Are Your Company's Leaders and Data Scientists on the Same Page?

The pursuit of data-driven decision-making can make business leaders starry-eyed about data science, believing that artificial intelligence in particular can instantly transform their business. What's needed is a healthy tension between data scientists and business leaders around what's possible and workable for using data to drive key decisions. The ideal scenario is all parties in complete alignment. This can be envisioned as a perfect rectangle, with business leaders' expectations at the top, fully supported by a foundation of data science capabilities -- for example, when data science and AI can achieve management's goal of reducing customer retention costs by automating identification and outreach to at-risk customers. Consider Target, which in the mid-2010s had flat in-store sales and a growing digital presence.