As a data practitioner, it's hard not to be curious and perhaps concerned about how Generative AI (GenAI) will impact your profession. The reality is, we’re already in the middle of a major shift, one that's unfolding in distinct phases. For those responsible for making decisions about the future of data teams, including budget holders, analytics executives, and practitioners themselves, understanding these phases is critical to staying ahead.

One of my favorite parts of the work day is sitting quietly and thinking about strategies for our clients. More specifically, ideas and processes that help our clients become more successful at what they do, and in turn much happier at work. But I can’t accomplish this at the high level that I want to when my environment is messy and distracting.

In this final article in the series, we will discuss the second and third concepts of sustainable digital analytics: simplification and adopting a "less is more" mindset. We will explain why it is essential to simplify the current ecosystem and collect less but more actionable data to create greater business impact. We will highlight how a tool-first approach can be detrimental to digital analytics health and provide tips on how to avoid it. Finally, we will discuss the benefits of adopting a "less is more" mindset, which can lead to more valuable data and maintainable MarTech stacks.

In this article, we will delve into the first concept of sustainable digital analytics, which is putting people first. We will discuss the Avinash 10/90 rule and why it is essential to understand stakeholders and customers as people. We will explain how data can be used to make people feel better about their jobs and create more positive customer experiences. We will also highlight the importance of prioritizing employee and contractor hires who think sustainably about analytics and partnering with agencies and consulting firms that value quality over quantity.

In this article, we will explore the current state of digital analytics and why there is a need for sustainability in the field. We will discuss the challenges that businesses face due to poor digital analytics health, such as technical debt and decision-making on invalid data. We will explain the concept of sustainability in digital analytics, which involves designing and deploying analytics solutions in a future-proof way that is easy to maintain and emphasizes clean data. Finally, we will outline the benefits of adopting a sustainable approach to digital analytics.

In 2006, Avinash Kaushik, coined the term the 10/90 Rule for Magnificent Web Analytics Success.

The reasoning behind this rule was based on several studies that highlighted that while most large companies have made substantial investments in analytics software, they continue to struggle to make any meaningful business decisions based on the data.

We are quickly approaching 20 years from the date when Avinash introduced the 10/90 Rule and we are not closer to investing more in people than we are investing in software.