In a recent conversation with data warehousing legend Bill Inmon, I learned about a new way to structure your data warehouse and self-service BI environment called the Unified Star Schema. The Unified Star Schema is potentially a small revolution for data analysts and business users as it allows them to easily join tables in a data warehouse or BI platform through a bridge. This gives users the ability to spend time and effort on discovering insights rather than dealing with data connectivity ch...
Jun 15, 2022•48 min•Ep. 30
Modern analytics teams are central business functions directly and indirectly responsible for increasing revenue, reducing costs, optimising processes and improving customer and employee satisfaction. But there are many obstacles along the way. Data needs collecting, projects need careful design and execution and stakeholders need convincing. Analytics teams are required to cover a wide range of technical knowledge, business acumen and leadership skills to be impactful. What is the recipe for cr...
Jun 05, 2022•50 min•Ep. 29
There is so much to learn! If you’re anything like me, you’re overwhelmed by the number of books, articles, podcasts, online and offline courses, webinars and other training opportunities out there. Today, we’re not short of learning materials, but often lack the time and capacity to learn new things. But what if there’s a better way to learn? Enter the concept of “Ultralearning”, coined by best-selling author Scott Young. A few years ago, I read Scott’s book Ultralearning and it changed my life...
May 18, 2022•59 min•Ep. 28
An estimated 80 to 90 percent of the data in an enterprise is text. Sadly, this rich information is mostly neglected for analytical purposes. Textual data is typically full of information, but also very complex to interpret computationally and statistically. Why? Because textual data is both content and context. The same words and sentences can have very different meanings depending on the context. Textual data is truly a goldmine, but how can we mine it without being digital superpowers like Go...
May 11, 2022•51 min•Ep. 27
This is the second episode of a two-part series of Leaders of Analytics featuring global data science thought leader and influencer Felipe Flores. Felipe is a global thought leader and influencer in the field of data science and artificial intelligence. He is the founder of Data Futurology – a podcast and events company with more than 10,000 weekly listeners, Head of Data & Technology at Honeysuckle Health and co-organiser of Data Science Melbourne. In this episode we discuss: Felipe’s work ...
May 05, 2022•42 min•Ep. 26
Automated decisions, personalised customer and employee experiences and data-driven decision-making are at the core of digital transformation in the 2020s. In other words, data is eating the world and all modern leaders must know how to use data, analytics and advanced data science to power their organisations. So, how do organisations set themselves up for success in a data-driven world, technically and culturally? To answer this question and many more relating to data-driven innovation and int...
Apr 27, 2022•52 min•Ep. 25
When we talk about data and AI ethics, we typically view this through a privacy lens. That is, someone’s personal data has either been compromised and ended up in the wrong hands, or personal data is used to manipulate or create adverse outcomes for individuals or minority groups. These factors are still fundamental to AI ethics, but there is now also a big focus on the broader social impact of AI, including human rights, data privacy and using AI for good. Enter the concept of data pollution . ...
Apr 20, 2022•51 min•Ep. 24
Is the typical hiring and job search process broken? It is definitely full of bias. First, we get interested candidates to submit their resumes. Then someone (typically not the hiring manager) will pick out the resumes that look most interesting to them. Resumes that survive are typically carefully curated for someone to be able to form a positive opinion in just a few seconds. Then the hiring manager will pick their favourites out of that smaller pile. At this point, the lion’s share of candida...
Apr 13, 2022•52 min•Ep. 23
Blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and decentralised finance are described by some as massively disruptive technologies that will turn our existing financial system on its head. For the traditional financial services industry, these technologies have the potential to create huge efficiency gains and democratise more complex financial services for individual users. On the other hand, DeFi also reduces – and potentially removes – the need for trusted intermediaries, which makes the model unse...
Mar 31, 2022•47 min•Ep. 22
Data is everywhere, but do we know what it means? A common problem for many enterprises wanting to adopt cutting edge, data-driven solutions is that they have a ton of legacy applications interlinking with more modern tech stacks. If the organisation is large or complex enough, it typically becomes unrealistic for any one individual to understand how it all hangs together. All of these applications generate data points with their own definitions, meaning and naming conventions. How do organisati...
