Over the past few years, AI has gone from a nice-to-have tool to a major force in analytics. It can clean messy datasets, build predictive models, write and debug code, automate dashboards, and, even more impressively, return results in seconds. So yes, AI is already outperforming analysts in several technical areas. But here’s the real question many organisations are wrestling with: If AI can do the technical work, what does that mean for the future of data analysts? The ans

As data analysts, we often define our work by the numbers, models, dashboards, and SQL queries. But here’s the truth: your analysis is only as impactful as your ability to persuade others to act on it. You can build the most elegant model or deliver a perfectly visualised dashboard, but if your stakeholders misunderstand or ignore your insights, your influence ends at the spreadsheet. That’s where influence and persuasion come in, not manipulation, but the science of guiding

Take Back Control of Your Time, Your Value, and Your Happiness As data analysts, we're celebrated for our technical expertise, attention to detail, and ability to bring clarity to complex problems. But there’s one skill we don’t talk about enough, assertiveness. Many of us entered the analytics field believing that if we quietly do good work, recognition will follow. Yet over time, you might find yourself constantly firefighting last-minute requests, working late to meet unre

As data analysts, it’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that technical mastery is the ultimate goal. We hone our SQL queries, perfect Python scripts, build sophisticated machine learning models, and create dazzling dashboards in Tableau or Power BI. We become experts in cleaning, transforming, and modelling data with precision. But in our pursuit of technical excellence, we often lose sight of the true purpose of our work: to drive business value. Having spent over 30

Data analysts play a pivotal role in shaping business strategies, but their true value isn’t just in crunching numbers—it’s in understanding what those numbers mean in a commercial context. Commercial awareness is the key ingredient that enables analysts to transform raw data into actionable insights, allowing businesses to make informed, strategic decisions. In this article, we’ll explore why commercial understanding is a game-changer for data analysts and how they can devel

In today’s fast-paced data-driven world, top analysts understand that technical skills alone won’t guarantee success. It’s not just about crunching numbers or designing sophisticated dashboards—it’s about forging strong relationships and instilling confidence in stakeholders. The Challenge of Stakeholder Collaboration Let’s be honest: working with stakeholders isn’t always smooth sailing. When collaboration falters, frustrations mount on both sides. Stakeholders may approach

In recent conversations with clients and industry experts, the topics of data literacy and fluency are coming up more frequently. As businesses shift towards data democratisation, tools like Power BI and Tableau are being deployed to make data accessible to all employees. However, this transformation brings with it a growing need to elevate the general level of data and analytical understanding across organisations—a task that presents significant challenges. For many compani

It’s great when an analytical team is in demand - it means the organisation is hungry for your services and is keen to leverage the skills and value you can bring to the decision making process. However, all too often this increase in demand can lead to analysts over-committing themselves as they bow to the pressure stakeholders place on the team. Without an effective way of managing and planning incoming work, the situation can quickly escalate with teams over-promising and

Some analysts might find this surprising, but being great isn't just about how technically skilled you are, nor is it something you can judge on your own. Self-assessing our technical abilities (a common way some analysts measure their 'greatness') won't truly show how much we're contributing to the organisation. Traditional Personal Development Plans (PDPs) often stick to SMART targets, which is great because it means our goals and tasks can be easily measured. However, whil

When I run my workshops for analysts, I often survey the participants to understand their frustrations and challenges. Frequently, these issues revolve around engagement—or the lack thereof—with stakeholders. Common complaints include stakeholders being vague or ambiguous with their requests, analysts feeling out of the loop, and not being involved early enough to influence the outcomes of initiatives, just to name a few. The problem is, if analysts experience these frustrati

As reporting and analytical tools continue to evolve, the push to empower end-users with these software capabilities becomes harder to argue against. With minimal training, individuals without technical or analytical backgrounds can now produce a variety of analyses and reports. Termed as "data democratisation", this approach appears to be a great solution in organisations with limited analytical resource or where existing analytical resource is haemorrhaging and becoming a b

It's surprising how some charts are praised for their visual appeal, yet upon closer analysis, they prove to be overly complex and fail to convey a clear message. The ultimate goal of data visualisation is to make information come alive and be easily understood by viewers.  However, I've seen supposedly award-winning visualisations that took me a considerable amount of time to grasp and it appears that judges often value the "cleverness" of a visualisation over its ability to

I recently ran a poll to gain some understanding of how much time analysts feel they have available in their working week to focus on their technical work. As my workshops cover over committing I’m interested to find out what percentage of the week, on average, you feel is focused on your actual technical workload outside of taking time out for admin responsibilities, training, meetings, briefings etc? Very often we don’t consider these extra responsibilities which can take u

Your resounding answer should be ‘a consultant!’  That's what's required by your organisation; simply spewing out reports and analyses without consultation and by working directly from just a brief will not produce the best results and will not provide your stakeholders with the kind of service that they require. Ultimately this way of working will mean less job satisfaction for you and frustration for the stakeholders. So how do you go about making the change?  The first ste

Despite the significance of meticulous details, many analysts encounter a challenge when conveying the outcomes of their efforts to stakeholders and decision-makers. Frequently, these analysts unintentionally complicate their message, leading to the audience failing to comprehend the message and fully grasp the genuine value of their work. Technical ability and attention to detail have always been crucial to robust analytical work, and always will be. They are what enables th

It’s a good sign when the business recognises the need for analytics to support their decision making. However, the result can often be that there are more requests and demands than there are resources available to undertake the work. It’s not uncommon for analytics teams to feel overwhelmed with the volume of work that is requested and expected of them. If you try to meet all these demands it will often lead to you working harder and longer hours to try and address the back

As the desire for insight and analytics has grown exponentially over the last 10 years, so has the capability and range of solutions available to organisations to produce the reports and analytics they seek. The sophistication and power of modern software now enables analysts to produce reports and visualisations more quickly and efficiently than ever before – however, do they necessarily improve the quality of outputs? My answer to that is simple – ‘no’. It may be possible t

Speaking to various analytical teams during the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s clear that maintaining balanced workloads and keeping up stakeholder engagement have become even bigger challenges than normal. For many, the causes are a combination of having reduced capacity and having team members work from home. However, temporary reductions in team numbers – either through furloughing or having people absent through illness – hasn’t decreased the pressure on teams to deliver high-qu

Data analysts have always needed technical skills, and they always will. When many people think of an analyst, that’s what they picture: a ‘number-cruncher’ who is essentially a human computer. But in reality, the world of analytics is changing. The more forward-thinking businesses out there are now looking for softer skills. Why? Because the way a data analyst provides true value to their organisation is by making clear, commercially-driven recommendations that enhance decis