BI tools change by the minute, so have you ever considered outsourcing your data visualization needs in the future? Maybe you should, especially if you don’t have proper in-house skill sets. Don’t risk your reputation because users can’t unsee a bad data visualization.

Today’s guest is long-term BI Brainz customer Mustafa Mustafa, senior director of IT at Ferrara Candy Company. Mustafa transformed Ferrara Candy into a forward-thinking and innovative company. He discusses the pros and cons of outsourcing data visualization by choosing the right partners.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• [04:13] Key Quote: Users cannot unsee a bad data visualization. - Mico Yuk
• [11:20] Mustafa’s background in learning Mico's BI Framework and dashboard strategies.
• [20:45] Should data visualization be outsourced? Consider customer cases and challenges, such as communication, common sense, and strategy to share information.
• For full show notes, and the links mentioned visit: https://bibrainz.com/podcast/40

Sponsor

This exciting season of AOF is sponsored by our BI Data Storytelling Mastery Accelerator 3-Day Live workshop. Our second one is coming up on Jan 28-30 and registration is open! Join us and consider upgrading to be a VIP (we have tons of bonuses planned). Many BI teams are still struggling to deliver consistent, high-engaging analytics their users love. At the end of three days, you'll leave with the tools, techniques, and resources you need to engage your users. Register today!

Enjoyed the Show? 

Please leave us a review on iTunes.

When it comes to effective presentations and engaging an audience, what questions should you ask to tell your story about data? It’s time to take action and learn!

Nancy Duarte joins me as today’s guest to discuss her new book, DataStory: Explain Data and Inspire Action Through Story. Some of you may already know Nancy from her 2012 TED Talk titled, The Secret Structure of Great Talks.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• [08:10] Inspiration behind DataStory: Normal people need help with data, too.
• [09:10] Key Quote: Data had been slowing us down, instead of speeding us up. We didn’t have a mechanism to communicate data - Nancy Duarte
• [09:27] Key Quote: Data is becoming a very common communication language that didn’t have a real clear wrapper around it about how to frame it.- Nancy Duarte
• For full show notes, his book give away, and the links mentioned visit: https://bibrainz.com/podcast/39

Sponsor

The next BI Data Storytelling Mastery Accelerator 3-Day Live workshop will be held in January 2020. Many BI teams are still struggling to deliver consistent, high-engaging analytics their users love. At the end of three days, you’ll leave with a clear BI delivery action plan. Register today!

Do you know what skill sets you're going to need in the next three years to stay relevant in the BI (business intelligence) industry? Don’t wait for the BI bubble to pop!

When I met Jen Underwood, she was one of Microsoft’s first Power BI product managers and an undeniable voice of reason in the BI industry through her blogs and other insightful posts online. I always admired her technical aptitude and was not surprised that she went on to work at cool startups like DataRobot and now Aible. In this exciting episode, Jen breaks down what you need to know and do to be viable and relevant in the BI market in 2020 and beyond! Let's just say, it's definitely not what you're doing today. Tune in, and level up!

In this episode, you'll learn:

• [02:58] Jen’s CV: Marketing degree and love for data leads to 20+ years in BI industry.
• [05:17] Key Quote: I knew that I fell in love with programming and all that. But I didn’t have the patience to extend my college years. - Jen Underwood
• [06:41] Fear of Failure: Jen’s only option was to succeed during her homeless period.
• For full show notes, his book give away, and the links mentioned visit: https://bibrainz.com/podcast/38

Sponsor

This exciting season of AOF is sponsored by our BI Data Storytelling Mastery Accelerator 3-Day Live workshop. Our second one is coming up on Jan 28-30 and registration is open! Join us and consider upgrading to be a VIP (we have tons of bonuses planned). Many BI teams are still struggling to deliver consistent, high-engaging analytics their users love. At the end of three days, you'll leave with the tools, techniques, and resources you need to engage your users. Register today!

Enjoyed the Show? 

Please leave us a review on iTunes.

What problems do you have with key performance indicators (KPIs)? Are they actionable or not? How do you measure them?

Today, I’m sharing a session that I did that was rated #1 at the Real Business Intelligence event at MIT back in 2017. It's called "Secrets to building actionable KPIs". Specifically, I discuss three of the more well-known and commonly used methods: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timebound (SMART) Goals, Wildly Important Goals (WIGs), and Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).

In this episode, you'll learn:

• [02:19] Are KPIs and metrics the same? Do you track KPIs? Metrics? Core competencies?
• [02:44] Key Quote: Living in KPI land, there’s a lot of measurements, but you discover that not all measurements are created equal. - Mico Yuk
• [04:02] KPI Problem #1: Too many KPIs; focus on tracking 3-5, no more than 10.
• For full show notes, his book give away, and the links mentioned visit: https://bibrainz.com/podcast/37

Sponsor

This exciting season of AoF is sponsored by our BI Data Storytelling Mastery Accelerator 3-Day Live workshop. Our next workshop on January 28-30, 2020 is now open for registration at a special early bird rate! Consider upgrading to the VIP option for extras including access to our online course. Many BI teams are still struggling to deliver consistent, high-engaging analytics their users love. At the end of three days, you’ll leave with a clear BI delivery action plan. Register today!

