In a world where ‘data is the most important asset’ and all BI agencies and technology vendors are preaching about AI and Machine Learning as the answer to all questions and a ‘must-have’ for all ambitious companies, here is is the truth: it is totally ok that you (as a small or medium sized business) don’t have a handful of pyhton-coding Data Scientists scripting away in your unstructured Data Lake. You are ok (for now, anyway).
Are we the only ones not doing AI & ML?
In my beloved job as a data and analytics consultant I talk to data executives on a daily basis. Speaking whit them sometimes gives me a feeling, that they are somehow embarressed of their ‘missing’ initiatives on AI and Machine Learning. They often believe that they are the only company within their area of business that haven’t found a clear AI business case yet, and that are still focusing their data efforts to provide fast and solid reporting on their existing data . Instead of ‘Advanced Analytics’ they are focusing on ‘Simple Analytics’.
The truth is out there
Though, the truth is, that AI and Machine Learning can be pretty cool. But doing what is cool is not always the smartest thing for your business. The smartest thing for your business will typically be to start with the basics: reporting and dashboarding on your main KPI’s and business areas. I believe that this will provide 95% of the value that you can gain from the data in the short run.
For now, you should focus on building a solid reporting and dashboarding solution that embrace the different data-target groups in your company, bringing them the insights they need, whenever they need it. This often includes improving your data integrations, building or optimizing your data platform and modernizing the way you are using front-end tools by improving both data visualizations and User experience desings.
It is not Rocket Science
Even though this could sound like rocket science – it is not rocket science if this is what you do on a daily basis. For a professional business Intelligence consultancy – this should definitely not be Rocket Science – this should be a fairly simple task. I know that it is not very sexy selling simple solutions in the tech business.
So if your advisors are making this sound too complicated or advanced – find someone else. If your advisors can’t show you what you buy before you buy it – find someone else. If your advisors can’t explain their products or processes to you – find someone else.
Don’t make Insight ‘Rocket Science’.
Make Insight Simple!