D38 Building Data Culture with Datafluencers

Summary

Fresh off the stage at Tableau Conference 2026, Sarah Burnett and Fiona Crocker bring their live TC26 session straight to the unDUBBED audience. Their session was called Building a Data Culture with Datafluencers, and the whole premise is this: the best data work in most organisations will never be seen - not because it isn't good enough, but because nobody told the story.

They walk through why brilliant work disappears, who is responsible for fixing it, and the practical tools to start changing that this week. The centrepiece is the seven-part data story arc, walked through using Freshmart, a fictional wholesale food chain where waste was above target despite accurate data and capable teams.

Whether you're a data analyst whose work isn't getting the recognition it deserves, a manager trying to build a data culture, or someone who's ever built a dashboard that nobody used - this episode is for you.

Takeaways

The gap between delivery and adoption is where great data work disappears - and it's a storytelling problem, not a data problem

Great work goes invisible for three reasons: no channel, no story, and no leaders to promote it

A Datafluencer isn't a job title - it's a set of behaviours that makes work visible, shareable, and heard

The seven-part data story arc gives a repeatable structure: hook, problem, insight, solution, result, learning, call to action

One dashboard reframe - not a rebuild - saved Freshmart 2.4 tonnes of waste and $672,000 in annualised costs in six weeks

A public data wins channel builds culture over time - people stop lurking and start contributing when the space feels worth being in

Amplification is the step most people skip - make it one click for your manager, then prompt them to take it higher