I read analyst reports to keep myself up to date with what is going on in the analytics and AI world. An analyst report offers an unbiased, side-by-side, third-party evaluation of the technology in the market. I trust them because I have lived through the rigorous evaluation process that goes on behind the scenes for creating those reports. The recently released 2021 Gartner MQ for Data Science and Machine Learning contains a wealth of information and here are my takes on key market trends from that report for data scientists. This evaluation features SAS Viya with its SAS Data Science offerings.

The terms "analytics" and "artificial intelligence" get bandied about in the media as harbingers of the future. But until recently, it's been rare to see them discussed in a common context. We know that analytics drives many aspects of business strategy and decision-making nowadays, but only recently have researchers, computer scientists and data scientists begun to move in earnest on the notion that AI systems, with their ability to process disparate bits of information quickly and learn while they're doing so, can have a real impact on challenges faced in areas like healthcare, finance and engineering. Probably the most high-profile example of this was the creation of IBM's Cognitive Business Solutions Group earlier this year. The unit advises organizations on how to use IBM's AI solution Watson in ways that go beyond what was previously possible in research and analytics.