune 500 companies. At Nasuni, her focus is uncovering insights from data to fuel business growth and customer success.

Q: What’s your role at Nasuni and which areas of the business do you look after?

I joined Nasuni four years ago as a Senior Manager of Business Analytics and I’m now Director of Data and Analytics. That means I lead the team that’s responsible for transforming data into curated, governed, trustworthy information to enable better decision-making across the business. Data is our DNA at Nasuni. Just as DNA is the building block of life, data is the building block that underpins Nasuni’s customer success, business operations, and performance.

Q: You’ve had a fascinating career trajectory. How did you get into data and analytics?

I started out in science and research but then decided that I didn’t want to work in a lab or a hospital, so I pivoted into data and analytics. That was twenty years ago and I’ve never looked back. I’m still doing the same kind of work as I was in science – investigating issues, testing hypotheses, and analyzing results – just in a different context.

Q: How did you start working at Nasuni?

I’m one of two DeJohns who work at Nasuni. My husband, Matt, is Senior Director of Customer Support. He started ten years ago when there were 50 employees and I was a little jealous because it was clearly a fantastic company to work for.

Matt and I are both close to the person who managed the business analytics team before I joined. So when he moved to another company, I advised the hiring manager about recruiting his successor, and that conversation turned into a job offer. Initially I was hesitant about working at the same company as Matt, so I accepted the job thinking, “I’ll see how it goes for a couple of years.” That was four years ago!

Q: How has AI affected your area of work?

AI has rocked the data analytics world. Over the past six months we’ve experienced significant change. Before that we were using AI to help us code and research, but now it’s embedded in every tool we use.

AI will naturally accelerate everything, so it’s essential to have clear frameworks in place for its use, as well as governed and trustworthy data sources. It’s my team’s responsibility to take a step back and be intentional about how we implement and scale data infrastructure that ensures AI can be leveraged safely, securely, and responsibly.

Q: What’s an initiative that you’ve been working on recently?

We have new leadership at Nasuni this year, so my team has been developing a set of “mission control” dashboards called Nasuni 360. They deliver executive-level KPIs across all business functions. Nasuni 360 provides the data foundation for AI genies that we’re developing. Any leader looking for insights about a customer will be able to ask a genie for a digest of important information from across different business systems. This includes things like upcoming renewals, product usage patterns, and overall customer health. Building this kind of data model is like putting together a giant puzzle, and seeing these solutions in action is very exciting because they empower better decision-making.

Q: What upcoming launches are you excited about?

Our Product and Engineering teams are hard at work developing some exciting new features that I know will bring value to our customers in a big way. As my team builds out insights into these initiatives, we get a front row seat as things are rolled out and adopted. There is nothing better than seeing the lines go up and to the right!

Q: What skills and values does a data analyst need?

Being collaborative is essential because you’re always working with other teams. Often the stakeholders you’re working with can’t explain what they need technically; they just know the outcome they want. So you need the ability to see and understand the world through someone else’s eyes, and then translate it into technical terms at a systems level. Only when you truly understand, can you fit it all together in a visualization that communicates meaning.

Q: To help readers get to know you better, what do you do outside of work?

I’m a bookworm. I am in multiple book clubs and I still love reading the papers on Sunday morning. I also volunteer on the board of the Head Start program which runs preschool centers around the Boston area. Every year I run their fundraising gala, which I love. When I walk into one of their centers, I feel the weight of the world come off my shoulders. When a child asks you to do some coloring with them or read a story, it really grounds you in what’s important in the world.

If you’re interested in shaping the future of Nasuni, take a look at our recent career opportunities here.