FAQs
What is Madison Data Advisory?
Madison Data Advisory is an independent executive consulting firm based in Madison, WI. We provide fractional data leadership and strategic advisory services to help organizations guide, build, and mature their data and AI capabilities. The firm is led by its founder and primary consultant, Tony Dahlager.
What services do you offer?
We offer two primary ways to work together:
Fractional Data Leadership: When you need execution, not just advice, we step directly into your org chart. We provide the executive focus required to turn strategy into reality and cultivate your existing talent.
Data Leadership Advisory: When you have the right team but the wrong playbook, we stand beside your leaders. We provide strategic assessments and ongoing advisory retainers to help your leaders navigate complex roadblocks.
What is fractional data leadership?
Fractional data leadership is a flexible engagement where an experienced executive integrates directly into your organization on a part-time basis. By combining AI with executive experience to drive strategy, accelerate execution, and enable your team, we generate outsized results. Our past engagements have consistently proven that long-term data leadership simply does not require a 40-hour workweek. This allows you to access top-tier talent and achieve your goals at a fraction of the traditional cost.
When are data leadership advisory services valuable?
Data teams typically struggle because of a fundamental gap in leadership backgrounds. When an excellent technician is promoted into leadership, they often lack the people management and business strategy experience to connect their team's work to broader company goals. Conversely, when a business executive inherits a data team, a lack of technical experience makes it hard for them to identify risks, leading to expensive "hard lessons" as data needs scale. We bridge this gap by augmenting those weaknesses and coaching your leaders into well-rounded executives.
What makes Madison Data Advisory different?
True Independence: We do not accept kickbacks to recommend specific software or service providers. We have no referral partnerships and no technology alliances. We do not have a bench of idle consultants, nor do we hire subcontractors. Our advice is entirely objective, driven solely by what is best for your organization.
Direct Access to the Principal: In traditional agencies, you often pay premium rates to be handed off to a junior associate. Here, you work directly with a former Chief Data Officer and a leader of data leadership consultants. You get top-tier executive strategy and execution without the bloated agency overhead.
Strategic Safeguard for the C-Suite: If you’re an executive leading a struggling data function, we provide the unvarnished truth. We act as a strategic safeguard: we diagnose the root causes of team struggles and provide clear and actionable recommendations to fix them.
Uncompromising Integrity: We believe consulting is at its best when it values people and relationships first. Our deep-seated values direct our approach, which is transparent, above reproach, and centered on doing what is genuinely right for your business - especially when it is not necessarily what’s best for us.
Enablement Over Dependency: We are educators at heart. Our goal is always to make your team capable, not to make ourselves indispensable. We focus on transferring knowledge and building up your internal capabilities so we can move on to your next hardest problem - or move on altogether.
The AI Advantage: We view fractional leadership as a sustainable operating model, not a temporary band-aid. By utilizing AI as a force multiplier for execution, we deliver full-impact results in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost.
What types of organizations do you work with?
We have worked with organizations of all types, shapes, and sizes. We work hard to design engagements that fit your budget, have a clear exit strategy, and have a measurable return on investment.
Who is Tony Dahlager?
Tony is the founder and primary consultant at Madison Data Advisory. He is a seasoned data executive with over a decade of experience delivering value to his clients in complex engagements. He is passionate about building resilient and capable data and AI teams who care deeply about helping the organizations they serve.
Where can I learn more about Madison Data Advisory’s views on data and leadership?
There are four main ways to learn more about Madison Data Advisory’s viewpoint on the data industry and healthy data leadership practices.