Decision Intelligence Digest: August 2022

What is a decision? More important, what precedes the decision? What factors, variables, feelings, data, and other intangibles go into the process?

It’s a question that first seems obvious, but it’s hard to pin down. For instance, imagine the last important decision you made at work. Did you think about how you would go about deciding before you decided? Did you first think, “Is this a trust-my-gut decision, or is this a data-driven decision?” And was the right data even on-hand and ready to analyze?

So, the question, “what is a decision?” is more than an interesting thought experiment: the answer has real consequences, not least in the world of work. Perhaps the more important question is:

What is the right way to make a decision?

Many smart people from a variety of disciplines are working on that question today. In business analytics, the growing consensus is that decision-making is growing increasingly difficult and that a new approach—one better suited to the complexities of today—is urgently needed.

For instance, here’s what machine learning pioneer and thought leader Dr. Lorien Pratt says in her book, Link: How Decision Intelligence Connects Data, Actions, and Outcomes for a Better World:

The amount of information that must be considered, the number of choices faced, and the way these can interact in unforeseen ways to produce disturbingly unexpected results, all accumulate to overwhelm the ad hoc techniques that most decision makers typically rely on.

(Be sure to check out Lorien’s excellent book and super informative blog.)

Next, consider this observation from Gareth Herschel, VP Analyst at Gartner:

[I would really focus on understanding] how the decision is made today. Is this decision made using data and analysis? Is it made by getting a group of smart people together and saying, you guys figure it out, you guys make a decision? Is it by applying business principles or ethics? Is it made with instinct? Or, is it made on principle?

If you’re familiar with Dr. Pratt’s work or have read some of Gartner’s recent research, you know that decision intelligence is central to their vision of the future of decision-making.

In her book, Dr. Pratt argues that the emerging discipline of decision intelligence can connect data, actions, and outcomes, and provides concrete examples of how people can use strategies to model decisions and use technology to drive them.

Gartner, in its Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2022 report, argues that “[integrating] data, analytics, and AI allows the creation of decision intelligence platforms to support, augment and automate decisions” and predicts that “[by] 2023, more than a third of large organizations will have analysts practicing decision intelligence, including decision modeling.”

So, the right way to make a decision starts with decision intelligence?

We couldn’t agree more. In fact, you can hear it for yourself from our CEO and Co-Founder, Omri Kohl. Check out Omri’s conversation with Mike Vizard at Digital CxO as they unpack decision intelligence, discuss the role of AI, and describe how our behaviors around decision-making may need to change in response to our tech- and data-rich world.

You can watch the full video here. 

As always, we hope you find these resources helpful as you discover what’s next in your analytics journey.

And now … on with this month’s Decision Intelligence Digest!

What else have we been reading?

• McKinsey tackles automation in one of their recent survey-informed insights. Their recent research on the topic finds that, “within the next two years, [organizations] will require more advanced cognitive skills—such as quantitative and statistical skills, critical thinking, and project management—as a result of their automation efforts” and that “companies are undertaking reskilling efforts to help employees build the capabilities they’ll need to shift to higher-value tasks.” (Emphasis added)
• How can we decrease the time from data to decision? Our CMO, Jakki Geiger, shares insights from our recent presentation at SAPinsider. Thanks to Chandana Gopal, research director, Future of Intelligence for IDC, for joining our CTO Avi Perez for the session.
• Joe McKendrick, contributing to Forbes, responds to this recent eBook from Gartner with his own assertion: Data-Driven Decision Making Still Should Also Be Human-Driven. We don’t disagree!
• Over at Ventana, David Menninger shared some cool 10-year benchmark research on data governance. The short-and-sweet? We’ve all come a LONG way. How will we be talking about decision intelligence in 2032?
• Dresner Advisory Services recently published a Vendor Credibility Model report on Pyramid Analytics. Click here for a complimentary copy of the report.

Two new reports are also available, along with many more on our website.

Ventana Research has published a new Market Perspective report called Pyramid Analytics Earns Analytics Digital Innovation Award for 2022. And, we are excited to announce a new guide called The Future of Analytics on SAP: A Guide to Decision Intelligence for SAP Data.

Peer Story: Premier Foods

Don’t miss our more recent customer story! You’ll learn how one of the UK’s leading food businesses is ramping up decision intelligence to process 25 million records a day on AWS.

Read Premier Food’s Story

The Look Ahead

No Bad Decisions Roadshow | Event Series
We’re coming to a city near you! Check back often for additional dates.

Dresner Advisory Services study rates Pyramid Analytics as a business intelligence leader | News Release

Experts From Amazon Web Services and IDC Join Pyramid Executives on SAPinsider 2022 Main Stage | News Release

SAPinsider Report – Creating Additional Value in SAP Environments With Decision Intelligence | News Release

Pyramid Analytics wins 2022 Ventana Research Digital Innovation Award in Analytics category | News Release

Thank you for reading the Decision Intelligence Digest. If you would like to learn more about Pyramid Analytics, the Pyramid Platform, or want to hear how others in your industry are changing their approach to enterprise analytics, let’s set up a time to talk.