Mar 24, 2022•50 min•Ep. 21
Ever heard of ‘synthetic data’? Synthetic data is data that is artificially created (from statistical models), rather than generated by actual events. It contains all the characteristics of production data, minus the sensitive stuff. By 2024, 60% of the data used for the development of AI and analytics projects will be synthetically generated, according to Gartner. The reason organisations may use synthetic data over actual data is because you can get it more quickly, easily and cheaply. But the...
Mar 16, 2022•44 min•Ep. 20
Is AI good or bad? That would depend on how AI is applied. AI is a revolutionary capability with the power to do a lot of good and plenty of bad, on purpose or by omission. In order for AI to become a social good that improves our lives in broad terms, we must necessarily pick the right use cases and design solutions with a strong focus on ethics and privacy. So, how is AI being used for social good today, and how do we ensure the important topics of ethics and privacy are front and centre for t...
Mar 09, 2022•55 min•Ep. 19
Data is eating the world and every industry is impacted. In most modern businesses, customer and employee activities create a plethora of data points and information that can be analysed and interpreted to make better decisions for the business and its customers. Unfortunately, this sounds a lot easier than it is. Despite the huge mountains of data being created, many organisations struggle to get their business intelligence to serve them in the best way. This is not due to a shortage of reports...
Mar 03, 2022•58 min•Ep. 18
"We’re at a crossroads when it comes to data and its ability to make a difference. Data sprawl has become a real and costly problem inside organizations, and it is hurting innovation. Throwing good money at bad ideals is no longer acceptable, ROIs must be attained. Let us embrace innovative technology, but let us also keep in mind that data itself is useless unless you do something with it!" These are the words of Carla Gentry, one of my guests in this episode. And I agree with her. Data is a st...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 17
We are living in an artificial revolution where the balance of power and political influence is shifting towards those who control data and technology. Automation is transforming our economies and making some jobs obsolete. Companies harvest our most intimate secrets and use them to feed us tailored information and sell us products. The metaverse is the development of a virtual world with the potential to separate us from the physical world altogether. AI is making our lives more curated and con...
Feb 16, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 16
When we talk about analytics and AI-driven organisations, we often think of the likes of Google, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix and Tencent, which have all risen to dominance during the internet era. But what about companies that have been around for much longer, can they achieve the same results with their data? To answer this question, I recently spoke to Tom Davenport who is one of the world’s foremost thought leaders and authors in the areas of business, analytics, data science and AI. He is the ...
Feb 10, 2022•49 min•Ep. 15
Why is the Data Scientist role called the sexiest job of the 21st century? I believe it’s partly because the data science profession is constantly evolving to include new data types, new tech and tools, new modelling techniques along with an increasing ability to drive customer and business outcomes with data. The main challenge for data scientists becomes one of bandwidth. Great data scientists are highly intelligent, technically proficient, curious and creative, but even so, the world of data ...
Feb 01, 2022•39 min•Ep. 14
In my opinion, any organisation with respect for its data should have a Chief Data & Analytics Officer (CDAO) as part of their C-suite. Although the CDAO role is still nascent, business leaders across many industries are starting to appreciate the need for a data and analytics voice at board and executive level. So, what does a CDAO do? How should they spend their time to balance strategic influence with operational delivery of data products? To answer these questions and many more related t...
Jan 26, 2022•46 min•Ep. 13
Data science and machine learning are integral parts of most large-scale product manufacturing processes and are used to understand customer needs, detect quality issues, automate repetitive tasks and optimise supply chains. It’s an invisible glue that helps us produce more things for less, and in a timely fashion. To learn more about this fascinating topic, I recently spoke to Ranga Ramesh who is Senior Director, Quality Innovation and Transformation at Georgia-Pacific. Georgia-Pacific is one o...
Jan 18, 2022•38 min•Ep. 12
Data science and machine learning are continuing to evolve as core capabilities across many industries. But high-quality data science output is only half the story. As the data science profession matures from “back office support” to leading from the front, there is an increasing need for more integrated systems that plug into business operations. To get the most out of these capabilities, organisations must move beyond just building robust models, and establish operational processes that can pr...
