Analytics Translators Needed

Good piece below in DSC by William Vorhies, the role is well described.  I did this for many years.  Since translation suggests there are at least two 'languages' involved, it means you have to know both the math and analytics, and the business process. The additional languages needed might include things like domain knowledge, accounting, databases, human factors. 

So back then it was assumed that the practitioner had all the languages and experience they needed.    And the ability to express themselves, say by telling a understandable story.  Being able to explain the results.  But now with not enough experienced people available, that may not often be the case.    Many groups don't even know if they have the necessary capabilities.  A dangerous situation. 

Analytics Translator – The Most Important New Role in Analytics

Summary:  The role of Analytics Translator was recently identified by McKinsey as the most important new role in analytics, and a key factor in the failure of analytic programs when the role is absent.

The role of Analytics Translator was recently identified by McKinsey as the most important new role in analytics, and a key factor in the failure of analytic programs when the role is absent.

As our profession of data science has evolved, any number of authors including myself has offered different taxonomies to describe the differences among the different ‘tribes’ of data scientists.  We may disagree on the categories but we agree that we’re not all alike.

Ten years ago, around the time that Hadoop and Big Data went open source there was still a perception that data scientists should be capable of performing every task in the analytics lifecycle. 

The obvious skills were model creation and deployment, and data blending and munging.  Other important skills in this bucket would have included setting up data infrastructure (data lakes, streaming architectures, Big Data NoSQL DBs, etc.).  And finally the skills that were just assumed to come with seniority, storytelling (explaining it to executive sponsors), and great project management skills.

Frankly, when I entered the profession, this was true and for the most part, in those early projects, I did indeed do it all.  .... "