The true potential of data was brought to public light when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was summoned by the United States Congress to testify in matters related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Before that, corporations were using data to personalise the shopping experience for their customers but never before was data known to influence political decisions. That soon shot the term data economy into popularity where organisations and vendors gather and exchange data for mutual operational benefits and look to advance themselves in the current market. Data economy is already a buzzword in all modern PGDM colleges in Delhi and it is changing the ways organisations are being managed.
Here are 5 aspects that you need to know in relation to that.
- Data is an essential capital
The reason why the Cambridge Analytica fiasco could not dethrone Facebook from its pivotal position is because of its massive trove of data. Facebook collects and remembers the personality traits of each of its 2.3 billion users through their likes, comments, shares and messenger texts. This helps them to attract advertisers to their platform, who are looking to get more personal with their customers, and Facebook enables that with the help of data. Without a doubt, data is the capital that currently gives companies their competitive edge. And they will want labour (executives and managers) who can complement that capital to increase the firm’s productivity.
- AI will lead the analytics
Continuing with the example of Facebook, the news took the world by surprise where reports said that the Artificial Intelligent System developed by the company had started creating its own language and was communicating in a form that its creators did not understand. The question that matters here is – why was Facebook creating an AI system in the first place? Surely, analysing the data of 2.3 billion users is beyond the scope of any human team. And thus, AI and ML are steadily rising as an in-demand skill in the job market. Given this, the best AICTE approved PGDM colleges in Delhi are already offering AI-infused management courses and that is where you should start your training.
- Expertise is no longer important
Google Flu Trends in the United States has recently become a better predictor and detector of flu seasons than the doctors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC. Google’s AI also defeated the human genius Lee Sedol in the Go game. All the bot did in both instances was look at terabytes of historical data and learn in real-time to trump the experts of their specific fields. The data economy is naturally making experts obsolete. Companies no longer need heavily qualified managers to perfect a management style as a robot can do the same job better. Soft skills or aspects the machines cannot replicate are becoming more important going forward and naturally, your focus must shift.
- Data exhaust is the next business model
Why are services like Gmail and Google Maps free for regular customers? Why does Amazon continue to sell its Kindle eBook readers at rock-bottom prices? Through a technique called data exhaust, these companies are maintaining their corporate Moghul positions and keeping their competitors at a substantial distance. For instance, Google uses the data from its spell check in Gmail to better its error-ridden search in the SERP. Amazon tracks Kindle’s reading habits to better the personalisation of the products suggested. Many companies are joining the trend to hand out free or near-free services just to collect data and here lies the employment opportunities for fresh graduates.
- Privacy is a concern for customers
In the data economy, customers are increasingly becoming aware of data collection. They want the personalised experience, but they also become huge sceptics when they find out that any firm has collected their personal data. While privacy may seem like a topic for the organisation to deal with, you will be responsible to some level, being a part of the management. Like, as a product manager, you must make the call to include or exclude the privacy feature where the customer can delete all data. As a financial analyst, you must brief the product manager as to how that decision can cost the company. You cannot become an effective manager in the data economy without a hand on privacy.
The EMPI B-school, one of the top 10 PGDM colleges in Delhi, has been vigilant on the topic of data economy for quite some time now. Its action to include AI-training in its PGDM courses was in line with this inevitability. EMPI captures the essence of the data economy by precisely stitching technology with management and then adding business ethics into the mix. Going forward, survival will become difficult for data novices. Only the data-trained managers backed by AI knowledge will endure the latest corporate transition.