From artificial intelligence to small data and graph technology, data and analytics leaders should think about leveraging data industry trends. When COVID-19 hit, organizations using traditional analytics techniques that rely heavily on large amounts of historical data realized one important thing: Many of these models are no longer relevant. Essentially, the pandemic changed everything, rendering a lot of data useless. In turn, forward-looking data and analytics teams are pivoting from traditional AI techniques relying on “big” data to a class of analytics that requires less, or “small” and more varied.

Each of the trends fit under one of these three main themes:

1. Accelerating change in data and analytics: Leveraging innovations in AI, improved composability, and more agile and efficient integration of more diverse data sources.
2. Operationalizing business value through more effective XOps: Enables better decision making and turning data and analytics into an integral part of business
3. Distributed everything: Requires the flexible relating of data and insights to empower an even wider audience of people and objects.