
The culture of data science - ttunguz
http://tomtunguz.com/the-culture-of-data-science
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endersshadow
I would argue that the "prevailing culture" in the workplace is very much to
value data over intuition. I'm biased, however, as I do enterprise analytics
consulting for a living.

That being said, companies like Visa, MasterCard, and most banks have been
using automated fraud detection for _decades_. This stuff is old hat in the
world of business. Three years ago, I built a system that helped predict for
craft brewers what packaging they should put their beer into for a month
(bottle, kegs, etc). They were eager to get it.

I've implemented systems which detect fraud, predict inventory levels, warn of
stockouts, and bubble up data for business leaders to act upon. I've done it
for years. This isn't a new phenomenon, nor is Silver's prediction a watershed
moment. Polls have been used since Gallup showed they were viable, and
campaigns almost entirely become slaves to them. How is politics _not_ driven
by data?

Hell, _Competing on Analytics_ has been around for five years. Ralph Kimball
has been touting data warehouses and analytics since the mid-80's. Obviously,
our predictions will get better as processing power improves, but decision
makers in businesses have been thinking in terms of data for quite awhile.

