In this concise book you will learn what you need to know to begin assembling and leading a data science enterprise, even if you have never worked in data science before. You'll get a crash course in data science so that you'll be conversant in the field and understand your role as a leader. You'll also learn how to recruit, assemble, evaluate, and develop a team with complementary skill sets and roles. You'll learn the structure of the data science pipeline, the goals of each stage, and how to keep your team on target throughout. Finally, you'll learn some down-to-earth practical skills that will help you overcome the common challenges that frequently derail data science projects.
Tap into the power of data science with this comprehensive resource for non-technical professionals Data Science: The Executive Summary – A Technical Book for Non-Technical Professionals is a comprehensive resource for people in non-engineer roles who want to fully understand data science and analytics concepts. Accomplished data scientist and author Field Cady describes both the “business side” of data science, including what problems it solves and how it fits into an organization, and the technical side, including analytical techniques and key technologies. Data Science: The Executive Summary covers topics like: Assessing whether your organization needs data scientists, and what to look for when hiring them When Big Data is the best approach to use for a project, and when it actually ties analysts’ hands Cutting edge Artificial Intelligence, as well as classical approaches that work better for many problems How many techniques rely on dubious mathematical idealizations, and when you can work around them Perfect for executives who make critical decisions based on data science and analytics, as well as mangers who hire and assess the work of data scientists, Data Science: The Executive Summary also belongs on the bookshelves of salespeople and marketers who need to explain what a data analytics product does. Finally, data scientists themselves will improve their technical work with insights into the goals and constraints of the business situation.
A field guide for the unique challenges of data science leadership, filled with transformative insights, personal experiences, and industry examples. In How To Lead in Data Science you will learn: Best practices for leading projects while balancing complex trade-offs Specifying, prioritizing, and planning projects from vague requirements Navigating structural challenges in your organization Working through project failures with positivity and tenacity Growing your team with coaching, mentoring, and advising Crafting technology roadmaps and championing successful projects Driving diversity, inclusion, and belonging within teams Architecting a long-term business strategy and data roadmap as an executive Delivering a data-driven culture and structuring productive data science organizations How to Lead in Data Science is full of techniques for leading data science at every seniority level—from heading up a single project to overseeing a whole company's data strategy. Authors Jike Chong and Yue Cathy Chang share hard-won advice that they've developed building data teams for LinkedIn, Acorns, Yiren Digital, large asset-management firms, Fortune 50 companies, and more. You'll find advice on plotting your long-term career advancement, as well as quick wins you can put into practice right away. Carefully crafted assessments and interview scenarios encourage introspection, reveal personal blind spots, and highlight development areas. About the technology Lead your data science teams and projects to success! To make a consistent, meaningful impact as a data science leader, you must articulate technology roadmaps, plan effective project strategies, support diversity, and create a positive environment for professional growth. This book delivers the wisdom and practical skills you need to thrive as a data science leader at all levels, from team member to the C-suite. About the book How to Lead in Data Science shares unique leadership techniques from high-performance data teams. It’s filled with best practices for balancing project trade-offs and producing exceptional results, even when beginning with vague requirements or unclear expectations. You’ll find a clearly presented modern leadership framework based on current case studies, with insights reaching all the way to Aristotle and Confucius. As you read, you’ll build practical skills to grow and improve your team, your company’s data culture, and yourself. What's inside How to coach and mentor team members Navigate an organization’s structural challenges Secure commitments from other teams and partners Stay current with the technology landscape Advance your career About the reader For data science practitioners at all levels. About the author Dr. Jike Chong and Yue Cathy Chang build, lead, and grow high-performing data teams across industries in public and private companies, such as Acorns, LinkedIn, large asset-management firms, and Fortune 50 companies. Table of Contents 1 What makes a successful data scientist? PART 1 THE TECH LEAD: CULTIVATING LEADERSHIP 2 Capabilities for leading projects 3 Virtues for leading projects PART 2 THE MANAGER: NURTURING A TEAM 4 Capabilities for leading people 5 Virtues for leading people PART 3 THE DIRECTOR: GOVERNING A FUNCTION 6 Capabilities for leading a function 7 Virtues for leading a function PART 4 THE EXECUTIVE: INSPIRING AN INDUSTRY 8 Capabilities for leading a company 9 Virtues for leading a company PART 5 THE LOOP AND THE FUTURE 10 Landscape, organization, opportunity, and practice 11 Leading in data science and a future outlook
We are in the 4th industrial revolution; companies need to figure out how to survive. In this exciting revolution, machine intelligence has had a more unprecedented impact on business than the internet, and it's the only path to corporate survival in the future. In Data Science for Executives, Nir Kaldero dispels the myths and confusion surrounding this game-changing technology and provides practical strategies for harnessing its profitable power. This essential tome provides illuminating case studies, important guiding principles, and effective on-the-ground actions for incorporating machine intelligence into your organization and employing it to enhance your business though the wealth of data that flows into your business. Leaders don't have to be scientists to unlock the power of AI technology that is already radically altering the industrial landscape. If you're ready to meet the challenges of this new revolution, this essential guide will help you take your business to the next level.
