In an age of automation and algorithms, Dr.Tiffany Perkins-Munn is restoring the human factor to data. Her journey, like many, has taken a unpredictable path; it has been forged via the intersection of psychology, data science, and lived experiences. She is using intellect and empathy to transform data into a force for human understanding and growth, driving global analytics efforts at J.P.Morgan Chase while deriving strength and purpose from personal journey.
She has dedicated her career to bridge the gap between sophisticated technology and the people they influence, guided by the notion that analytics and artificial intelligence should empower rather than terrify. Her expertise lies not only in developing data strategies, but also in fostering understanding, making data accessible, relatable, and actionable for all. She is a published author, educator, and award-winning leader who is using her academic background in Social-Personality Psychology as well as her extensive professional experience to help people understand facts.
She sees data as more than just statistics; it’s a lens through which to investigate and solve life’s most pressing concerns. Her narrative exemplifies resilience, intelligence, and empathy, demonstrating how human understanding, when joined with analytical rigor, can clarify even the most complex aspects of the digital world. Her recently published book: “Data (De)coded….” And her website: tiffanyperkinsmunn.com are the vehicles that she uses to share her knowledge, wisdom and perspectives with others.
Where Psychology Meets Data Science
Tiffany Perkins-Munn expertise lies in orchestrating aggressive strategies to identify objectives, expose patterns, and implement game-changing solutions. Yet her approach extends far beyond traditional analytics. She dedicates herself to bridging the gap between cutting-edge technologies and the people they impact, making data and artificial intelligence accessible, relatable, and actionable.
“My mission is guided by the belief that analytics and AI should empower, not intimidate,” she explains. This philosophy permeates her work as a published author, coursework developer, and Dissertation Committee Chair. She draws on real-world examples from her career to illuminate the principles of data literacy, equipping professionals, students, and business leaders with tools to embrace the opportunities that data and technology present.
Her non-linear career path has given her a skill set that proves virtually impossible to replicate. Balancing professional achievements with family and hobbies, she champions the transformative power of data and analytics to reshape lives and industries alike. Driven by a passion for improving human experience through data, she has become a leading voice in the ever-evolving world of data science and technology.
The Coffee Shop Revelation
The intersection of Tiffany Perkins-Munn two great loves, quantitative methodologies and psychology is what shaped her professional life. She has long been fascinated by the interaction between data and human nature, but the urgency to demystify this field crystallized during an ordinary moment with extraordinary impact.
She overheard a passionate discussion in a coffee shop between two people who felt left behind and confused by big data. The conversation struck a chord. In a world increasingly shaped by algorithms, people were feeling lost and out of the loop. She identified the enormous gap between the complexity of AI and the general public’s understanding of it.
“This technology moves so fast, and every day, drives of people trying to navigate it with little to no knowledge of how it works or the possibilities it can bring to the table,” she reflects. Her passion became an urgency to demystify this space, to make data literacy accessible for everyone, because she believes it has become essential, not optional.
A Personal Crisis That Changed Everything
The core idea behind Tiffany Perkins-Munn journey crystallized during a deep personal crisis. When her husband, Vincent, passed away in 2010, she faced a pivotal decision which reshaped her life as a single mom and breadwinner. She used her background to navigate this unexpected turn, poring through data from the Cancer Research Institute on maneuvering through grief to finding a new job that would allow her to be present for her daughter.
This experience became a master class in using data to guide life’s most significant transitions. Working with a franchise consultant, she was using demographic analysis and predictive modeling to transform a personal passion into a viable business venture, buying her own franchise: Title Boxing Club. She was leaning towards an online franchise, but the data revealed a fascinating revelation: her habits and personality suggested she would thrive in a brick-and-mortar franchise that was serving as a social space and depended on face-to-face interaction with customers.
Her profession has ultimately evolved into a clear mission: to ensure everyone can harness the power of data for this personal and professional benefit. Her book: Data (De)coded….No Tech Degree Required” stems from that realization, that data can illuminate paths forward, even in life’s darkest moments, and understanding its language allowing people to shape their digital future rather than merely being shaped by it.
The Balance Between Life and Work
When asked about managing personal and professional demands, Tiffany Perkins-Munn offers a refreshingly direct answer: “I just do it.” Her approach roots itself in intentional prioritization, and simply put, she believes life is the goal and work is one aspect of it.
She very rarely changes a scheduled personal activity to accommodate professional demands. Over the years, amidst career changes and fluctuations in her personal life, she has learned the key to managing work-life balance: using strategic, data-informed decisions to design a life where work supports her values, ensuring that professional success never comes at the cost of personal well-being. She overcomes challenges by maintaining that clear hierarchy of importance, treating her schedule and commitments as non-negotiable data points.
“I love the work I do, and I see great importance in it, but generally my rule of thumb is to put myself, my family, my friends, and my personal commitments on a level playing field with my work,” she states firmly. This balance represents a large part of what allows her to show up each day, recharged, ready to do the work, and do the work well.
Leadership Through a Psychological Lens
Tiffany Perkins-Munn approach to leadership and decision-making is defined by a deep understanding of data and human behavior. She often refers to this as data-driven decision-making with a psychological lens.
Her leadership style hinges on the belief that data without literacy is like a library without readers: full of potential but ultimately unused. Therefore, as a leader, she is working to demystify complex information and cultivate data literacy among her teams. She aims to move people away from reliance on gut instinct and towards evidence-based strategies, ensuring everyone feels comfortable using data analytics tools and technologies to uncover the most impactful insights.
