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Building a
Data Science Culture
Catalina Arango
Co-founder - Exteractions,
Spacewolff, Data.Miami
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“It’s not enough to introduce big data technology, fancy algorithms, and
some unicorn-like isolated data scientists to any organization and work
culture, and expect them to be able to change things on their own. In order
to get the most out of data science, the culture has to change to support
data-driven work,” writes Johan Himberg, Data Scientist at Reaktor
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People
ProcessProduct
Culture
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It takes time and hard
work to build a data
science culture… it’s
worth it.
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Why it’s worth it to build a data science
culture.
Insights gained by data science won’t be implemented without culture
Productivity Gains
Stat on productivity from
analytics
Timing Matters for ROI
Return on investment is
greater for early adopters
Widening Gap
The gap between leaders and
laggards in the data science
and AI space will continue to
widen
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Data Science Culture
People Product
DataToolsTeamLeadership
Process
Business NeedsOrg Structure
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People - Leadership
❏ Have an evangelist or sponsor
❏ Educate management
❏ Always be thinking about the data
❏ Provide intro hands-on training in data science
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People - Team
WHO
● Interdisciplinary
● Analytical
● Curious
● Technical
○ R & Python Users
○ Understanding of
information systems
HOW
● Lateral moves
● Internal Promotions
○ Training
● External hires
○ Grad Students
○ Data Scientists
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Data Science Culture
People Product
DataToolsTeamLeadership
Process
Business NeedsOrg Structure
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Process
The structure of the data science process will rarely change...
UNDERSTAND DATA MODEL DEPLOYCOMMUNICATE
… but the organization needs to know how this is actually executed.
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Process - Org Structure
Regardless, cross-functional collaboration is critical, especially when
domain knowledge validation is needed
Centralized function
● More autonomy +
● Isolation from major
business functions --
Data scientists found on
different teams
● Promotes collaboration
with functional teams
● Reduces autonomy
Single unit, with specialization
● Works best for large
data science teams
Stand-alone Embedded Hybrid
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Process - Business Needs
Different business needs Different data science deliverables
● Use advanced analytics to
improve decision making
● Require strong communication
and visualization skills
● Improve products, either
internal or external, ex. better
search results &
recommendations
● More collaboration with
engineering
Decision Science Data Products
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Data Science Culture
People Product
DataToolsTeamLeadership
Process
Business NeedsOrg Structure
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Product - Tools
Access Analysis Dissemination
Collaboration
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“If you can’t measure it,
you can’t fix it!”
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Product - Data
Data needs to be...
Complete01
Consistent02
Accurate03
Granular04
data science
possible and
outputs
meaningful
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People
ProcessProduct
Culture
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Thank you!

Data Science Salon: Building a Data Science Culture