Every major company has or will soon have a data science program. Most fail, expensively, imperiling their executive sponsors. Unfortunately, executives have been misled to focus on the latest buzzwords. Although buzzwords change— big data, data science, machine learning, deep learning, and artificial intelligence –the distraction from fundamentals manifests as a predictable trajectory from exuberant program launch, to stagnation, to awkward decommissioning. After architecting data science programs at over a dozen companies, across sectors and scales, Dr. Elser has formulated a reliable framework for successful data science programs. Surprisingly, software and algorithms are secondary. Rather, the key is understanding how the available data aligns to the problem to be solved. The business executive understands the problem sufficiently to enforce this alignment, while data scientists act on it. But executives tend to underestimate their role and thereby fail to construct the necessary connective tissue with their data scientists. This book provides business executives with a concrete exercise, populating a “Master Table,” accessible to nontechnical managers and data scientists, which serves as the connective tissue between them. Rather than teach a diluted version of data science, this book describes how to start projects and how to detect and fix problems—the moments when leadership is critical. Insights are provided through real world examples, including a Playbook featuring common projects. The intended audience is executives (C-suite through VP). However, ambitious mid-level managers and data scientists will also benefit.
Data science is expanding across industries at a rapid pace, and the companies first to adopt best practices will gain a significant advantage. To reap the benefits, decision makers need to have a confident understanding of data science and its application in their organization. It is easy for novices to the subject to feel paralyzed by intimidating buzzwords, but what many don’t realize is that data science is in fact quite multidisciplinary—useful in the hands of business analysts, communications strategists, designers, and more. With the second edition of The Decision Maker’s Handbook to Data Science, you will learn how to think like a veteran data scientist and approach solutions to business problems in an entirely new way. Author Stylianos Kampakis provides you with the expertise and tools required to develop a solid data strategy that is continuously effective. Ethics and legal issues surrounding data collection and algorithmic bias are some common pitfalls that Kampakis helps you avoid, while guiding you on the path to build a thriving data science culture at your organization. This updated and revised second edition, includes plenty of case studies, tools for project assessment, and expanded content for hiring and managing data scientists Data science is a language that everyone at a modern company should understand across departments. Friction in communication arises most often when management does not connect with what a data scientist is doing or how impactful data collection and storage can be for their organization. The Decision Maker’s Handbook to Data Science bridges this gap and readies you for both the present and future of your workplace in this engaging, comprehensive guide. What You Will Learn Understand how data science can be used within your business. Recognize the differences between AI, machine learning, and statistics.Become skilled at thinking like a data scientist, without being one.Discover how to hire and manage data scientists.Comprehend how to build the right environment in order to make your organization data-driven. Who This Book Is For Startup founders, product managers, higher level managers, and any other non-technical decision makers who are thinking to implement data science in their organization and hire data scientists. A secondary audience includes people looking for a soft introduction into the subject of data science.
"This book describes the process of analyzing data. The authors have extensive experience both managing data analysts and conducting their own data analyses, and this book is a distillation of their experience in a format that is applicable to both practitioners and managers in data science."--Leanpub.com.
Written by renowned data science experts Foster Provost and Tom Fawcett, Data Science for Business introduces the fundamental principles of data science, and walks you through the "data-analytic thinking" necessary for extracting useful knowledge and business value from the data you collect. This guide also helps you understand the many data-mining techniques in use today. Based on an MBA course Provost has taught at New York University over the past ten years, Data Science for Business provides examples of real-world business problems to illustrate these principles. You’ll not only learn how to improve communication between business stakeholders and data scientists, but also how participate intelligently in your company’s data science projects. You’ll also discover how to think data-analytically, and fully appreciate how data science methods can support business decision-making. Understand how data science fits in your organization—and how you can use it for competitive advantage Treat data as a business asset that requires careful investment if you’re to gain real value Approach business problems data-analytically, using the data-mining process to gather good data in the most appropriate way Learn general concepts for actually extracting knowledge from data Apply data science principles when interviewing data science job candidates
Data science is emerging as a field that is revolutionizing science and industries alike. Work across nearly all domains is becoming more data driven, affecting both the jobs that are available and the skills that are required. As more data and ways of analyzing them become available, more aspects of the economy, society, and daily life will become dependent on data. It is imperative that educators, administrators, and students begin today to consider how to best prepare for and keep pace with this data-driven era of tomorrow. Undergraduate teaching, in particular, offers a critical link in offering more data science exposure to students and expanding the supply of data science talent. Data Science for Undergraduates: Opportunities and Options offers a vision for the emerging discipline of data science at the undergraduate level. This report outlines some considerations and approaches for academic institutions and others in the broader data science communities to help guide the ongoing transformation of this field.
