Sandhya Narayanan
LA Department of Water and Power
Executive Director of Data Management
Sandhya Narayanan is the Executive Director of Data Management at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), where she leads enterprise data strategy powering mission-critical initiatives including grid modernization, asset management, wildfire mitigation, smart metering, and AI adoption across the utility.
With over 20 years of experience across manufacturing, industrial, and utility sectors, including leadership roles at Cummins, she brings deep expertise at the intersection of OT, IT, and AI, enabling the convergence of industrial control systems with modern enterprise data platforms to operationalize data at scale in complex, regulated environments Her background includes extensive application of Lean Six Sigma process excellence methodologies in manufacturing, where she led efforts to improve operational efficiency, quality, and reliability through data-driven process optimization and disciplined execution frameworks. This foundation continues to inform her approach to building scalable, governed, and outcome-oriented data ecosystems. Sandhya champions a disruptive, AI-driven approach to data management, evolving governance from a control function into a value accelerator.
She leads enterprise data architecture, engineering, governance, and platform strategy, advancing a data product- centric operating model that delivers trusted, reusable, and decision-ready data assets aligned to business priorities. Her work enables real-time, trusted, decision-making and responsible AI adoption, including agentic AI, driving operational resilience, regulatory compliance, and improved customer outcomes across critical infrastructure systems.