The future of business intelligence (BI) is inextricably linked to the future of data.
As the amount of data companies create and consume grows exponentially, the speed and ease with which you can access and rely upon that data is going to be more important than ever before.
From artificial intelligence to tools that foster collaboration and self-service, below we’ll be looking at several different developments and approaches that reflect the changing face of data analytics, as well as how they’re already contributing to the ever-changing future of business intelligence.
Table of Contents
- Self-service business intelligence
- Real-time business intelligence
- Semantic layer and Headless BI
- Explainable artificial intelligence
- Data Observability
Self-service business intelligence
As the name suggests, the aim of self-service BI is to empower everyone within an organization to be able to access the data that they need and draw relevant conclusions from it without the need for any extensive training or additional supervision.
In days gone by, one of the duties of the data team was to produce whatever analytics reports stakeholders needed. Data teams have historically been the gatekeepers of data, tasked with turning it from something inscrutable into something that other departments can act upon.
This approach was problematic for a number of reasons: it often prevents decision makers from acting on data within an appropriate time frame, and results in data teams being tied up with exporting datasets instead of using them to conduct their own meaningful analysis.
Beyond that, it means that data is only as up to date as the last set exported by those who have access to it. Trends that have taken shape in the past day, week, or month, depending on how old the data in question is, can end up being overlooked by those making decisions.
Self-service BI reduces these dependencies, doesn’t require expert knowledge or training, and improves overall agility.
According to the firm Verified Market Research, the self-service BI market was valued at $6 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $19 billion by 2028, making this a top trend to watch.
Real-time business intelligence
As mentioned above, business intelligence has not always been available in real time. Before the days of constantly updating analytics dashboards mounted on the walls of startup offices, datasets were exported daily, weekly, or even monthly, for analysis by relevant parties.
Even as the modern data stack has greatly expedited and automated the delivery of easily digestible data analytics, data teams and data consumers haven’t always been aligned. If an ETL pipeline is refreshing the data behind a dashboard once a week and the business stakeholder needs daily data updates, there is still an unacceptable lag. Or it may even be unintentional, the Airflow job may fail resulting in the dashboard remaining stale while the data team remains unaware.
This is where creating data SLAs and monitoring/enforcing them with data observability solutions to monitor for data freshness can help.
Going beyond looking at trends, another huge advantage of real-time analytics is that they’re useful for identifying emergency situations such as data pipeline failures, outages, DDoS attacks, or a sudden influx of refund requests. The sooner you identify issues like these, the sooner you can take the appropriate actions to mitigate problems associated with them.
Examining the relationship between two data streams, for example, can be conducted on the fly and its potential value determined immediately, which stands in stark contrast to suggesting a comparison, waiting for it to be aggregated, sent to a BI server for analysis, …you get the picture.
Semantic layer and Headless BI
Similar to how data modeling seeks to create an architecture within a data warehouse that tells the story of how the business operates, the semantic data layer (or metrics layer) is the next level of abstraction and a bridge between raw data assets and how they are defined by the business.
For example, the “customers” metric when used by the business likely refers to active customers.
All the classic components of big data (volume, variety, veracity, and velocity) make it difficult for business users to gain a comprehensive understanding of a company’s data assets. Data catalogs, BI tools, dbt, and more are all exploring how they might become your future semantic layer. See also: “headless BI.”
Explainable artificial intelligence
Handing control of the reins to artificial intelligence (AI) is daunting, and can seem foolhardy if you’re not able to look into how it’s coming up with the results that it is.
Historically, AI has done much of its work behind the scenes and tracking its progress hasn’t always been easy. When stakeholders can’t see the process, they often don’t trust the process. This is one of the reasons why adoption of AI has been more sluggish than might be expected.
Explainable artificial intelligence is important for the same reason teachers need to see their students’ working on their homework: getting the “right” answer is all well and good, but it’s important to know that students understand how they got to it.
