ROI of Data & AI: How to demonstrate & maximise your impact
Nick Zervoudis
Data & AI Product Management Consultant
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Do you know how much money you've made for your business?
The data professionals who get promoted aren't always the most technical. They're the ones who can walk into a boardroom and say, "Our work generated $3.2M last quarter, here's how."
But nobody taught you how to do this. You've mastered every algorithm, built perfect pipelines, and still watch less-technical colleagues advance faster - simply because they speak business.
This isn't about abandoning technical excellence. It's about adding the layer that multiplies your impact: commercial thinking, value quantification, and executive communication.
Over 3 intensive weeks, you'll learn frameworks I've built and refined the hard way over the past decade. Calculate ROI using methods finance teams actually trust. Build business cases that secure 7-figure investments. Present complex work in ways that get instant executive buy-in.
Mid-level practitioners use these tools to leap into senior roles. Leaders use them to transform their teams from cost centres to strategic partners. Consultants use them to 3x their project values.
Stop hoping your work will speak for itself. Learn to articulate your value in the only language that leadership understands: $$$
What you’ll learn
Transform from order-taker to strategic partner with proven frameworks for ROI, discovery, executive influence, and value demonstration.
Estimate ROI using Fermi estimation and value mapping frameworks BEFORE you write a single line of code or Jira ticket
Build CFO-approved business cases that unlock investment
Claim your fair share of success with the right credit-sharing heuristics
Structure presentations using the Pyramid Principle
Lead with outcomes, not methodology, in executive meetings
Create standalone narratives that drive decisions
Run discovery that uncovers real problems worth solving
Use value-risk matrices to defend your priorities
Redirect low-value requests without burning bridges
Shift perception from cost center to profit driver
Secure resources with bulletproof business cases
Position data as essential to business strategy
Learn directly from Nick
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Nick Zervoudis
Nick Zervoudis
Data Product Management Consultant at Value from Data & AI
Clients & past employers include:
Who this course is for
Senior Data Leaders (e.g. VP or Head of Data) defending budgets and proving their team's strategic value to the C-suite
Mid-level data professionals (DS/DE/Analytics) ready to accelerate their careers by adding commercial skills to technical expertise
Data Consultants and Freelancers looking to sell more projects while increasing the impact they have for their clients
Prerequisites
Real-world data experience
You already work with data, analytics, or AI: We'll teach the business side, you bring the technical context
Ambition beyond technical work
You're ready to expand from building models to building business cases and influencing strategy.
Stakeholder exposure
You interact with business teams (if you're working on business-facing projects) and/or downstream users (if you're on a platform team)
What's included
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Live sessions
Learn directly from Nick Zervoudis in a real-time, interactive format.
Lifetime access
Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.
Community of peers
Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.
Certificate of completion
Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.
Cross-Cohort Community (planned for 2026)
After the course is over, you'll be invited to cross-cohort office hours and other community events.
Real-World Application
You'll get to apply every framework we cover on your actual work: You'll leave with completed (or at least seriously worked on) business cases, not just theory.
Maven Guarantee
This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.
Syllabus
9 live sessions • 8 lessons • 11 projects
Week 1
Dec
1
Session 1: Opportunity Valuation I
Day 1 exercises (Valuation I)
Dec
2
Session 2: Opportunity Discovery
Day 2 exercises (Discovery)
Dec
3
Office hours
Week 2
Dec
9
Session 3: Opportunity Valuation II
Day 3 exercises (Valuation II)
Dec
8
Session 4: Value-Driven Prioritisation
Dec
10
Office hours
Bonus Valuation lesson (pre-recorded)
Prioritisation materials
Schedule
Live sessions
8 hrs / week
5x half-day training sessions spread over 3 weeks (+ weekly office hours, see more info below)
Mon, Dec 1
1:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)
Tue, Dec 2
1:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)
Wed, Dec 3
3:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)
Weekly office hours
2 hrs / week
Live problem-solving and group coaching sessions where you'll workshop real challenges alongside peers facing similar battles. Refine your business cases, pressure-test ROI calculations, and learn from others' wins and challenges. These collaborative sessions consistently rank as one of the most valuable parts of the programme.
Use it tomorrow, not "someday" when you're not as busy
2 hrs / week
Don't wait for the perfect project. Apply frameworks to whatever you're working on now - meetings, presentations, business cases. Might take a few extra hours initially, but less than you'd think. Some see results in week one, others build more gradually. Key is starting while the material is fresh and you have support. "The ideal time" won't come.
Success stories
After the training, I started challenging assumptions more proactively. In one case, that led to de-scoping features a market wasn’t going to use, avoiding $200,000 in unnecessary delivery.
Senior Data Product Manager
Fortune 50 clientWe had a proposal with no budget. By estimating the value and showing expected productivity gains, we unlocked buy-in and got it fast-tracked.
Director
Global top 5 FMCGAsking myself why we’re doing things has allowed me to recognize when work is unnecessary. It’s helped me focus on real opportunities and avoid wasted effort on things that won’t be used.
Data Product Consultant
Matica Partners (DS/DE consultancy)We knew users weren’t using the [chatbot] enough, but it was hard to get direct feedback from them. The middleman in the process assumed the users understood everything, but they didn’t. Now we’re pushing harder for direct user involvement from the start so we don’t have to fix adoption issues after deployment.
Data Engineering Consultant
Matica Partners (DS/DE consultancy)The training was disruptive, in a good way. It broadened my whole perspective.
After the training, I feel both more conscious of the need for value realisation and more confident in my ability to deliver it. I have more tools to do it too.
In our day to day, we are so focused on delivering whatever milestones we have against very pressing deadlines. So we really forget the importance of actually quantifying the value of the things that we are working on (and sometimes we don't even know how to do it.
After this training, I feel much more empowered in this sense.
Senior Manager
Fortune 50 client