The Rise of the Intelligent GenAI Analyst

In the analytics industry, and probably in many others as well, we are in the midst of a transformation unlike i've ever seen before.

A transformation that is drastically reshaping our roles and responsibilities.

With the massive eruption of GenAI, we have quickly found ourselves in a fundamental shift in how we work.

And in this shift, those who have focused primarily on the appearance of work, the George Costanza philosophy that if you look really busy then you must be a great employee, are the most at risk of being replaced by AI.

For those data professionals, of which there are MANY, whose primary outputs are things like data collection, reporting, PowerPoint presentations, writing code, and deploying data tools, if these activities are seen as the core of their work rather than as means to deliver real, tangible value, they are on a dangerous path.

GenAI is rapidly evolving to handle these tasks much more efficiently and cost-effectively than we can. We have arrived at a place where humans can no longer outperform computers in these task-based roles.

Sadly, many will be caught off guard, claiming they didn't foresee this change coming.

However, we should all recognize the signs and prepare accordingly. If our contributions don't add genuine value at every step, we face the risk of being replaced by GenAI analysts that excel at task-based work.

We may be resistant to putting in the incredibly difficult work of transforming into analysts who add value by dealing with uncertainty — an area where humans still massively outperform computers — but if we stay in this comfort zone, our fates are sealed.