Data Science and the Future of Entrepreneurship

During the 2022 ICSB World Congress, I had the honor of sharing my graduate experience studying in the Master of Science in Business Analytics degree program at GWU and how it has shaped my perspective of the future of entrepreneurship.

With my time, I chose to talk about how many organizations I have worked with appear to possess a common sentiment around data. I sensed that many organizations understand they have access to large quantities of data and may have already begun to collect it. However, they are less confident in determining what is achievable with their data or what procedures they should employ to extract value from it.

I'll later touch on how this observation may be a part of a more significant trend that could be of value to future entrepreneurs. But first, I would like to ask you, the reader, a question:

Are you (or your company) using data to its fullest potential, and how would you prove it if so?

(Personally) I want to think the correct answer should almost always be "no." Or at least that's the answer you would expect entrepreneurs to give because they are the creatives and innovators who see a new way of doing things. "No" is also the answer you would hope a data scientist would give because a central trait of a good data scientist is curiosity.

Curiosity. Creativity. Innovativeness. Are they all so different?

You could argue nuances around the definitions, but the mental exercise of considering the similarities between the three traits is the heart of my speech.

In my speech, my closing thought was that data science is the future of entrepreneurship because data science is inherently entrepreneurial. The process of making data valuable and inspiring draws similarities to the journey of an entrepreneur — possibly a more scientific expedition, but an entrepreneurial journey nonetheless.

With technology and data continually evolving, I envision those who can be entrepreneurial leaders on both the scientific and managerial sides of a business as great candidates for future entrepreneurial success.