Meet the Member - John Gamble
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m John Gamble, Head of Data & AI at C5 Alliance across the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. My role is simple: I help organisations get better value from their data. That means helping businesses turn information into insight, help meet organisational objectives, make better decisions and use technologies such as AI in a practical, meaningful way.
How are you personally using AI at home and at work?
Like many people working in AI, I probably use it most for everyday problems rather than dramatic futuristic use cases. At home, I’ve used AI to diagnose issues with my central heating (!) and recently helped my 19 year old daughter choose which bottle of wine to take to a party! She lined up a selection, took a photo and asked AI to rank them by value and quality. It worked surprisingly well.
At work, AI helps us unlock and make sense of large volumes of information, enabling people to ask questions in plain English and get answers quickly from data and documents that would otherwise be difficult to find.
How is your company adapting to the challenges and opportunities of AI?
One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned is that AI is rarely the hardest part. The real challenge is often the quality and organisation of the data behind it. AI tends to shine a very bright light on information that is duplicated, outdated or inconsistent.
Our focus is on helping organisations bring together both structured data and unstructured information so AI can reason across the business, not just search documents. The result is technology that can answer meaningful business questions, providing genuine value rather than simply finding information.
What’s your AI top tip?
Two things. First, get your data in order. The quality of AI outcomes is directly linked to the quality of the information behind them.
Second, experiment. The technology is evolving rapidly, and the best way to understand it is to use it. Just make sure you put sensible guardrails in place so you stay in control of cost, governance and risk.
What are you currently reading or listening to?
Professionally, I’m enjoying the Chief Data Officer Matters podcast by Malcolm Hawker. It covers AI, data strategy, platforms and governance in a way that is practical and relevant for business leaders. It’s one of the best resources I’ve found for understanding how organisations can turn data into genuine competitive advantage.