AI-Enabled Analytics for Business

CHAPTER 4Applications of AI-Enabled Analytics

There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through the suitable application of high explosives.

—Scott Adams¹

The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that “data and analytics could create value worth between $9.5 trillion and $15.4 trillion a year if embedded at scale.”² So why has analytics adoption been so slow?

According to the annual global benchmark survey Temperature of Finance, from the Finance Analytics Institute, the 2021 survey paints a bleak picture of the current adoption of analytics, as presented in Figure 4.1.³ Starting at the top of the chart is the Persona called the Reporter, defined as someone who reports data. The term Persona relates to the Mindset in the decision process. Reporters have the Mindset to Support decisions with data reporting. Next is the Commentator, with the Mindset to Contribute to decisions by reporting information. The Advisor follows, with the Mindset to Influence decisions with insights from low-level analytics; and the Strategist has the Mindset to Impact decisions with insights and foresight from AI-enabled advanced analytics.

The survey is a self-assessment using a series of questions to rate performance relating to capabilities in each of the Personas: Reporter, Commentator, Advisor, and Strategist. The three capabilities referenced in the chart are the Analytics Toolbox, referring to a range of tools beyond spreadsheets to AI-enabled analytics; Strategic Leadership, ...