Enjoyed the Show? 

Please leave us a review on iTunes.

Today’s guest is the talented and intelligent Lillian Pierson. Lillian is a Data Science Instagram rock star with 600K+ followers across social media. Currently, she is the data science instructor for multiple courses on LinkedIn Learning, as well as an author, entrepreneur, coach and social media genius.

In this new BI Masterclass, Lillian is going to teach you how to build a solid enterprise-wide data strategy that scales. Stay tuned to get Lillian’s best tips for social media, data strategies, and collecting data for use cases

In this episode, you'll learn:

• [10:07] The definition of enterprise-wide data strategy and who it is for
• [11:35] Lillian’s “Aha” moment and her two different types of clients
• [13:21] Key Quote: “What is the point of all this big data talk? The point is that they generate business value from that new knowledge.” - Lillian Pierson
• For full show notes, his book give away, and the links mentioned visit: https://bibrainz.com/podcast/36

Sponsor

This exciting season of AOF is sponsored by our BI Data Storytelling Mastery Accelerator 3-Day Live workshop. Our second one is coming up on Jan 28-30 and registration is open!  At the end of three days, you'll leave with the tools, techniques, and resources you need to engage your users. Register today!

Enjoyed the Show? 

Please leave us a review on iTunes

Today’s guest is no stranger to most of you. Ryan Goodman is a BI rock star and my former AoF co-host. Currently, he’s the Head of Analytics at a super cool startup turned ongoing profitable and growing financial services company.

Ryan’s going to teach us how to create an analytics playbook using the BI Dashboard Formula (BIDF) methodology. An analytics strategy playbook encapsulates and executes all the elements of people, technology, and process. Stay tuned to get Ryan’s playbook template!

In this episode, you'll learn:

• [06:40] BI Whisperer: Bridging the gap between technology and business analysts.
• [08:20] Disconnecting from being a business owner back into driving customer analytics.
• [09:16] Key Quote: Everyone is data driven...what that means, and what it should mean. - Ryan Goodman
• For full show notes, his book give away, and the links mentioned visit: https://bibrainz.com/podcast/35

Sponsor

This exciting season of AOF is sponsored by our BI Data Storytelling Mastery Accelerator 3-Day Live workshop. Our second one is coming up on Jan 28-30 and registration is open! Join us and consider upgrading to be a VIP (we have tons of bonuses planned). Many BI teams are still struggling to deliver consistent, high-engaging analytics their users love. At the end of three days, you'll leave with the tools, techniques, and resources you need to engage your users. Register today!

Enjoyed the Show? 

Please leave us a review on iTunes.

Guess what? I missed you! After focusing on making our first BI Data Storytelling Accelerator - 3-day live workshop a major success, I’m back! Registration is now open for the next workshop on January 28-30, 2020. It’s the hottest thing since fried rice!

Today, I talk to the amazing Alberto Cairo, author of How Charts Lie. He’s an AoF alumni, who was on my very first AoF podcast episode where we were the first to announce The Functional Art (one of the most well-known books in our industry). Stay tuned to the end for an insane book giveaway you won’t find anywhere else!

In this episode, you'll learn:

• [12:00] Learn why Alberto warns: “Be aware of what some people call the Curse of Knowledge.”
• [19:11] Key Quote: A visualization can only be worth a 1,000 words if we know how to read it. - Alberto Cairo
• [21:41] Key ways to overcome biases: Steps to read a visual. Read the title, message, and patterns
• For full show notes, his book give away, and the links mentioned visit: https://bibrainz.com/podcast/34

Sponsor

This exciting season of AOF is sponsored by our BI Data Storytelling Mastery Accelerator 3-Day Live workshop. Our second one is coming up on Jan 28-30 and registration is open! Join us and consider upgrading to be a VIP (we have tons of bonuses planned). Many BI teams are still struggling to deliver consistent, high-engaging analytics their users love. At the end of three days, you'll leave with the tools, techniques, and resources you need to engage your users. Register today!

Enjoyed the Show? 

Please leave us a review on iTunes.

How can one of my students go from a BI startup to a Big five acquisition? By using our BI Dashboard Formula (BIDF) methodology.

This week, I’m talking to Andrew Mackay, co-founder of former Dubai based BI startup Team base, now director of digital services at PwC Middle East. I met Andrew six years ago when he registered for our online BI Dashboard Formula methodology online course, as he was seeking to differentiate his BI offerings in the middle east. This inspiring conversation outlines both his reasons for using BIDF, how he operationalized it and how it led to his recent acquisition by PwC. There is so much to be learned from his focus and use of the BIDF methodology! Enjoy!

