Sumeet founded AnalytixLabs in 2011 along with Ankita Gupta and Chandra Mouli. Prior to starting AnalytixLabs, Sumeet has worked as a Business Consultant with prestigious companies like McKinsey & Company, ZS Associates, and AbsolutData in the past 14 years. He has worked in more than ten countries across the globe in various business domains and is an expert in data-driven consulting and business solutions. Being always passionate about Data Science, Sumeet had the conviction that we could do a much better job and contribute in this field, which he knew would boom in the coming years, and hence the AnalytixLabs was born.
In today’s fast-paced world, the only wealth that is worth having is “Data” or “Information”. In recent years the importance of information has grown manifold as advanced analytics and artificial intelligence can draw meaningful inferences out of unlinked pieces of data collected from a variety of sources.
As the importance of this subject grows, the demand for resources with these skillsets increases exponentially. While engineering colleges are offering degrees in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, there is an urgent need to upskill young professionals who have missed this opportunity earlier.
The data scientist is the most in-demand career option available in the market right now. Businesses of today are focused on using real-time data to generate actionable outcomes using new-age technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cloud and Edge Computing.
They are always on the lookout to hire resources that can collect, evaluate, analyze data and derive meaningful inferences.
The supply of data scientists is not sufficient to meet the industry’s demand. The humongous amounts of data generated by the system need specialized skillsets to be converted into useful pieces of information. This would help organizations to create more customer-centric experiences through predictive analytics.
A recent survey of 100 hiring managers conducted by an Ed-Tech company shows that there is a huge gap between demand and supply for data science professionals. Over 57% felt that the gap was at the base level while 27% felt that even at mid-level positions there is a scarcity of talent to fill available positions. Major gaps were seen in the areas of Natural Language Processing followed by Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Computer Vision, Analytics and Machine Learning.
This is the reason we see several educational start-ups offering tailored courses in Data Science and Analytics for students and young professionals that will help them to beef up their resumes by adding in-demand skills that will assist in finding decent placements in the industry and secure career paths.
The unprecedented demand for data scientists stems from the simple fact that they are in huge demand and there are not enough resources available to fill these vacancies. A recent study conducted by AnalytixLabs and AIM shows that over 1,13,000 data science jobs were available in year 2020 waiting to be filled up. This gives us a clear picture of the availability of job opportunities in this field for those who are willing to pursue specialized courses and add to their expertise.
Several startups have identified the supply-demand gap in this area and are offering specialised tailored courses that can create industry-ready professionals. Unlike a full-fledged 4-year engineering course these courses are short term courses delivered in byte sized capsules. These courses are usually accompanied by career counselling and placement services. The need of the hour is to create more data scientists who can meet the industry demand.
The main role of a data scientist is to turn raw data into meaningful information that can be used by enterprises to enhance their business outcomes. Humongous amounts of data are being collected by businesses during their day-to-day operations. The role of a data scientist is to sift through this information, identify patterns and predict future consumer behaviour. This is extremely useful for businesses as it helps them tackle business problems in innovative ways. Data scientists extract, analyse and interpret data with the help of data mining, algorithms, artificial intelligence, machine learning and other tools to convert it into actionable information for enterprises.
In today’s highly competitive environment, it is refreshing to find an area that is still looking for the right talent. It is a godsend for those ambitious and focused students who can sharpen their skills, build the required expertise, and make themselves industry-ready to grab these career opportunities. In a world where we are used to talking about unemployment numbers, here is a field that is still green with opportunities for the right skilled professional. Looking at the demand for data science it would make a lot of sense for students and young professionals to build their expertise in this area so that their talent can get monetized in the form of well-paid jobs.
There is a high demand for data scientists in various areas like finance, retail, healthcare, government, education, e-commerce, and scientific research etc. This gives a fair idea of the career prospects available. There are phases when some skillsets are in higher demand than others and it makes sense to make hay when the sun shines. Given the accelerated pace at which organizations are moving towards new-age technologies like the Cloud, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the need for data scientists who can process the data and generate meaningful inferences is only expected to rise exponentially in the near future. Looking at the current demand-supply gap, it doesn’t seem likely that it is going to fill up very quickly. So, this area would continue to be a verdant plot for skilled professionals with the ambition to make it big. There would not be any dearth of opportunities or pay packages for those with the right talent. Against such a backdrop, a course in Data Science may be a very useful stepping stone to a meaningful career progression.