Office Hours: I’m the Chief Data Officer & Head of Product at Chord Commerce. I’m Jamie Deveney. AMA!Featured

Posted in:Navigating Career Transitions Product Office Hours Management and Leadership

Hi Elphas!

I’m the Chief Data Officer and Head of Product at Chord Commerce, a commerce data platform, where I lead and develop our data engineering, analytics, data science, and product teams. I’m drawing on my years of analytics experience to create the data platform I’ve long imagined for commerce.

Before Chord Commerce, I was the VP of Data at Imperfect Foods, where I spent five years building and leading all things data. Our team leveraged a diverse range of data—spanning marketing, customer retention, logistics, and merchandising—to develop models and products that enhance the customer and shopping experiences. These efforts personalized shopping carts, identified opportunities to boost customer satisfaction, highlighted the most effective marketing strategies, optimized grocery packing order, and ensured efficient delivery routes.

Throughout my career, I've specialized in e-commerce, financial, and forensic analytics, working with a range of e-commerce companies and for the U.S. government.

During my downtime, I enjoy walking and eating my way through San Francisco, spending time at nearby beaches, towns, and wineries with my husband and dog, and traveling to some of our favorite places we know well while always looking for new places to explore.

Ask me anything about data or product leadership, my day-to-day at Chord Commerce, career transitions, or anything else!

ElphaStaff·Nov 11

Thanks so much for joining us @jamiedeveney!Elphas – please ask @jamiedeveney your questions before Friday, November 15th. @jamiedeveney may not have time to answer every questions, so emoji upvote your favorites 🔥👍🏾➕

michellesmanifesto·Nov 12

Hi Jamie, another Bay Area native 🌉 my background is in corporate retail eCommerce. I've wanted to expand my network as I look for my next opportunity in eComm. Outside of LinkedIn (because that can be a drain sometimes), do you have any recommendations for communities, forums, meet-ups, or professional groups to connect with people in the eComm industry? I know your role is specific in Data, but I'm open to hearing anything that has been meaningful for you to grow your network. Thank you ✨

jamiedeveney·Nov 16

Hi Michelle!I find the most valuable networking in meetups, most of these for me are:- Role-related. Being in data, I often try to join and connect with local data meetups that I find through connections in data, data groups (Slack communities, LinkedIn, referrals from connections), or event boards, where I often meet others in e-commerce or working with e-commerce companies.- Vendor-related. Many vendors I work with will host meetups or events, which are great places to network with others across industries and roles. I find these on their event pages or will ask my account representatives.- Groups like Elpha! And from other connections in my network, like previous coworkers.Outside of LinkedIn, I follow various newsletters on Medium, Substack, etc., many of which have great event lists. From there, these meetups often lead to more recommendations for groups or events to join, so I continue to ask my network for events they’ve enjoyed recently. Let us know if you've been to any events you enjoyed recently!

brona·Nov 14

Hi Jamie, thank you for doing the AMA. What data does one look at to solidify product-market fit?

brookevlasich·Nov 11

Hi @jamiedeveney! Nice to meet another Bay Area resident who has worked in different industries. I’m currently working in the non-profit sector and am seeking work in entertainment, sports, and CPGs. As you’ve navigated different industries (e-commerce, government, finance) what has helped you make these transitions? Do you think it’s better to be a generalist or a specialist when you’re trying to make a career change?

ioanasomesan·Nov 12

Hi Jamie! I'm curious where do you go to get inspired? Linkedin? Youtube? Or maybe out for walk? 🐶Thanks!

jamiedeveney·Nov 16

Hi Ioana! I love this question. I get inspired by problems or opportunities I want to solve or things I don’t fully understand but want to know more about. I find this inspiration through conversations with teammates, customers, or friends, analyzing data to uncover an insight or opportunity, or asking or researching questions through the heads-down time I try to dedicate in my calendar weekly. Where do you go to get inspired?

akupperskantor·Nov 12

@jamiedeveney thanks so much for doing this! My question really has to do with how to balance data-lead product decisions with intuitive decisions. I’ve worked as a product lead or designer in a number of small startups and the ethos has been very different in places on the role of data in making decisions about product design. In some cases top leadership have essentially poo-poo’d using data to lead the design decisions in any way essentially saying that our intuition as product people supersedes what the data is telling us and in other places I’ve been instructed to only listen to the data (often leading down paths that just feel wrong). As someone who has lead teams that have been successful at building product and taking them to market, what’s your philosophy on this?

Evia179·Nov 14

Hi Jamie–Wow! What a career trajectory.... how have you thought about each of your pivots? From forensics to e-commerce... what was that journey like? and what was it like to work in the forensics space?

Ray8·Nov 14

Hi Jamie! Are there any fun or interesting stats/insights you gathered about food while being VP of Data at Imperfect Foods? Thanks in advance!

jamiedeveney·Nov 16

I learned so much about food - from food sourcing, production, transportation, packing, delivery, online shopping, consumption, and then waste - while working at Imperfect Foods. I was drawn to Imperfect Foods first as a customer when I learned that they were focused on reducing food waste. I didn’t realize then that 30-40% of all food goes to waste in the US. I learned a lot about where this waste occurs at every step of the supply, retail, and consumer chains, such as a farmer who ends up with a surplus due to a rainier season or food that couldn’t make it to a grocery store because of aesthetic standards like an onion that’s too small or a zucchini that’s too short.I learned a lot about food logistics and what it takes to get an apple, for example, from sourcing all the way to a customer’s door. And how to most efficiently pack food or create the most efficient delivery route.I learned about creating a delightful online shopping experience for customers buying food and all of the nuances that come with a vast, changing catalog of perishable products that must be condensed into a single app experience.I learned a ton about and grew even more appreciation of food. I also learned so much about growing an e-commerce business within the food industry and how customers think about and shop for food - and, of course, the importance of data to better understand, measure, and improve it all. If there’s a certain area of interest, let me know, and an interesting stat or insight may come to mind!