While most people think of Under Armour as the supplier of sportswear and sports footwear, it also owns the digital apps MapMyFitness, MyFitnessPal and Edmundo. As such, the company has taken the first steps this year toward more investment in wearable technologies, called “Connected Fitness,” so that people can track their exercise, sleep and nutrition throughout the day.

Chul Lee, head of Data Engineering and Data Science at Under Armour Inc., joined Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), co-host of theCUBE*, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, during the Chief Data Scientist, USA event, held in San Francisco, CA, to discuss aspects of the Chief Data Scientist role and Under Armour’s move into wearable fitness technology.

Being your own advocate

During a panel discussion held earlier in the day, Frick noted that Lee had brought up the point that in addition to being a scientist, a CDS also has to be a salesperson to sell the role, engage the business units and help them understand what they’re doing, at the right level.

Lee expanded on that by saying, “I learned, through many experiences and many years of failing, that there was an ‘ah-ha’ moment where I had to start communicating and being a salesperson.”

He also explained that data scientists tend to think they have to unpack the ‘black box’ of whatever project they are working on at the time and try to explain everything that they are doing to everyone. Data scientists feel the pressure to talk about the science aspect of projects and how it is done, rather than focusing on the value you’re trying to deliver to your customers.

Lee has found that all that is needed is to explain your project at a high level to coworkers and make sure they understand and are supportive of that.

Data is in sports clothes, too

Frick asked about how Under Armour got started with its Connected Fitness services, the software services arm built around the Endomondo, MyFitnessPal and MapMyFitness apps.

“The way we start thinking about shoes and shirts is that, OK, you need to enter an experience around shoes and shirts,” he said, adding that because data is everywhere, in every sector, they asked why shouldn’t it be in fitness clothes, too.

*Disclosure: Corinium Global Intelligence and other companies sponsor some Chief Data Scientist, USA segments on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE. Neither Corinium Global Intelligence nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of the Chief Data Scientist, USA event.

Photo by SiliconANGLE