Fail Fast, Learn Faster

FOREWORD

I suspect that if you bought or picked up this book, you are already convinced of the value of data, both big and small. You already believe that it can transform companies. You already admire the “born digital” companies that have turned data into incredible value. You don't need to be convinced that every company is now a data company. You just want to find out how best to make this all happen.

But I also suspect that you, like many fans of data, believe that the most effective key to its successful use is the latest information technology. Turn some Hadoop, some Python, some Tensorflow, some Pytorch loose on your data, and it will begin to sing. Throw in some Internet of Things sensors, some edge computing, a pinch of deep learning, and perhaps a little augmented/virtual reality, and it will all start to make sense. Maybe you think that you will read about those cool technologies in this book.

If so, I believe you are wrong, but you should not be the least bit disappointed in the book you have before you. It is perhaps even more important for “full tech stack” devotees to read this book than for the fiercest Luddite to do so. Many people believe that technology is the key to organizations becoming data-driven. But let me give you one statistic from Randy Bean's own annual survey that may disabuse you of that notion.

As Bean explains further in the book, every year he conducts a survey on big data, analytics, and AI issues among large companies, most of them in the ...