In decision-making, she prioritizes using a scientific methodology. This means using analytical tools to find meaningful patterns in information before taking action. She advocates for asking better questions, being discerning about the information teams are consuming, and understanding how data mirrors and shapes human behavior.
“There really is a clear connection between the two, whether you realize it or not,” she notes. This focus helps teams move past generalized observations to knowing with precision, which drives innovation and effectiveness long-term.
The core strategy that has contributed to her success as a leader involves turning data into a guidebook rather than a technical manual. By using familiar scenarios and decoding technical jargon, she helps teams see possibilities where others see limitations, empowering them to use data and AI not as mysterious forces, but as tools they understand and can leverage to their advantage.
The Power of “A-HA” Moments
Tiffany Perkins-Munn passion fuels itself through the realization that data serves as the ultimate guidebook for life, not just a corporate tool. She acknowledges this may sound over the top to those outside the data science field, but she genuinely believes it to be true.
A pivotal a-ha moment for her was when she was running a global analytics team for a market research firm. They were hired by a large toy retailer to explain why sales were low even though in-the-door traffic was extremely high. Through a series of in-store surveys, post-sales surveys, many many discussions with customers and daily observation over a few months, the most interesting insight was uncovered. Moms would come into the store, their children would play with the toys, but they would leave without purchase. Why? Because when it was time for a diaper change or for the child to use the bathroom, they would go elsewhere because the bathrooms were not clean enough! They would often leave with the intent to come back, but rarely did that happen. The retailer actually closed the store for a month to renovate their bathrooms! Now, that’s an a-ha moment that illustrates how data can help to uncover unexpected results!
Her professional foundation, rooted in quantitative methodologies and psychology, taught her early on that data has the power to illuminate the unseen. She thrives on showing people the moments when they turn information into insights. Seeing people transform from fear and confusion to confidence and empowerment truly fires her up.
Strength in Duality
Tiffany Perkins-Munn believes her greatest strength lies in the unique fusion of her background as a statistician and a psychologist. This blend allows her to not only excel in quantitative methodologies but also to leverage and understand the more human side of these tools and numbers, enabling more well-rounded, effective decision-making.
Her passion for helping others overcome that sense of being “left behind” by technology represents a large part of her strengths as a leader. She views herself as more of a guide than a figurehead, empowering colleagues and peers to move from being passive consumers of data, AI, and technology to active participants who can leverage these powerful tools with confidence.
As for shareable weaknesses, she has transitioned frequently throughout her career. She sees this as both a strength, allowing her to become incredibly well-versed in a variety of industries and a potential pitfall. Constantly changing roles or searching for the next opportunity can lead to burnout if it goes unchecked or unbalanced for too long. This realization underscores why she prioritizes personal time and commitments outside of work.
Recognition and Achievement
Tiffany Perkins-Munn greatest professional accomplishments stem from her ability to leverage her Ph.D. in Social-Personality Psychology with an interdisciplinary focus on Advanced Quantitative Methods. This expertise has allowed her in leading large data and analytics teams at major financial institutions for over two decades.
Beyond her role at J.P. Morgan Chase, she has been recognized as a CDO Global Data Power Women Honoree, named one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Data by DataIQ, and received the AI-100 Award from Aim Research.
One of her most cherished personal accomplishments is authoring her first book, “Data (De)coded: What Everyone Needs to Know About Data and AI (No Tech Degree Required).” The book fulfills her mission to demystify the complex topics of data science and AI for everyone, not just those with tech degrees. Across all facets of her career, increasing accessibility to this information has been at the focal point, and publishing this book represents the ultimate opportunity to do so.
Advice for Aspiring Leaders
To anyone aspiring to take on greater leadership roles, Tiffany Perkins-Munn offers clear advice: “Focus on data literacy and critical questioning, and that goes for everyone, not just those working with data.”
First, leaders must understand that in today’s world, comprehending the language of data and AI is essential. The new playbook for leadership builds itself on evidence, not guesswork. Leaders who succeed are those who can move past technical jargon and use data as their guide to find meaningful patterns in information, making better decisions.
Second, leaders must resist the temptation to fall into the “AI said so” trap. Using these tools and technologies in the workplace is beneficial, but overreliance represents a critical error. The biggest mistakes she has witnessed aren’t technical failures; they’re behavioral failures that stem from people outsourcing their judgment. The highest-risk tasks, those involving ethical judgment, nuance, and human context, cannot safely be left to AI.
“Don’t let the tech override your humanness, no matter how advanced it becomes,” she warns. For aspiring leaders in the digital age, true, impactful leadership is about blending the speed and abilities of AI with the wisdom of human judgment.
A Message for the Future
Tiffany Perkins-Munn message resonates with clarity: Data literacy is your life jacket.
For growth and success, professionals must treat their professional and personal lives like scientists, constantly learning, questioning, and applying evidence. Rather than being passive consumers of AI and information, people must use their unique human judgment to turn data into a guide. This approach ensures staying ahead of the curve as technology advances while maintaining a sense of control and authenticity as both a leader and as a human.
As Tiffany Perkins-Munn continues to lead at the forefront of data analytics and AI, she remains committed to her mission of demystification and empowerment. In an age where technology threatens to overwhelm, she offers a reassuring truth: with the right perspective and tools, anyone can harness the power of data to shape their future. The key lies not in competing with artificial intelligence, but in understanding how to work alongside it—bringing the irreplaceable elements of human judgment, empathy, and wisdom to every decision we make.
