I’ve been around emerging technologies for many years. I’ve been involved in selling a wide range of enterprise applications for over 18 years. I’ve been getting asked a number of questions on predictive analytics and big data since returning from the IBM Vision Conference.

I was given an opportunity to better understanding of Watson Analytics and its potential to change the way we do business. I came away with many positive ideas on predictive analytics and how its going to change our lives.

I’ve worked for over twenty years in artificial intelligence, competitive intelligence, business intelligence, quantitative analysis and counterintelligence.  Some might say intelligence has played a large part in my career success. Some might even call me an a data dawg!

Now if you’ve known me for a long time, you might not say this.  You would remind me my career started in strategy and business development. That’s only part of it.  When coaching my best clients I work with them on helping their organizations change! And predictive analytics are going to change the way we do business forever.

To make this happen, we need to change how we do our jobs. It also requires us to become great at working on teams. Finally, we need to learn to change the ways we do business. Don’t worry, we have time, but not too much. Today, I continue sharing what has to change to leverage predictive analytics.

Predictive analytics helps your organization seize new opportunities and markets in ways that have not been seen before.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is senior leaders need to become better team leaders and we all will be working on teams.

Predictive analytics requires us to hire smarter people with less experience and pay them to learn new things.  The good news is we have done this in the past and it works out well for employers and employees. It allows organizations to become smarter and more agile in how it does things.

Predictive analytics has you throwing your title and organizational hierarchy out the door. There are few kings and queens in the new predictive analytics paradigms. Leaders need to work with people up and down the organization’s structure to take advantage of these emerging technologies.  We need to learn to trust others to help us make better decisions faster.

Predictive analytics requires you to think and act differently when dealing with information. Big data is the first evolutionary step to an unknown future. My controlling clients, yes there are a few, mostly entrepreneurs, need to learn how to deal with being out of control while leading their business. You never have enough information or a single option to deal with when making decisions.

Predictive analytics requires longer learning curves than any technology we’ve deployed in our organizations in the past. We will learn and, if you make the right purchasing decision, so will you analytics. Machine learning is going to change what you think computers can do for you. They will become partners in a learning process, not only a tool to empower your decisions and people.

Predictive analytics s what you know about your best clients, partners, and customers. It increases your knowledge and, if you’re not careful, reduce your customer engagement. Here’s why data is only as good as the questions you ask to get your answers.

Predictive analytics not only uncovers your biases, it amplifies them at warp speed.  It identifies the way you look at things. It can also provide you with a tireless worker to process your questions and large and small amounts of information.

Finally, predictive analytics helps you structure your information so you can act on what you know.  Paradoxically, it drives you crazy because you can produce many different solutions to your problem.  In spite of what you might have heard in many other articles, choice is not always an ally in finding the best solution.

Confused?  You should be. Predictive analytics are going to change how we do business and what business we do. Over the coming weeks, I’ll share practical ideas that can help you leverage your predictive analytics.

This week, on Friday, I’ll share a blog for Father’s Day that will bring a smile to your face and teach a few lessons on how to make better decisions in your life, with or without predictive analytics. See you Friday.