This presentation was adapted from content and spired by by Eva-Marie Muller-Stuler, my friend and fellow IBMer. Learn the secret sauce of becoming a data scientist, including the soft & hard skills necessary to be successful in your data science career journey.

1. What is data
science? No really,
what is a data
scientist?
Melissa Sassi
Chief Penguin
Student & Entrepreneur Experience
@mentorafrika
CEO & Founder, MentorNations
CEO & Founter, XTP Hustle
Content inspired by and derived by the amazing Eva-Marie
Muller-Shuller, my friend & fellow IBMer
Hello!

2. ChiefPenguin
MELISSA SASSI
MY PURPOSE & PASSION
BE AN AND. NOT AN OR.
The intersection of tech, entrepreneurship & empowering
underrepresented rock stars.
Founder, Intrapreneur, Digital Inclusion Advocate, IBMer,
ex-Microsoftie, Academic, UN & WEF Speaker, IEEE Digital
Skills Chair

3. we think this number might be more like 5%
99% of business
leaders say their
firms are trying
to become
insights-driven,
but only 1/3 are succeeding

4. It isn't a dude in a room in a basement crunching
numbers kept behind closed doors.
What skills do data scientists
need?
Don't get caught up in the traditional view!

5. T R A D I T I O N A L V I E W
W h e r e i s d e s i g n t h i n k i n g i n t h i s
v i e w ? N o w h e r e ! T h a t ' s a p r o b l e m .

6. W H A T D O E S T H I S
" E X P E R T " H A V E T O
S A Y ?
g l u b | g l u b | g l u b
Mistake
SAME
RIGHT?!

7. W H O W A N T S T O
B U I L D T H I S ?
N o t a l i g n i n g t o b u s i n e s s s t r a t e g y &
p u r p o s e r e s u l t s i n , w e l l , t h i s r e s u l t .

8. Always understand the
business purpose & strategy
Don't forget about the concept of
user-centered design. Ask your
users, stay connected to your
users, and understand their
wants, needs, frustrations,
aspirations, and business
problems.
Use data to create insights to
make informed and intelligent
business decisions.
Design Thinking
Be prepared to fail and test and
learn and use data to drive
insights and objective decisions.
Agile
A rocking data science team will
be diverse and inclusive and
reflective of its audience. this also
requires a variety of skill-sets,
both hard and soft.
Diverse &
Inclusive Team

9. Look at these examples
Data for the
organization
Starting to collect data,
discovering the
possibilities with analytics,
and starting to add value
via data-driven insights.
Integrator
Data & analytics for
internal decision
making
Starting to understand
and compare to drive
insights to create
efficiencies, reduce
costs; however, growth
opportunities exist.
Optimizer
Data & insights for
prediction & business
enablement
Creating new design
models, user
experiences based on
data-driven insights to
drive business
decisions.
Innovator
Data Value Chain

10. Don't look for one
unicorn.
There is no "i" in team.
Look for a team of talented people who
collectively are THE UNICORN.

11. Hire a team who
work collectively to
become
THE UNICORN TEAM

12. Diverse & inclusive teams are the key
Teams require data engineers, project
managers, data journalists, business experts,
machine learning engineers, organizational
engineers, and all types of people who come
together and form....
THE UNICORN TEAM

13. It's a team sport & includes shared
ownership of client, user &
organizational outcomes

14. The Unicorn Team depends upon the
industry
Government BankingRetail Energy

15. To be a data science, this is REALLY the secret sauce.
YOUR SECRET INGREDIENTS.
01
06 02
05 03
04
Business Acumen
Strong Analytics
Knowledge
Advanced Analytics
Software Knowledge
Adaptability to
New Business
Trends
Visionary
Storytelling &
Presentation Skills
Data Understanding &
Data Management
Skills
Data
Science
Skills

16. The good news?
There is a job for everyone!
Legal | Healthcare | Government | Banking | Engineering | Construction | Agriculture

17. 1
2
3
4
5
6
RETAIL
Inventory
optimization.
HEALTHCARE
Patient diagnostics
& predictive
modeling.
FINANCE
Fraud detection.
MANUFACTURING
Anomaly
detection.
GOVERNMENT
Smarter e-
government
services.
TRANSPORTATION
Demand forecasting.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES ARE
ENDLESS FOR DATA
SCIENTISTS

18. 7
8
9
10
11
12
EDUCATION
Research insight.
TELECOM
Network analytics.
E-COMMERCE
Recommender
systems.
MEDIA
Interaction &
speed
GAMING
Predictive
modeling.
FASHION
Fashion trends.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES ARE
ENDLESS FOR DATA
SCIENTISTS

19. Data science is often recognizing failures, testing & learning.
Don't forget to be agile.
Driving data-driven and objective business decisions is the key.
Don't be the dude in the basement behind closed doors.
Be the diverse & inclusive UNICORN TEAM.

20. AI will not replace managers,
but AI will replace those who
don't use AI.

21. Being a data science requires
being a learn it all, a growth
hacker, hard work, experience,
training, and reading.

22. Thank you!
Questions?
Melissa Sassi
Chief Penguin
Student & Entrepreneur Experience
@mentorafrika
CEO & Founder, MentorNations
CEO & Founder, XTP Hustle