Tableau Business Science Brings Data Science Capabilities To Business Users
Tableau has taken the wraps off Business Science, which it says is a new class of AI-powered analytics to lower the barrier to data science techniques, enabling business users and analysts to make smarter decisions faster.
Tableau gets Einstein Discovery
Business Science brings Salesforce’s AI technology in the form of Einstein Discovery as part of Tableau's 2021.1 update. This will empower more people with data, with simplified model creation, predictions, what-if scenarios, forecasting, and other analytical methods with a codeless environment.
“Data science has always been able to solve big problems but too often that power is limited to a few select people within an organization,” said Francois Ajenstat, the chief product officer at Tableau.
"To build truly data-driven organizations, we need to unlock the power of data for as many people as possible. Democratizing data science will help more people make smarter decisions faster.”
The integration of capabilities previously only found in Salesforce into Tableau is an expected development since the acquisition of Tableau by Salesforce in 2019. What is interesting is how Tableau is urging business users to recognize that there is a tradeoff between time-to-insight and precision.
An example quoted in the press release pegged the use of Business Science to improving supply chain efficiency, boosting efficiency in logistics, and predicting the likelihood of consumers making an online purchase. On the other hand, a data science deployment could be leveraged to help in areas such as with vaccine research and development.
Obviously, the most precise answers will require substantial investments in data science teams and the tooling they need, while Business Science can deliver substantial benefits by pointing businesses in the right direction quickly – even if it is not a hundred percent accurate.
“Today, data science is out of reach for most business users. Business analysts have relied on data scientists to extract powerful, precise insights using sophisticated models. But getting to those insights can be complex, expensive, and time-consuming,” explained Chandana Gopal, a research director from IDC.
“While data science can unlock powerful insights, there is sometimes a trade-off between precision and time-to- insight. Business Science recognizes that trade-off and seeks to make data science accessible and actionable for more people,” said Gopal.
Image credit: iStockphoto/Jian Fan
