Data and a Lamppost

“Torture the data (enough) and it will confess to anything” 

- Ronald Coase, Nobel Prize Economics'91

While it is common place to believe that in data lies the ultimate truth, I have come to realize that most of us, and our organizations, simply cannot 'handle the truth' (apologies Jack Nicholson).  

Since starting Tresata, an advanced analytics software pioneer, 7 years ago, I have had the good fortune to observe this ‘truth’ (or torture) play out across all major industries (finance, health, retail, logistics, transportation, energy), all shapes and sizes of companies (fortune 50, 100, 500, 1000, 8000) and many a relevant business problem (money laundering, digital marketing, health management, global sales…).

And universally, the problem that keeps confounding the consumers of data, starts and ends with the same 6 words – HOW DO I MANAGE MY DATA?  

Yes of course, for those of you who have lived this like I have, I clearly decided to cut straight to the chase with those 6 words, rather than regale you with how all data conversations actually start with machiavellian promises - “building new business models powered by data”, “real-time actionable insight generation” and “AI powered data monetization” – they are, for the most part, today, nothing more than hot air balloons trying hard to stay course, but awesome to look at.  

The reality is most organizations today use data like a drunk uses a lamppost – for support rather than illumination.  

This is not for lack of trying to seek illumination – look at any CEO survey by any reputed consulting organization and you will find that they all crave better information to help run and grow their businesses. 

In fact I have had many a CEO even ask me - "Why is it easier for me to find a thai restaurant in any city I go to than to find out how many customers I have and how much money my company made last night?"

It is simply hard to do, actually impossible to do, unless the question posed by those 6 words is addressed – HOW DO I MANAGE MY DATA?

For, one doesn’t need a PhD in math, physics, statistics or computer science (or whatever other discipline the mass of Data Scientists are coming from), to know that you cannot really MONETIZE data if you haven’t MANAGED it first.

Illumination is impossible to ‘halo in’ if we cannot deliver electricity to the precise lamppost you are standing under at the precise time you choose to stand there with the precise thought you needed illuminating. Which, in case you actually were drunk, would be – stop drinking (illumination) versus don’t drink and drive (support).

Managing data, at massive scale, with immense speed and high degree of precision, is probably the hardest and most valuable problem to address with AI.  When solved, as we have with some pretty amazing software at Tresata, it completely automates the process of creating usable information from raw data, instantly, thereby un-encumbering organizations to seek ‘illumination’ wherever, whenever, and however they may be leaning.

In 2010, when we started down this path to AUTOMATE DATA MANAGEMENT,  no one thought it was a problem worth solving.  In fact, given how little sex appeal DATA MANAGEMENT has compared to the ‘meme du jour’, even though we were one of the earliest proponents of machine learning/ AI/ any-other-term-of-the-moment, because we chose to apply it to the hardest, but unsexiest problem of them all, our business model – building the worlds first Analytics Operating System (AoS) that helps companies MANAGE THEIR DATA (first) & MONETIZE THE INFORMATION (second) – was incomprehensible to most.

After 7 years of building the only profitable, self-funded and wildly successful (our clients love what we do, and that’s our metric of success) enterprise software company of this decade, we are getting ready to democratize DATA MANAGEMENT for everyone.  And yes, allow CEO's to get answers to any question they want...as easy and as fast as finding that restaurant!

For we believe in data lies the power to not just illuminate but ENRICH LIFE!

PS – and if you can torture ALL your data, you should... truth shall emerge!