Annie Nielsen is the Director of Internal Data & Analytics on the Business Operations team, and she joined EA in 2018. Annie is from Manchester, Maine, and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
How would you describe your role on the Business Operations team?
On the Business Operations team, I lead the development and maintenance of EA’s internal data model and analytic infrastructure to support our internal operations. This entails first working with different leaders at EA to understand the processes they would like to create, and then developing the data pipelines and data objects that will support those processes going forward. The Business Operations team supports a wide array of internal processes, but the focus of our current work is on organizational staffing, budgeting, and executive decision-making.
What interested you in working at EA?
Originally, I was interested in working at EA due to my interest in education and statistics. I studied Economics and French in undergrad, and I loved my econometrics courses. I first learned about EA from a friend of mine from the Econ department who had been an intern here over the summer. One day when we were talking about our mutual interests in data and education, she told me to apply to be a part-time student employee on the Analyst team. I was lucky enough to get the job and that started my career at EA. Through the years, I’ve continued to be interested in working at EA because of the opportunities that the organization has given me to learn.
We know that every day is different, but what would a typical day at EA look like for you?
Generally, in the morning, I start the day by reviewing Slack and getting caught up on any activity that I missed from the previous day. Then I review our team’s development priorities and decide what my main goals for the day will be. These goals generally support longer-term initiatives, like what I’m doing now, which is rebuilding the pipelines that support our cashflow projections. Throughout the day, I get requests and questions that pull me away from my main task. Sometimes there are bugs discovered somewhere in the system that require a fast response. I also usually have meetings or collaborative work sessions throughout the day with my teammates who are working on other aspects of the work, like application development or internal survey analysis.
What skills do you possess that you find helpful in your role?
As with all jobs that involve working with data systems, it is helpful to be analytical, logical, and have good attention to detail. In addition to these skills, I understand our operations and the perspectives of the different teams we support because of my history at EA. This understanding is very helpful in deciding what systems improvements will be the most impactful and what we should prioritize on our team.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your role?
I feel rewarded by seeing how our systems improvements make work easier for my coworkers. It feels so good to hear about two data systems not being connected or about a team not having the right information to make a decision and getting to say, “Oh, I can help with that!” Seeing the value that we provide to the company through the tooling and analytics that Business Operations provides is so gratifying.
What is your favorite project that you’ve worked on at EA?
I've had a lot of favorite projects at EA over the years, but recently I’ve really had fun building the data infrastructure to support our new budget vs. actuals reporting. It was a complex process involving several different data sources, and it was very rewarding to see the impact that our improved reporting is having for our budget managers.
If you had to choose a different team to work on at EA, which team would you pick and why?
There are so many excellent teams at EA that I would love to work with, so my answer would probably be different if you asked me again tomorrow. Today, I would choose the Finance & Accounting team. I liked the finance that I learned as part of my Econ degree, and I’ve been interested in everything that I’ve learned through working closely with the Finance & Accounting team at EA.
What changes do you anticipate in your field in the next year?
I think that AI will continue to change the landscape of analytics and data. We have been exploring the way that AI can streamline our operations at EA, and I think our work will become increasingly agentic in the next year.
What is something you enjoy in your free time?
I really enjoy hiking and backpacking in my free time. I lived in Denver for several years, and my friends and I did many hiking trips around the Rockies. Even now that I’m in Madison, it’s been fun to explore some of the hiking around here and get out onto the Ice Age Trail. I also really love baking and have recently taken some classes.
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was very young, maybe around 6 or so, I said that I wanted to be a monkey when I grew up because I loved climbing trees. As I got older, I transitioned into saying that I wanted to become a teacher because I loved talking and learning new things.
What is something that you would tell your younger self about your career?
I would tell myself not to be so afraid of putting myself out there and networking. I’ve never felt confident trying to connect with folks professionally outside of my direct sphere, but I have gotten better at it with age and confidence in the skills that I bring to a team.