The Record - Issue 19: Winter 2020

50 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om break into a dedicated business analytics func- tion within their organisation, or for current data practitioners who want to retool and develop a more advanced skillset appropriate for progress- ing on a data science career path.” More than 50 individuals participated in the pilot programmes and, after promising results, the healthcare company plans to extend it to additional teams and business functions as part of a strategic investment in upskilling exist- ing talent in 2021. Meanwhile, Microsoft and General Assembly will expand the programme to additional clients in the USA, Canada, UK and Australia next year too. “The business benefits of reskilling or upskill- ing existing employees with the help of partners like General Assembly are clear – data-driven companies that invest deeply in building data science capabilities are able to out-innovate and out-compete their competitors,” says Fennerty. “Correlation One’s Future of Data Talent report found that 40 per cent of companies were unable to hire or retain data talent due to a lack of supply in 2019, despite the fact that demand for data tal- ent was expected to increase by 20 per cent over the next 12 months. In addition, data science is a field where industry depth is critical because insights can be misleading if employees do not understand the limitations of their organisa- tion’s data sources and are unable to apply sound judgement. As a result, investing in retooling existing employees who know your operations and industry makes sense in a talent-constrained market where competition is fierce.” Fennerty believes that there are considerable societal benefits to upskilling and reskilling ini- tiatives too. “We are in the throes of a great employment crisis and many individuals are being forced to rethink their trajectories as the Covid-19 pan- demic disrupts vulnerable industries and com- panies accelerate plans to digitise and automate jobs and functions,” he explains. “Against that backdrop, the projected demand for data roles is enormous, with Microsoft predicting that the number of data analysis, machine learning and AI roles will exceed 20.4 million by 2025, up from 4.6 million today. Together, we have an enormous opportunity to upskill and reskill our communities for the great opportunities of our data- and AI-driven future.” I NT E R V I EW “The course helps data practitioners or aspiring data professionals to rapidly build a job-ready set of skills”