Sean Gartland

AI & Data Leader

I lead teams that turn governed data into practical AI capabilities, including agent orchestration, natural-language querying over semantic layers, and trusted self-service analytics.

Based in San Francisco.

Connect on LinkedIn

About

Executive range with hands-on depth

I work at the intersection of executive decision-making, data platform leadership, and hands-on product development. At Serena & Lily, I lead Data Analytics and build AI capabilities around governed data. Earlier, I partnered with the CEO and executive team at Dolls Kill on company strategy while leading the data organization. At Williams-Sonoma, I led forecasting, planning, and omnichannel initiatives across major retail brands.

I also build software to stay close to the product and engineering decisions behind useful data experiences. Outside work, I run, hike, and plan national park trips.

Current focus

Building AI as an organizational capability

Agent orchestration

Problem: Development work must move reliably from a request through implementation and validation.
Sean's role: Built an orchestration capability using reusable agents, skills, and MCP servers.
Production control: Automated build and test loops provide repeatable review points before work is complete.

Governed natural-language analytics

Problem: Business users need direct answers without creating competing definitions of the same metric.
Sean's role: Opened natural-language access to governed semantic-layer data.
Production control: Shared definitions and existing permissions remain in force when users query the data.

Platform governance

Problem: Self-service analysis becomes inconsistent when models and tools lack common standards.
Sean's role: Set organization-wide governance and data-modeling standards across Snowflake and Sigma.
Production control: Common modeling rules create a consistent foundation for trusted self-service analytics.

My focus is AI that fits the data model, controls, and workflows an organization can rely on.

Experience

Mandate, leadership, and organizational effect

Serena & Lily

Luxury home furnishings

Senior Director of Data Analytics

2021 – Present

Built an AI agent orchestration capability for development workflows, combining reusable skills and MCP servers with automated build and test loops.
Enabled business users to query governed semantic-layer data in natural language while preserving shared definitions and access controls.
Established governance and data-modeling standards across Snowflake and Sigma, creating a consistent foundation for trusted self-service analytics.

Dolls Kill

Sequoia-backed fashion startup

Head of Strategy and Data

2019 – 2021

Partnered directly with the CEO and executive team on company strategy, cash flow, investments, and operating costs during rapid growth.
Led data engineering, analytics engineering, and BI, building the data and forecasting foundation for inventory, pricing, and expansion decisions.
Presented quarterly board decks to the board and executive leadership.

Williams-Sonoma, Inc.

Fortune 500 home furnishings retailer

Director of Strategic Planning

2015 – 2019

Led the rollout of demand-forecasting and replenishment software across Williams Sonoma, West Elm, and Pottery Barn, creating a shared planning workflow across brands.
Diagnosed forecast instability caused by uncontrolled model parameters and drove the vendor platform fix.
Delivered buy-online-pickup-in-store and planning tools that connected merchandising and inventory workflows across channels.

Selected Builds

Hands-on product and engineering work

Where on Earth

A daily geography game on a satellite map stitched from open-source EOX imagery: five places a day, pin-distance scoring, 800+ locations, collectible postcards.

TimeSurf.TV

A year-by-year video discovery product that turns browsing by era into a channel-surfing experience, built in vanilla JavaScript and deployed on Vercel.

Fantasy Football Open

A season-long salary-cap game with roster rules, persistent leagues, and global leaderboards, built with React, TypeScript, and PostgreSQL.

One-Tap Arcade

A collection of single-input browser games designed around a shared interaction model, persistent identity, and global leaderboards.

Scoracle

A live sports analytics dashboard that turns dense box-score data into a fast, filterable comparison view.

View technical evidence on GitHub

Capabilities

Leadership range and technical fluency

Leadership

Data strategy
Team building
Executive partnership
Governance
Self-service analytics

AI and analytics

Agent orchestration
MCP
Semantic layers
Snowflake
Sigma
SQL
Python

Product engineering

TypeScript
JavaScript
React
PostgreSQL
Docker
Git

Contact

Let's talk

I'm exploring leadership roles where I can build strong data teams, governed analytics platforms, and practical AI capabilities.

Connect with Sean on LinkedIn