Being a great data scientist is mostly about the way in which you approach problems. Data scientists apply the scientific method in the commercial environment, which is why scientists can often successfully transition into the field. This sounds simple enough in theory, yet many scientists with superb academic backgrounds find it difficult to make the move into industry. We reached out to Mehmet Alpaslan leader in the data science and analytics communities who made the leap from academia to industry and asked for his advice on how he transitioned out of academia and into the data science industry.