Artificial Intelligence, Business Science

According to McKinsey, a lack of understanding of and strategy for AI is still the greatest barrier to its adoption in most organizations. People still often think about AI as science fiction, not as a tool that they can use to drive growth. Other organizations fear that leveraging their data more effectively would require data practices likely to turn consumers off.

The lack of general understanding and accessibility holds the field back and hurts many businesses that could benefit from more strategic deployment of AI. It’s a shame because AI can help businesses better meet evolving customer demands, especially when it comes to things that can make brands competitive in even the most difficult industries, like better customization and more personalized and efficient service. …

Business Science, Data Science

If you’ve never heard of a dendrogram, you’re not alone. I’d never heard of them myself until I started working as a data scientist. Then they quickly became vital to my work.

Why? They help us assess product similarity better — one fundamental way to make our AI-driven sales forecasts more accurate. If you want to improve your own sales forecasts (or are interested in creating a similar type of algorithm yourself), you need to master this concept.

What is a dendrogram?

A dendrogram is a type of diagram that shows you how strongly correlated different items are. This type of data visualization creates a tree branched from individual “leaves” or nodes that start in clusters of one that slowly pair distinct items with similar items to connect into larger groups of 2 (and then 4 and then 8, etc.). In the end, you get a chart that displays groups of similarity. You can see which items are almost identical according to a wide array of characteristics you define, as well as which items have the least in common. …

Business Science, Data Science

In the age of big data, the challenge is no longer accessing enough data; the challenge is figuring out the right data to use. In a past article, I focused on the value of alternative data, which is a vital business asset. Even with the benefits of alternative data, however, the wrong data granularity can undermine the ROI of data-driven management.

“We’re so obsessed with data, we forget how to interpret it”. — Danah Boyd, Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research

So how closely should you be looking at your data? …

Business Science

A question has been running through my head over the past few weeks: “How can I teach data science better?” What I didn’t realize until later, however, was that I was also asking,

“How can I be a better leader?”

This issue was on my mind because last week was a learning week at the company where I work, Evo. That means that every moment not spent addressing urgent client needs was devoted to learning initiatives. …

Business Science

A colleague of mine recently idly brought up the lipstick index, wondering what impact masks would have on its usefulness as an economic marker. I hadn’t heard the term, but the more I read, the more fascinated I became — and the deeper I looked into the topic. After applying a statistical analysis on what’s available in the market, I’d argue that there are a couple of alternatives that we can now use instead.

What is the lipstick index?

The lipstick index was coined during the 2001 recession by Leonard Lauder when he was the CEO of Estée Lauder. He noticed that lipstick sales spiked during times of economic downturn and reasoned that women were turning to lipstick as an affordable luxury that made them feel better about themselves while presenting a cheerier face to the world. …

Careers, Data Science, Business Science

Top data scientists come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Some study computer science and excel from day one at programming elegant models to analyze the data. Others study statistics and leverage their knowledge of using data to respond to a well-structured question. Nowadays, of course, many data scientists are actually studying in data science programs and develop a cross-section of all of these skills. Some, however, are like me and studied math.

My journey into data science

When I started university, I knew math was the right degree program for me. I’ve always enjoyed math: its pure logic and the satisfaction that comes from solving an equation. Plus, it came easily to me. …

Business Science

Alternative data has been a buzzword among investors for several years now. By leveraging the insights available in non-traditional datasets, hedge funds can reap massive profits off insights that aren’t easily available to the average investor or anyone looking at traditional markers. Hedge funds so value alternative data that, according to JP Morgan, asset managers were already spending $2–3 billion on alternative data in 2017 and those investments have increased 10–20% a year since.

But it is not just hedge funds who profit from alternative data. All kinds of businesses can use alternative data to increase returns — and the most innovative companies have realized that alternative data holds the key to maximizing their competitive advantage. In fact, data science analyses that leverage alternative data outperform benchmarks about 13% better than traditional approaches to analytics. …