Extra tags: Digital Transformation
Data analytics has long been an important aspect of digital transformation, enabling businesses to transform large swathes of raw data into meaningful, actionable insights. But what does the future hold for analytics in today’s post-pandemic world?
At the recently hosted DataFest Asia Pacific event, Tableau explored this very future, as well as the growing need for the democratisation of data analytics. Tableau speakers also shared some of the insights they have gained from their customers, highlighting how their platform changes the way people use data to solve problems and gives individuals and organisations the ability to make the most of their data.
JY Pook, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific and Japan, Tableau at Salesforce, officiated the ceremony by providing an in-depth understanding of Tableau and how the company has helped countless companies with data analytics. He also explained ways to unlock the power of data analytics, the importance of data literacy, and steps to future-proof the workforce.
Pook said that the importance of data analytics and transforming data has only become greater since the Covid-19 crisis, which has forced rapid digital adoption throughout this region. According to Pook, it is vital to harness the power of data because “every digital transformation is a data transformation.”
“Big data has grown up and it is now at the core of decision-making for businesses and organisations. Businesses use data to learn about market trends, understand customer profiles, and analyse sales cycles. Governments use data for city planning, budgeting and allocating resources. These days, non-profit organisations are using data to raise funds, identify where more help is needed and intelligently allocate funding. In fact, data is not just sweeping across businesses and governments but we are living digitised lives, and data is part and parcel of how we work, live and play,” mentioned Pook during his keynote speech.
The Future of Data Analytics
According to Wendy Turner-Williams, Chief Data Officer, Tableau at Salesforce, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is going to be a huge part of the future of data analytics. By the end of 2024, 75% of organisations will have operationalised AI, leading to a 5-fold growth in streaming data and analytics infrastructures, as predicted by Gartner.
AI has the potential to greatly improve analytics processes, allowing businesses to internalise data-driven decision-making and making data management simpler for all employees. Thus, AI aids in the democratisation of data across the organisation and frees up time previously spent on manual operations by data analysts, data scientists, engineers, and other data professionals.
Speaking about Tableau’s own approach, she said, “Our approach to Artificial Intelligence is more than just an algorithm; rather, it is motivated by practical applications that aim to assist individuals and organisations in providing answers to important problems. Tableau integrates transparent Artificial Intelligence into its platform so that everyone can clearly understand how predictions and insights are exposed and why they are significant. This enables you to make wiser decisions directly in the flow of analysis, which helps you save time.”
She also believed that AI is good at augmenting and empowering human expertise rather than replacing humans for good. For instance, Artificial Intelligence can help to improve and support sales and customer services, lower costs and aid in discovering the problems and gathering the right solutions.
Wendy Turner-Williams was joined by Thi Ho, an author and Tableau's Ambassador, who highlighted how Tableau has made her life easier by reducing the amount of time it takes her to completely grasp data which would have taken her hours or even days. Often, even before we obtain the data, Ho pointed out that we operate on the assumption that it will be challenging and difficult to understand the data. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Ho said that she is able to increase her contextual interaction with data by using Tableau's Augmented analytics, which is powered by AI and Machine-Learning (ML). The goal of the software and hardware components that make up augmented analytics is to make analytical capabilities more widely available, such as recommendations, insights, and query guidance. When there is a technology or a platform like Tableau’s, that assists users in synthesising, analysing, and presenting data, it will significantly increase the comprehension speed which can be achieved as the learning curve is accelerated, explained Ho.
left to right: Wendy Turner-Williams, Chief Data Officer, Tableau at Salesforce and Thi Ho, Tableau Public Featured Author & Tableau Ambassador
Both Turner-Williams and Ho agreed Artificial Intelligence is the future of data analytics, however, emphasis must be put on AI ethics as there have been growing concerns about data privacy as automated systems increasingly track users.
The Importance of Data Democratisation
In a panel discussion, Tableau lined up the triple threat consisting of Tableau at Salesforce’s Senior Technical Evangelist, Ashley Howard Neville as the moderator, QBE Insurance’s Vice President of Data Science, Sean Burns and Taveloka’s Lead – Corporate Analytics and BI, Umesh Ramakrishnan, who delved further on the growing need of democratising business data. The panellists began the discussion by focusing on industry leaders and how they deliver new ways of working to achieve impactful outcomes with data every day.
top left: Umesh Ramakrishnan, Taveloka’s Lead – Corporate Analytics and BI
top right: Sean Burns, QBE Insurance’s Vice President of Data Science
bottom centre: Ashley Howard Neville, Tableau at Salesforce’s Senior Technical Evangelist
During their talks, both Burns and Ramakrishnan highlighted the great importance of business leaders (and their employees) being data literate. Data literacy allows one to boost sales performance, streamline operations, and make other improvements by applying approaches to derive meaning from data and convey insights. By being data literate, they know what questions to ask to achieve their objectives, how to find the information they need, whether or not it can be trusted, and how to put that information to use in practical business situations.
The panellists agreed that data literacy may have far-reaching benefits, including enhanced decision-making, increased innovation and efficiency and a better experience for customers and employees. Leaders can implement a five-step framework to create a data-literate culture within an organisation:
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Start With Leadership
Leaders drive process and culture. All department leaders must cultivate a data-first culture to establish a data-driven organisation.
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Assess the Organisation’s Current Data Literacy
Leaders must first understand how people create, use, and communicate data in all major business activities to increase an organisation's data literacy. Data literacy initiatives are part of digital transformation. While these efforts focus on new technology and data sources, they must also improve everyone's capacity to grasp their findings.
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Create Measurable Goals
Helping every person at every level become data literate is a time-consuming and continuing task for large firms. Setting objectives, targets, and KPIs help measure progress.
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Develop a Data Literacy Training Plan
Leaders should establish a training plan that includes lectures, group classes, quizzes, online courses, and games.
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Reward Learning
Rewarding data literacy can speed up adoption. Some departments may attach bonuses to data-related goals and KPIs. Employees will be more receptive to learning and adopting new systems and prepared to engage with colleagues to ensure its success.
