DATA SCIENCE FOR BUSINESS _A BUSINESSMAN STEPS INTO THE WORLD OF DATA SCIENCE_ Today, businesses have access to more data than ever before. And with so many data points, every decision made

by business owners and leadership can and should be influenced by data. Which is why many companies are building out teams of data scientists who analyze the data to find trends, predict

customer behavior, build better products, automate processes and make more informed decisions about the business. If you’re not using data science as a part of your normal business practice,

you’re behind the times. But for those companies with a data science team, are you maximizing the use of that team to grow your business or are you analyzing data for the sake of analyzing

to determine what leadership is really looking for. Even worse, data scientists are sometimes brought into the fold when leadership wants a snapshot of customer or product data without any

real idea for how they plan to use it. In my experience, the best way to incorporate a data scientist or data science team into your organization is to have an open cycle of communication

wherein leadership and data science teams are continually learning from each other. In order to do that, company leaders need to do three things: make a greater effort to understand data

science, open a channel of communication wherein data scientists can educate leadership about emerging trends and new technology, and clearly communicate business goals, so that data science

— and other teams — understand what they’re working towards. That is why I am in the process of earning a certificate in data science. As the VP of Sustayn Analytics, I want to be able to

better communicate and support our data science team. And although I’m a total newbie when it comes to data science, I look forward to sharing my journey and learning from the experts here

on TDS. FROM BUSINESS EXECUTIVE TO DATA-SCIENTIST A little background on my journey to data science. I began my career as a financial analyst before moving into the world of supply chain.

I’ve always had an analytical mind and am continually looking for ways to streamline and automate processes, which is much needed in the supply chain world. Four years ago, I joined the team

at Sustayn Analytics at Avangard Innovative as the VP Sustayn Analytics. In my role, I’m the “idea man,” looking for opportunities to bring data into supply chain processes and coming up

with business applications for various technologies. I then rely on our incredibly talented tech team to build the tools we sell. However, I quickly realized that my ability to create would

be limited by my lack of knowledge about the ins and outs of data science. I did not want to be the “I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express” guy which is why I’m in the process of earning my data

science certificate. THE FUTURE OF DATA SCIENCE Now I don’t expect every business owner or leadership team member to sign up for data science classes, but I do believe we can be doing more

to understand the technology and talents in our own offices to find ways to make the most of the data we have. You can’t harness the power of data unless you understand how to do that. By

educating yourself on data science capabilities and trends, you’re better able to submit requests to the data science team and clearly communicate objectives. One way that leadership can

keep abreast of data science trends is by creating a channel of communication in which data science team leads can present updates to leadership. That way, as business needs arise,

leadership is aware of the latest technologies that can help accomplish those objectives. Leadership also needs to continually communicate company goals and business objects so that tech,

data and product teams can develop products aimed at achieving those goals. Too often this information is lacking, and the products developed don’t fully answer the business needs. Though

it’s up to the data scientists to analyze data and find trends, management should tell them what trends to look for and why. By looking at data science as cycle that both informs business

objects and solves them, companies will truly make the most of their data. I welcome any feedback, commentary and critique and can be reached via Twitter @theoneshafiq. _Shafiq Jadallah is

the VP Sustayn Analytics at Avangard Innovative, a data-driven company leading the way in increasing recycling and lowering landfill and waste costs. He is currently pursuing his certificate

in Data Science._