Becoming data-driven
AA: Apart from the challenges you just mentioned, based on your expertise in the large organizations you’ve worked with, what do you think are some other common challenges when it comes to organizations wanting to become data-driven and develop data science capabilities? Do you think part of it is a lack of data literacy at the senior levels, or having senior leaders who don’t have enough of a technical background or technical appreciation, leading to unrealistic expectations?
AG: Previously, the interest was not there. Ten or fifteen years back, people didn’t think that these things could be useful; they thought it was just academic. That changed a lot with that article in the Harvard Business Review by DJ Patil, saying that “data scientist” was a sexy career. Then, there was all the consulting work by McKinsey, PWC, and others. That consulting promoted data science at the top management levels.
The AI field involves more...