What did you think of my very first solo podcast? If you haven’t listened to it yet, go to Analytics on Fire - 31: My Top BI User Adoption Hacks (Part 1).

Today is Part 2, where I wrap up my list of top BI User Adoption hacks to help you be successful. Use adoption is the only KPI that BI teams should be focused on IMO. Enjoy and I'd love your feedback!

I’m so nervous that my armpits are sweating! But I’m trying something new and different. Solo podcasts focused on topics that you voted you need help with. 

Today’s topic is, My Top 10 BI User Adoption Hacks (Part 1). User adoption is a problem that most BI teams experience regardless of how great our dashboards perform or look, so I created a checklist of items that should evoke action.

While most BI teams are shrinking, Ericsson’s Analytics team has grown to triple digits in the last five years, to bring the 5G evolution to life! If you’re not familiar with 5G, it’s the next generation of cellular network technology that is 100 times faster than 4G! Crazy I know! I met Bjorn six years ago when Ericsson hired our team to help them create analytics to support the LTE evolution. As the Head of Automation and Analytics at Ericsson Networks, Bjorn Johansson shares his lessons learned from scaling up so quickly, his unique philosophy around analytics, and key tips to scale any BI team!

Are you still struggling to create and build a good social media presence in the data space? This week, I talk with real-life data analytics and BI rockstar, Kate Strachnyi. Kate is a Program Manager and Consultant of Data Analytics, as well as an author, blogger, and LinkedIn “Top-Voice” in data analytics with well over 50,000+ followers. In this knowledge filled BI masterclass, Kate teaches you the importance of social media and the exact steps you can take to up your social media game and become a rockstar!

Are you data-informed or data driven? My guest this week, Ella Hilal, the Director of Data at Shopify explains exactly why being data-informed is more important than being data-driven. Ella works at Shopify, a unicorn company in Canada that handles over $100B per year in e-commerce transactions and is growing 60%+ year over year. Besides dealing with insane amounts of data, Ella is an award-winning professor with more accolades than we can list here. Listen as Ella clarifies what it means to be a leader, and explains why being data informed is to key to transforming your organizations' data culture! Golden nuggets galore here folks.. enjoy!

In this episode of Analytics on Fire, I talk with one of my mentors and best friends Ismail Maiyegun. Ismail, the CTO and co-founder of Hingeto, a Y-combinator funded and fast-growing Silicon Valley startup, shares how they use business intelligence to scale their high seven-figure annual re-occurring revenue! He also demystifies the hype around artificial intelligence in silicon valley and shares how they focus on what's important.

Ever wonder about the masterminds that create the famous Gartner Analytics and BI Magic Quadrant? Meet Cindi Howson, former VP at Gartner and current Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughSpot. Cindi’s unorthodox start in the BI world and quick rise to well-known author, BI Scorecard creator and go to for the media, is nothing short of spectacular. Find out why Cindi is one of the most inspirational and well-known women in BI!

Are you a data professional struggling to influence others with your data savvy? Wondering what may be missing? If you're one of those data professionals who is seeking a proven way to influence your users and win their trust, this BI masterclass is for you! Ryan Deeds, a classified BI 'rockstar', is yet another example of an 'action taker' who took our BI Data Storytelling Mastery workshop and completely transformed his career. Today, Ryan is the VP of Data Technology at Assurex Global, but he didn't start out there! Listen to how Ryan went from a normal data professional to a chief data storyteller in a few months!

Have you ever thought about starting your own data community? Ever wondered what really goes into it? Data communities are hot and have become the number one source for learning and networking! Our guest today talks to us about exactly how he grew Experian's online data community from zero to 200K followers in two years. Mike Delgado is the host of the popular Experian #DataTalk Show, where he interviews the top data scientist and data rockstars via facebook live on the globe. In this BI masterclass, he shares his unique start in data, how Experian's switch to being data-driven was a game-changer, and how he continues to grow the #DataTalk show amidst high competition.  You don't want to miss it! 

Have you ever wondered what really happens in a $10M+ analytics transformation? Surely it’s more than building analytics. The stakes are higher and so are the risks! Well, my good friend Andrew Joo, who is is the head of Energy and Utilities practice for Infosys Consulting is a master of making these “unicorn” programs successful. Whether your project is big or small, there is something for everyone to learn!

Jeremy Kuhlenbeck is a BI rockstar! As a Senior BI Consultant at cBeyondData, Jeremy used our BI DataStorytelling Mastery class tools, techniques, and methods to turn an almost failing BI project around at the last minute. Jeremy describes his bumpy road to becoming a chief data storyteller, and the actions you can also take to do so!