John K. Thompson - Building Analytics Teams: Harnessing analytics and artificial intelligence for business improvement

Building Analytics Teams

Harnessing analytics and artificial intelligence for business improvement

John K. Thompson

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI

Building Analytics Teams

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First published: June 2020

Production reference: 1260620

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ISBN 978-1-80020-316-7

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Thomas H. Davenport, Distinguished Professor, Babson College and Research Fellow, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, author ofCompeting on AnalyticsandThe AI Advantage:

Much has been made of the data scientist as the hero of analytics and AI, but John Thompson reminds us in this book that the key unit of analytical performance is the diverse and integrated team. Successful analytics require a multifaceted set of tasks in a well-managed process, and Thompson knows how to make it work. His deep experience comes through on every page.

Judith Hurwitz, President and CEO, Hurwitz & Associates:

John's deep expertise and real-world experience adds depth to this excellent book. The focus on best practices is an essential to the success of leaders in advanced analytics.

Bill Schmarzo, Chief Innovation Officer, Hitachi Ventara:

John's new book is designed to prepare business executives for the hard and grueling job of building an analytics-centric organization. As I would expect, John does not pull his punches as his book details the processes and even more importantly, the analytic mindset that must be transformed in order to exploit the customer, product, and operational value buried in an organization's data. John's book is the most detailed, real-world "roadmap" I've read for organizations that want to become analytics-driven. But, as John points out so well, this will not be an easy journey and requires a management team with the fortitude to see it through. But for those organizations who can follow the roadmap and see the transformation through to the end, great fortune awaits!

Kirk Borne, Principal Data Scientist, Data Science Fellow, and Executive Advisor at Booz Allen Hamilton:

If you are reading this now, that means you are living through the most dynamic period of innovation and technological revolution in history. This 4th industrial revolution is triggered by, fueled by, and sustained by massive flows of data. Data flows into, across, and out of organizations worldwide at the speed of light, that is, at the speed of hyperconnected people, processes, and products, capturing their behaviors, contexts, influences, and outcomes. This intensely needed book by John Thompson helps executives and managers set up analytics teams for business value creation, operational effectiveness, and mission success. The fundamental requirement on these analytics teams is to assist and maintain the forward progress of business at the lightning speed of data. The various components of data-intensive operational business systems are covered tactically and strategically in this book: analytics culture, advanced analytics project management, team dynamics, and right-sized artificial intelligence deployments. Competitive advantage is now a moving target and insufficient for survival; dynamic market leadership is essential. With this book, executive leaders and analytics teams will be guided to develop sustained, strategic, and even revolutionary advantage from massive data flows through advanced analytics and AI centers of excellence.

Over the past couple of decades, analytics, for the most part, has evolved from groups of report writers somewhat resembling "typing pools" from days gone by to an assortment of organizational and operating models requiring a wide range of technical and business skills. Few have been witness to, or incited, these advancements more than John Thompson.

But at the same time, in Building Analytics Teams: Harnessing analytics and artificial intelligence for business improvement, you can sense John's palpable impatience at how so many enterprises continue to take old-school approaches to analytics, or latch onto the latest technology trends with nary a thought given to the necessary introduction of organizational change and team-based approaches. This is where this book differs from others you may have read... or skimmed hoping to find the answers.

As John's and my hometown legend Michael Jordan once quipped, "There's no I in TEAM, but there is in WIN." Analytics has become a team sport, and such teams require strong leadership to win at it. And just as any player on any winning team will tell you, the organization is bigger than just the players. It starts at the top and goes down to the support personnel. With this mindset, John shares his decades of experience, not just in building high-functioning analytics teams, but also in bringing along the entire organization, from the top down.