Becoming Data Fluent: Lead with Data in the Age of AI
I recently published a short blog post on how analysts can upskill in the age of AI to remain relevant and lead with data. With the advent of these new tools, data analysts need to evolve or risk becoming obsolete. Let’s dive deeper into connecting data with strategy to help you succeed.
Yesterday’s analysts built dashboards. Today’s analysts drive decisions.
As AI automates routine tasks, your value lies in what machines can’t replicate: business acumen, strategic thinking, and human connection. It’s time for you to these skills into play and show your organization how you can really make the data work for them.
Your business doesn’t just want dashboards—they want direction. You need to:
Earn the trust of decision makers in your business.
Balance data insights with business context and intuition.
Use data to tell a compelling story that drives action.
So, how do we earn trust? We start with getting to know our colleagues and their business.
The best way to increase your visibility and build trust is to connect with the decision makers in your organization. Here’s a few ways to increase your visibility:
Schedule short coffee chats with leaders. Ask about their goals, challenges, and how they use data. These conversations build trust and uncover high-impact opportunities.
Attend activities and events offered by your organization. The more you know about the business and the people in it, the better the connections you can make.
Shadow leaders (if possible). If you organization offers the option, ask to shadow leaders and understand a day in their life.
Attend industry events related to your business. Seeing you company from the view of the market will help you better connect your analyses to the greater context in which your business functions.
Ask for support and feedback. One of the best ways to build trust is to ask for help. Have leaders and others review your work and provide feedback. Implement their suggestions and tell them about it. People feel valued when they’re included.
Making connections will only make your job easier. You’ll be able to identify critical business questions, connect your work to the business strategy and be known as a trusted advisor.
Why do we need to balance data insights with business context and intuition?
Each analysis project you complete should in some way be connected to the business strategy. If it’s not, you should question why you are completing the work. It’s easy to get pulled into analysis projects that are done just because the data is available, but that doesn’t lead to strategic results. So how do we embed strategy in analytics?
Know your organizations strategy inside and out. Knowing the goals of the organization and keeping them in your mind during the analytical process will help you make the best decisions for the business. It will help you identify which data have the most impact and which outputs from your analyses will drive decision making and action.
Understand past trends and future forecasts for your business. You’re an analyst. Use your strengths to look at where the business was and where it’s headed. What can you infer from these trends to help focus your analytical work?
Say “no” to analyses that won’t provide value. You need to be focused on the most high value work to provide the most value to the business. You can only do so if you align your work with the strategic goals of the business.
How do we tell data stories that drive action?
Please don’t make any more dashboards. Data stories are much more powerful and stick with your audiences much longer than a cluttered and overwhelming dashboard.
You know your audience (you’ve been having coffee with them) and you know your business strategy (you took the time to learn it); now is the time to put those connections and knowledge to work.
Here’s some great data story-telling resources to get you started. We’ll dive deeper into this topic in a future post.
Final Thought:
The future of analytics isn’t in dashboards—it’s in decisions. Get curious, get connected, and start leading with data that drives real impact.
Post conceived of by Justeen Gales and written with the support of Microsoft Copilot.