Top five business analytics intelligence trends for 2019 Posted on : Dec 04 - 2018

From explainable AI to natural language humanising data analytics, James Eiloart from Tableau gives his take on the top trends in business analytics intelligence as we head into 2019.

Business analytics intelligence prediction number one: After the hype, the rise of explainable AI

AI promises to enhance human understanding by automating decision-making. But, as organisations rely on AI and machine learning for data-driven decision-making, we’re seeing a rise in human hesitation about the trustworthiness of model-driven recommendations. Many machine learning applications don’t offer a transparent way to see the algorithms or logic behind decisions and recommendations. This need for transparency will drive growth of explainable AI in 2019. If you can question humans, why not have the same option with machine learning when making decisions?

Business leaders will put greater pressure on data science teams to use models that are more explainable and reveal how models are constructed. AI has to be trusted to make the strongest impact, and the generated conclusions must be intelligible, simple and dynamically answer questions to help humans understand their data.

Business analytics intelligence prediction number two: Natural language humanises data analytics

Natural language processing (NLP) helps computers understand the meaning of human language. BI vendors will incorporate natural language into their platforms, offering a natural language interface to visualisations. At the same time, natural language is evolving to support analytical conversation—defined as a human having a conversation with the system about their data. The system leverages context within the conversation to understand the user’s intent behind a query and further the dialogue, creating a more natural, conversational experience. That means when a person has a follow-up question of their data, they don’t have to rephrase the question to dig deeper or clarify an ambiguity. Natural language will be a paradigm shift in how people ask questions of their data. When people can interact with a visualisation as they would a person, it allows more people of all skill sets to ask deeper questions of their data. As natural language evolves within the BI industry, it will break down barriers to analytics adoption and help transform workplaces into data-driven, self-service operations.

Business analytics intelligence prediction number three: Actionable analytics put data into context

Data workers need to access their data and take action—all in the same workflow. In 2019, expect more organisations to use data analytics exactly where it’s needed and not in isolation. View More