Veronika Durgin, Vice President of Data, Saks
Veronika Durgin is a career data practitioner with over 20 years of experience who has built and led data teams across industries, from hands-on database administration to shaping enterprise-wide data strategy. She currently serves as Vice President of Data at Saks Global, where she leads a full-stack team focused on delivering fast and trustworthy insights across the business. Her team works across the entire data lifecycle, from platform and engineering to analytics and AI enablement.
Veronika is known for her practical and real-world approach to data, with a strong belief that success starts with mastering the fundamentals and building a solid foundation. She stresses that no amount of advanced AI or analytics can make up for shaky basics. Getting the right data architecture and governance in place is essential to scaling with confidence.
Her philosophy is simple: data is a team sport. Whether it is enabling AI, fixing broken pipelines, or making dashboards that do not require a decoder ring, Veronika believes the real magic happens when data folks, engineers, and business partners work together without eye rolls. Cross-functional collaboration is not just a nice-to-have; it is the core of durable, impactful data work.
She is passionate about mentoring the next generation of data leaders and building systems that are not only effective but built to last.
Veronika holds a Master’s degree in Software Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She is a certified Data Vault Practitioner and a Snowflake Data Superhero. She is also a lifelong learner, partly because the more she learns, the more she realizes how much she does not know.
