It’s no secret that many data scientists chose this profession in part because they enjoyed maths and wanted to avoid writing essays. When I was managing a data team, my team members would happily spend hours writing code. But ask them to write up what they’d done and suddenly everyone was too busy. Getting them to document their results in the form of a report was a lot like pulling teeth. And I understood why - to them, writing felt like a distraction from the “real” work. But over time, I...
5 days ago • 1 min read
While visiting my parents recently, I had a conversation with my (non-technical) 80-year-old dad that went something like this: Dad: The problem with AI is that it makes mistakes. If you don’t know if it’s right or wrong, then it’s useless. Me: But you use (OCR tool) Abbyy all the time. That’s AI. Is that useless? Dad: No. Because of Abbyy, I get stuff done in a fraction of the time it would otherwise take me. But I still have to review everything it does because it makes mistakes. What this...
8 days ago • 1 min read
There’s a meme that’s been doing the rounds recently that shows a text message from someone’s significant other, who has noticed a $15k withdrawal from their joint bank account and assumes it’s for an engagement ring. Below that is the punchline - a screenshot of an Anthropic bill for $15k. Some people are now spending so much on AI that their “oh crap” billing moments have become a running joke. But if you think things are bad now, it’s only going to get worse. We are currently living...
12 days ago • 1 min read
During the COVID lockdowns, I decided to learn about cybersecurity as a way to fill in the time. I even signed up to sit the notorious 24-hour OSCP exam, although I never actually sat it, as I soon discovered cybersecurity wasn't for me. One thing I did take from the experience, however, was the concept of offensive and defensive security. Offensive (or red team) cybersecurity experts spend their days finding vulnerabilities in systems before hackers can exploit them. Defensive (or blue team)...
15 days ago • 1 min read
I spend a lot of time talking to data professionals about AI, and one thing I’ve noticed is that attitudes typically fall into one of two extremes: AI boom or AI doom. At one extreme are those who are excited about the new opportunities AI will create - the chance to do more interesting work or finally launch the business they’ve always dreamed about. These people are always eager to share what they’ve used AI to create, and the results invariably amaze. But at the other end are those who lie...
19 days ago • 1 min read
I recently spoke to a software developer looking to make the transition into data science. He had decades of programming experience, a goldmine of non-technical skills, and he was asking my thoughts on how to approach the move. I told him that in most respects, his timing was excellent, because the AI-wave and more recent developments in agentic AI had fundamentally changed the data science landscape in ways that worked in his favour. Since AI agents are essentially just software, for people...
22 days ago • 1 min read
The number one piece of advice I give to data professionals is to have more conversations. Conversations lead to good things. Things like job offers and stronger relationships. But more importantly, the opportunity to deepen your knowledge through learning from the wisdom of others. I owe many of the best opportunities I’ve encountered in my career to proactively seeking them out wherever I can. My podcast is a weekly example of the power of conversation. But if there’s one thing all these...
26 days ago • 1 min read
While working as a data scientist in a large organisation, I was once called on to attend a meeting with representatives of a big tech company and multiple senior leaders from my business area. The tech reps were there to sell us a new product. The data scientists had been invited because we were the intended users. Although there were a dozen or more people in the room, I was the only person who came prepared with any questions - 2 1/2 pages of them, to be precise. I let everyone else have...
29 days ago • 1 min read
Like many readers of this newsletter, I identify as a data expert. It took me years of study and hard work to build this expertise, and it’s something that I’m not willing to lose. This is not just because of everything it took to get here, but because my expertise forms an integral part of my identity. And the idea of losing it feels, in many ways, akin to losing a part of who I am. So, when I recently started hearing from data professionals who spoke of slowly losing skills as they...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read