Welcome to the inaugural edition of Mind the Gap, a monthly column exploring practical approaches for improving data understanding and data utilization (and whatever else seems interesting enough to share). This month, we start not with a gap but with a chasm – one that’s at the core of a bewildering paradox. We continue to see […]
SQL at 50: A Lesson in How to Stay Relevant Around Data
Structured query language (SQL) is now 50 years old. The original paper for SQL (then called SEQUEL) was published in May 1974 by Raymond Boyce and Donald Chamberlin, and provided a guide for data manipulation based on a set of simple commands. Today, we take SQL for granted around data – it is still the third most […]
Smart Data Fingerprinting: The Answer to Data Management Challenges
The world generated 120 zettabytes of data in 2023, on track for a 1.5x growth over two years to exceed 180 zettabytes in 2025. Unfortunately, data management strategies have not kept pace with the evolution and expansion of data, largely continuing to work with old-world processes and structured information stored in historical databases. There is an […]
The Rise of Augmented Analytics: Combining AI with BI for Enhanced Data Insights
Businesses today are drowning in data. The sheer volume and complexity of information available have made it increasingly difficult for organizations to extract meaningful insights using traditional business intelligence (BI) tools and the expertise of specialized data scientists. This is where augmented analytics comes in. This game-changing technology combines the power of artificial intelligence (AI) […]
Data Labeling Challenges and Solutions
In the rush to adopt AI across diverse sectors, today’s enterprises face a common hurdle: efficient data labeling at scale. Numerous enterprises are grappling with generating usable data despite having huge amounts of raw information. Organizations are overwhelmed by the influx of image data, highlighting the need to process and label it for practical use. Data […]
Understanding Linear Regression Intercepts in Plain Language
I am often asked about the role of intercepts in linear regression models – especially the negative intercepts. Here is my blog post on that topic in simple words with minimal statistical terms. Regression models are used to make predictions. The coefficients in the equation define the relationship between each independent variable and the dependent variable. […]
Human-AI Collaboration: How AI Can Enhance Human Capabilities and Ethical Considerations
Artificial intelligence is here to change the world, and it is up to us to embrace this technology and use it responsibly to reap its full potential. Although critics have expressed some valid concerns about the potential harm that AI technology could bring about, fostering an AI-human collaboration can allow us to use this powerful […]
Preparing for La Niña: Adopting Predictive Maintenance Before Hurricane Season
With a La Niña watch issued for the summer, businesses operating in hurricane-prone regions face heightened concerns about the impending storm season. La Niña heavily impacts the wind shear and atmospheric conditions over the Atlantic, where most hurricanes form thanks to its warm waters. It’s rare to go a year without a hurricane hitting some part of […]
How AI Can Improve Company Performance Through Better DEX
In tech circles these days, one topic drives every conversation: artificial intelligence (AI). Whether discussing the potential benefits of increased productivity or the potential risks, the role of AI in business is on the minds of everyone, from C-suite leaders to recent college graduate hires. AI is a hot topic because while people can see […]
Signal vs. Noise: Balancing On-Call Hygiene for Data-Driven Teams
In the real-time software world, 24×7 uptime is critical for core software where millions of transactions occur every second. In 2018, Amazon’s Prime Day event experienced a 13-minute outage that, according to some estimates, may have cost the company up to $99 million in lost sales. Reliability is paramount when the business depends on it […]