The 2018 Rising Stars of the Profession: Maggie Seeds

Maggie Seeds joined Clarkston in 2012 and quickly became a sought-after resource for her expertise in all things data, particularly analytics and data science. She joined Clarkston as a developer, giving her unique insight into problem resolution through technology.

Shortly after joining Clarkston, Seeds was given the opportunity to join CEO Tom Finegan in creating an internal group of stewards interested in the food and beverage industry. The two grew the group to over 40 participants in a few years and were able to drive a lot of value through the firm in the form of thought leadership, project support, and monthly knowledge sharing sessions.

"I'm proud of this group, it's continued to grow and we've been fortunate to work with some of the most successful companies in the food and beverage industry," Seeds says. "The lessons that experience gave me have been especially invaluable as I continue to help build our data science practice."

Her technical foundation with data has propelled Seeds into a leadership role, having learned about the typical pitfalls of inaccurate/missing data, as well as the often-difficult task of integrating data sources to drive decision-making. She now leads Clarkston's Advanced Analytics practice.

"I'm excited to partner with clients to keep learning and being a part of a lot of transformation as the business landscape almost completely shifts around us," Seeds says.

"Technology is enabling so many exciting avenues for growth and it's thrilling to help our clients navigate all of the possibilities of things like machine-learning or e-commerce or big data. Being a data scientist and seeing how much potential there is for our clients—you can't help but be excited."