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What Skills Will Data Analysts Need in 2027?

A lot of work that once took analysts hours, from writing SQL queries to preparing reports and explaining trends, can now be assisted by AI. That raises a genuine concern for people entering the field, and even for experienced analysts. Is learning Excel, SQL, Python, and Power BI still enough? Or should analysts spend more(Read More)

A lot of work that once took analysts hours, from writing SQL queries to preparing reports and explaining trends, can now be assisted by AI.

That raises a genuine concern for people entering the field, and even for experienced analysts.

Is learning Excel, SQL, Python, and Power BI still enough? Or should analysts spend more time developing business understanding, statistical thinking, and the ability to question AI-generated insights?

I don’t think the traditional skills are disappearing, but expectations are clearly changing.

If you were starting your data analytics career in 2027, which three skills would you prioritize, and why?

0 2 43 7 days ago

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Miley

7 days ago

What should an AI agent be allowed to do when it has access to business data?

Connecting an AI assistant to internal data is one thing. Giving an agent permission to query databases, update records, trigger workflows, or take actions based on its findings introduces a different level of risk. A read-only analytics agent, for example, might be useful for answering operational questions. An agent that can modify customer records or(Read More)

Connecting an AI assistant to internal data is one thing. Giving an agent permission to query databases, update records, trigger workflows, or take actions based on its findings introduces a different level of risk.
A read-only analytics agent, for example, might be useful for answering operational questions. An agent that can modify customer records or initiate financial transactions needs much tighter controls.
How are teams approaching this boundary in practice? Do you start with read-only access, require human approval for every action, or grant permissions based on the risk of each task?
What controls have proven useful without making the workflow too restrictive?

0 3 94 4 weeks ago

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Miley

October 14, 2026

Are BI dashboards driving decisions, or just reporting them?

Many organizations invest heavily in Business Intelligence tools, yet decision-making often still relies on experience, intuition, or separate discussions outside the dashboard. With modern BI platforms offering real-time analytics, alerts, and predictive insights, are dashboards becoming active decision-support systems, or are they still primarily reporting tools? I’m curious to hear how teams are using BI(Read More)

Many organizations invest heavily in Business Intelligence tools, yet decision-making often still relies on experience, intuition, or separate discussions outside the dashboard.

With modern BI platforms offering real-time analytics, alerts, and predictive insights, are dashboards becoming active decision-support systems, or are they still primarily reporting tools?

I’m curious to hear how teams are using BI today. Has it genuinely changed how decisions are made, or is it mostly helping stakeholders monitor what has already happened?

0 2 162 2 months ago

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Miley

September 8, 2026

Should validation metrics account for class imbalance the same way training does?

When training classification models on imbalanced datasets, it’s common to use class weights to prevent the model from favoring the majority class. But it got me thinking: If class weights are influencing the optimization process during training, should validation metrics also reflect those same weights? Or should validation always represent the natural distribution of the(Read More)

When training classification models on imbalanced datasets, it’s common to use class weights to prevent the model from favoring the majority class. But it got me thinking:

If class weights are influencing the optimization process during training, should validation metrics also reflect those same weights? Or should validation always represent the natural distribution of the real-world data?

I can see arguments both ways:

Weighted validation may better reflect the objective the model was optimized for.
Unweighted validation may provide a more realistic view of production performance.
In highly imbalanced scenarios, the choice can significantly change how model quality is perceived.

How do you approach this in practice? Do you validate against the original distribution, apply sample weights during validation, or track both perspectives?

Curious to hear how others balance model fairness, business objectives, and evaluation methodology when dealing with class imbalance.

0 4 191 3 months ago

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Miley

August 17, 2026

What exactly is Business Intelligence software, and why do companies use it?

Hi everyone, I recently joined a company as a junior analyst, and I keep hearing people talk about Business Intelligence (BI) tools in meetings. I understand they’re related to dashboards and reporting, but I’m still not clear on what BI software actually does or why it’s preferred over spreadsheets or database queries. Is BI just(Read More)

Hi everyone,

I recently joined a company as a junior analyst, and I keep hearing people talk about Business Intelligence (BI) tools in meetings. I understand they’re related to dashboards and reporting, but I’m still not clear on what BI software actually does or why it’s preferred over spreadsheets or database queries.

Is BI just about creating charts, or does it also help with analyzing data, tracking KPIs, and making business decisions? I’d also like to know when a company should start using BI tools and what problems they solve in day-to-day work.

I’d really appreciate a simple explanation from someone with industry experience.