The path to becoming a data scientist is not a clear one. Consider the data-science team at Alpine Data, a San Francisco software startup that helps companies analyze their data to make predictions about their businesses. It includes a former marketing manager, a former physicist, a former operations researcher and a former business consultant. Helping the team as well is a former mathematician who was hired as a software engineer. "We strongly believe that having people from different backgrounds collaborating around a problem is more important than selecting some fancy algorithms," says Alpine co-founder Steven Hillion.

The path to becoming a data scientist is not a clear one. Consider the data-science team at Alpine Data, a San Francisco software startup that helps companies analyze their data to make predictions about their businesses. It includes a former marketing manager, a former physicist, a former operations researcher and a former business consultant. Helping the team as well is a former mathematician who was hired as a software engineer. "We strongly believe that having people from different backgrounds collaborating around a problem is more important than selecting some fancy algorithms," says Alpine co-founder Steven Hillion.

AI is mainstream these days. The attention it gets and the feelings it provokes cover the whole gamut: from hands-on technical to business, from social science to pop culture, and from pragmatism to awe and bewilderment. Data and analytics are a prerequisite and an enabler for AI, and the boundaries between the two are getting increasingly blurred. Many people and organizations from different backgrounds and with different goals are exploring these boundaries, and we've had the chance to converse with a couple of prominent figures in analytics and AI who share their insights. The Internet of Things is creating serious new security risks.

AI is mainstream these days. The attention it gets and the feelings it provokes cover the whole gamut: from hands-on technical to business, from social science to pop culture, and from pragmatism to awe and bewilderment. Data and analytics are a prerequisite and an enabler for AI, and the boundaries between the two are getting increasingly blurred. Many people and organizations from different backgrounds and with different goals are exploring these boundaries, and we've had the chance to converse with a couple of prominent figures in analytics and AI who share their insights. The Internet of Things is creating serious new security risks.