Jan 13, 2022•47 min•Ep. 11
“Out of stock”. Three words with a great deal of significance for retailers and their customers. It is estimated that retail products are out of stock 8% of the time in physical stores, and more than 14% of the time in e-commerce stores, leading to frustration for retailers and customers alike. Retailers miss out on important revenue from the forgone sales. Customers leave unfulfilled and are less likely to return to the same retailer or recommend it to others in their network. Supply chains fee...
Jan 06, 2022•52 min•Ep. 10
My guest on this episode of Leaders of Analytics is Kate Strachnyi. Kate is a well-known figure in the global data community. She is a master educator and prolific content creator who has built an online community of almost 200,000 followers. Through the DATAcated brand she runs online training, seminars, conferences, expos and podcasts while connecting data professionals across the world. She is also the author of four books in the data science genre and a marathon runner. I recently caught up ...
Dec 13, 2021•44 min•Ep. 9
This might just be the most interesting and thought-provoking episode of Leaders of Analytics yet. Why? Without even recognising it, you make hundreds of ethical decisions every day. Some of these decisions you probably don’t even recognise as being grounded in ethical principles because they are so ingrained in your subconscious. AI on the other hand, doesn’t make decisions based on ethics, unless ethical behaviour is somehow picked up in the training data. Therefore, we must make AI ethical by...
Nov 30, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 8
There are so many ways to use AI technology in retail to improve customer experience, optimise supply chains and reduce waste. Yet it seems to me that most innovations in the retail industry over the last 30 years have focused on automating labour-intensive tasks. In my personal opinion, the retail customer experience has not improved markedly in my lifetime, and in some cases, it has gotten worse. Anyone who’s ever interacted with a self-checkout machine will know what I mean. So, what is next ...
Nov 16, 2021•58 min•Ep. 7
If you dream of using analytics to optimise your customer interactions and squeeze additional value out of your existing operations, then is episode is for you! Today, most large services businesses have established data science functions that churn out countless reports, dashboards, customer insights packs, machine learning models, forecasts and predictions. With all this information to hand, you would hope that front-line operations are making data-driven decisions across the board. But alas, ...
Oct 27, 2021•48 min•Ep. 6
AI and machine learning are seen by many as capabilities with enormous potential for unlocking digital personalisation and customer empathy at scale. Organisations that get this right are disrupting industries and leaving old-school competitors broke. Just think of what global businesses like Netflix, Amazon and Facebook have been able to achieve with data-driven personalisation. Yet, for many organisations, the promise of AI seems elusive or at least very hard to achieve. Many businesses are no...
Oct 12, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 5
Digitally connected humans like you and me are surrounded by a plethora of AI solutions that make our lives easier and more efficient. Just think about the algorithms driving Netflix and Youtube’s video recommendations or the facial recognition feature on your phone that saves you a few seconds every time you unlock it. But for every useful AI solution, there are probably hundreds of solutions that don’t meet the functional, economic or ethical standards of their end users. So, what’s the trick ...
Sep 19, 2021•24 min•Ep. 4
Digital transformation 2.0 is upon us! We have spent the last two decades digitising many products, services and processes to create digital experiences that are consistent, reliable and always on. That’s digital transformation 1.0 stuff. The next decade will be all about creating data-driven personalisation at scale. Rather than treating everyone the same in our digital environment, we will increasingly be using customer data to tailor the customer experience to individual customer needs. In th...
Aug 10, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 3
Data, networks and AI are eating the world and industries such as banking, insurance, utilities and telecommunications are changing rapidly as a result. As an online product comparison portal and trusted third party to millions of consumers, Finder.com is well placed to be a huge winner from this trend. The company sits in the middle of many data-heavy industries that are about being disrupted by the data revolution. The guest on this episode of Leaders of Analytics is Finder.com’s co-founder an...
Jul 27, 2021•43 min•Ep. 2
Jamie is a data advocate with a strong belief in the transformative potential of data. She is the founder and CEO of Open Data Australia and the regional director for FDATA Australasia and an advisor on digital identity to the United Nations Capital Development Fund. Jamie is the go-to person for knowledge and insights on the topics of data privacy, governance, strategy, policy and regulation. She has a vision for how data can be used to improve the lives and financial outcomes of everyday citiz...
Jul 11, 2021•57 min•Ep. 1
