AI/ML is not the ultimate solution for every data-related problem. We must first set up foundational descriptive and diagnostic analytics capabilities and more straightforward ML approaches before applying more advanced techniques. It’s essential to understand the business problems and work closely with functional partners to solve them in a way that aligns well with the company’s analytical readiness and operating rhythm.

The examples of Revenue Growth Analytics use cases mentioned, such as Promotional Analytics, Everyday Price Optimization, Dynamic, Automated Clearance Pricing, Bulk Purchase Optimization, Customer Segmentation & Predictive Insights, and Customer Churn & Cross-Sell Modeling, are practical and impactful capabilities that can drive measurable sales and gross profit improvements. They can be implemented using simple math and essential ML and with popular tech stacks with which pricing, supply chain, and sales partners are familiar.

Overall, the focus should be on pragmatic and co-created approaches with business stakeholders that are most likely to get adoption and impact rather than on celebrating complexity for its own sake.

Most analytics transformation efforts do not deliver a positive ROI for the enterprise even after several years. CEOs and their boards know they need to execute an AI-led differentiation strategy to either future-proof themselves, address an existential risk in the marketplace, or simply to make some operational improvements to their business. Yet, according to most estimates, 75-90% of digital transformations fail and less than 1 in 5 companies have fully extracted value out of their analytics journey. Most organizations fail on the last-mile delivery – in other words, front-line employees and decision-makers are not using the analytics tools and processes as intended, or not using at all.
Over the last decade of leading analytics teams, I have succeeded and failed many times. Below are five lessons learned from these experiences. I hope it can serve as a helpful 10K foot roadmap for nascent or aspiring analytics leaders or seasoned business executives who want to build a sustainable practice that adds real, quantifiable value for their company and its customers.