Christopher Watkins
Senior Vice President of Strategic Insights/Chief Data Officer
Chris Watkins serves as IFF’s chief data officer and senior vice president of strategic insights. Based in IFF’s Chicago office, Chris leads the organization’s data insights and data systems teams and guides IFF’s use of qualitative and quantitative data to expand its reach, modernize its tech stack, and improve its decision-making capacity.
Chris has nearly 15 years of experience in the tech and data fields, in roles ranging from running his own startup to using machine learning and artificial intelligence to help build products for companies such as Google, Uber, Walmart, and GoodRx. In addition, he has served as an advisor to The Community Works of Lake County, a workforce development nonprofit based in his hometown of Waukegan, IL, for more than 10 years.
Chris received his bachelor’s degree from Morehouse College and his MBA from Yale University.