With over 30 years in the IT industry—primarily focused on data—Heather Gardner has seen it all. Her journey began as a database administrator wrangling an Access database dedicated to cheese, and evolved into a dynamic career as a Business Systems Analyst at Alliant Energy, where she’s spent the last 14+ years driving data strategy and governance.

Heather’s secret weapon? Agility. Even before she knew what “agile” meant, she was living it—adapting to shifting technologies, evolving business needs, and the ever-changing landscape of enterprise data. Her experience spans legacy systems to modern data platforms, always with a focus on making data meaningful, accessible, and actionable.