Likewise, anyone using AI to inform their business decisions (or even automating those decisions using AI) will want to know how relevant data was gathered, and what assumptions are being operated on. In other words, they need transparent and easily digestible information. That’s particularly true for high-risk industries like finance and healthcare.
When people don’t trust the conclusions drawn by artificial intelligence, or can’t examine the reasoning behind them, they may not act on that information. That increases the risk of human error. When they can examine that process, regardless of whether or not the results fit with their gut instincts, they’re far more likely to take it into account.
According to Next Move Strategy Consulting, The global Explainable AI market was valued at $4.4 billion in 2021 and stands to rise to $21 billion by the year 2030. In other words, we can expect to see businesses doubling down on explainable AI in the years to come.
And that really speaks towards how attitudes towards AI, including the degree of confidence in it, are starting to change.
Data Observability
More and more business owners are getting switched on to the value of data observability, which refers to an organization’s ability to understand the health of the data in its systems.
Discovering data errors before feeding data into business intelligence tools is absolutely crucial for a number of reasons, with some more obvious than others. Perhaps the most obvious of these is that using flawed data can lead to poor business decisions.
Effective data observability means knowing what data has come from where, timely delivery of trustworthy data, and easier resolution of any data issues that do arise. To put it another way, the emergence of data observability is concrete recognition that data is more important to businesses than it’s ever been.
Ultimately, in some way or another, better data observability is at the core of all the concepts listed above. And that’s a good thing, because better data observability means better business intelligence.
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I am an industry expert with a profound understanding of the evolving landscape of business intelligence (BI) and data analytics. My expertise is grounded in a wealth of hands-on experience, industry research, and a commitment to staying abreast of the latest developments. Now, let's delve into the concepts mentioned in the article about the future of business intelligence.
Self-Service Business Intelligence:
Self-service BI is a revolutionary approach that empowers individuals within an organization to access and interpret data without extensive training or supervision. In the past, data teams acted as gatekeepers, creating a bottleneck for timely decision-making. The advent of self-service BI eliminates these dependencies, allowing non-experts to draw conclusions and insights from data. Verified Market Research projects substantial growth in the self-service BI market, from $6 billion in 2020 to an estimated $19 billion by 2028.
Real-Time Business Intelligence:
Traditionally, business intelligence operated with periodic data updates, hindering real-time decision-making. The modern data stack has automated data delivery, but alignment issues persist between data teams and consumers. Real-time BI addresses this by providing up-to-the-minute data insights. Beyond trend analysis, real-time analytics is invaluable for identifying emergency situations promptly, such as data pipeline failures or cyberattacks.
Semantic Layer and Headless BI:
The semantic layer, or metrics layer, acts as an abstraction bridge between raw data assets and business definitions. In a data landscape characterized by big data's volume, variety, veracity, and velocity, the semantic layer enhances understanding. Data catalogs, BI tools, and technologies like dbt are evolving into potential semantic layers, offering a comprehensive view of a company's data assets. "Headless BI" is a term linked to this trend, emphasizing the separation of BI backends from frontend tools for enhanced flexibility.
Explainable Artificial Intelligence:
Explainable AI addresses the opacity of AI decision-making processes. Trust in AI is bolstered when stakeholders can understand how AI arrives at specific outcomes. The need for transparency is particularly critical in high-risk industries like finance and healthcare. The Explainable AI market is anticipated to grow from $4.4 billion in 2021 to $21 billion by 2030, indicating a growing emphasis on comprehensibility in AI systems.
Data Observability:
Data observability refers to an organization's ability to monitor and understand the health of its data. Detecting errors before data enters BI tools is crucial for informed decision-making. Effective data observability ensures timely, trustworthy data delivery and facilitates the resolution of data issues. As businesses recognize the centrality of data, data observability becomes a cornerstone for robust business intelligence.
In conclusion, the future of business intelligence is intricately tied to advancements in self-service BI, real-time analytics, semantic layers, explainable AI, and data observability. These trends collectively contribute to a more agile, transparent, and reliable business intelligence landscape.
